What are you waiting for? What are you hoping for? Are you waiting for the holidays to come and pass? Are you hoping for a particular gift, the newest gadget, the next best thing? Waiting and hoping are an essential part of life. When we stop waiting and hoping, we lose our purpose and direction in life; we stop living. What we wait and hope for tells us a lot about ourselves. Indeed, if you tell me what you are waiting for, I will tell you who you are.
The season of Advent is a time of waiting and hoping. During this season we wait and hope for the coming of Christ in Christmas mystery; we wait and hope for the final coming of Christ at the end of the ages. Advent focuses our attention on what is lasting and enduring, what will fulfill our deepest desire and longing.
Think about all of the things that you have waited for this past year: a new i-Pad, a letter of acceptance from college, a new job, a new car, etc. Notice that as soon as you receive what you were waiting for, you start waiting and hoping for something new. The reason for this is that the things we wait for every day can never fulfill our deepest longing, our deepest desire.
But Christian hope is different. It does not hope for what will soon pass away; it hopes for what is lasting and enduring. It hopes for what only God can bring about. It hopes for that salvation that will fulfill our deepest longing and desire. This is why Advent is so important. This is why we celebrate this season year after year.
During Advent we wait for the coming of Christ in Christmas mystery, which is a foretaste of the coming of Christ at the end of time. In other words, we are waiting for that final salvation that only God can give. We are waiting for the moment when the world will be filled with God’s justice and peace. We are waiting for the moment when the created world in which we live will be changed and transformed. We are waiting for that moment when we will be transformed by the glory of God.
When all of this happens, there will be no further need to wait and hope because our deepest longing and desire will be fulfilled. There will be no need to look to the future because we will live in the love and presence of God.
So what are you hoping for? What are you waiting for? Lots of things, I suppose. Such waiting is not bad; it is a part of life. But it will never satisfy your deepest longing and desire. This is why Advent is such a moment of grace for us. Use this season of grace to refocus your hope and to give meaning and substance to your waiting. Wait for what is important. What for what will endure. Wait for what will change and transform your life once and for all. Wait and hope, in quiet and patience, for the coming of Christ.
Father Matera