“A time to wait.”
I’ve always struggled with Advent as a time of waiting and awakening. What exactly are we waiting for and what do we need to be awakened to? Are we waiting for the baby Jesus? Is it a sentimental journey of ‘feel good’ when Christmas comes so I can contribute to the treasury of empire? Am I to wake up to some coming event that will happen in the future?
The historical Jesus has already come. God has entered our humanity. St. Paul says that humanity is now God’s temple (1 Cor. 3: 16-17). If we really believe that, are not we — who call ourselves “Christian” after our founder — the incarnation in our time? I think we need to wake up to that reality. As my spiritual mentor Richard Rohr says, following the mystics, “We already are that which we are seeking.”
The wait is over then. Now is the time to put the gospel into action. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, stopping the execution of human beings, and yes, exposing war for what it really is.
Is this not our great hope, to transform the world? God is with us. This Advent may we again move forward in faith.
Denny Davis is a Catholic Deacon and the Director of South Dakotans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
Got something to say about what you're reading? We value your feedback!