for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Every time I listen to the Celebrant saying these words “...as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ” at the Communion Rite during Mass, I ask myself - especially during the Advent Season - if I am waiting in joyful hope for the coming of the Lord. I stop in silence and reflect on my personal longing, the longing of Mother Church, and the longing of the world. Yes, there is a longing in my heart and in the hearts of my brothers and sisters, a longing for order, beauty, holiness – gifts brought to us by the coming of the Lord.
Advent is indeed a privileged time to dwell in the land of waiting with joyful hope! Advent is a Season to be spent with Mary to learn from her, the Virgin of Adoration, how to get ready for the coming of the Lord. We need to recall and reflect on her attitudes: her silence, listening, openness and availability, her ready response to needs, her song of praise and glory... A prayer surges from my heart, “Mary, mold me, mold all, according to your heart; make us ready to welcome the Lord as you did.” I pray, “Mary, ‘make me, make us, empty, sturdy, soft inside, still, ready’ (Barbara S. Germiat). Prayer, Eucharist, Reconciliation, silence, joy, and service are all tools that make us ready, that make us receptive to the Lord’s many graces, and that make us generous in our response to the many demands of self-giving capable of putting a smile on our neighbors’ faces.
We are waiting, Mother Church is waiting, too! She waits for her children to fully live their vocation and mission in life! She is longing to see her Faithful fully alive, fully human, all saints, all brothers and sisters! She says to us, “I have given you documents to read, meditate on, and pray with so that you can understand your responsibilities as laity, consecrated people, and ordained ministers. Be who you are! Laity, be laity! Family, be family! Consecrated people, be consecrated people! Deacons, be deacons! Priests, be priests!” May we listen to Mother Church’s plea and commit ourselves to embody our vocation and mission in life!
The world, too, is waiting! It waits for peace and solidarity; for respect for the sacredness of life and the order of love established by our Creator, the Father of all peoples; for becoming a community of love, a family! Yes, the world is waiting for light to break through its darkness, for love to penetrate its harshness, for yeast to ferment the growth, for witnesses to enhance beauty, order, growth, and joy, much joy.
“Mary, woman of Advent, teach us to live with a new spirit our daily gestures, with the sentiment of a profound expectation that only the coming of God can fulfill” (Benedict XVI, Nov. 28, 2010). Mary, Mother of Confidence, give us trust to become saints, trust to become brothers and sisters! Mary, help us “go in haste” along the paths of the world to announce to all that the Lord is coming and He will make all things new.
Reflection by Franca Salvo, A.O.
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