In Eager, Expectant Hope
December 3, 2012
Sr. Silvia Maria Tarafa, SCTJM
For private use only-©

 

Advent is upon us and as every year, the Church gives us an opportunity to prepare for His coming; we await the arrival of our healer, Savior and Lord. We wait with the Blessed Mother’s expectant hope for His birth in our hearts, in our lives and today at this historical moment we await his re-birth in our culture, country and world.

This expectant hope in a most particular way is also the call of one seriously discerning religious life. He or she is awaiting “the fullness of time when God sends His Son” (Gal. 4:4-5) “…to declare and bring to light what is the plan of the mystery hidden from all ages past in God” (Eph. 3:9) — the plan He has for each one of our lives from all eternity: What was I created for? What did God have in mind when “He knit me in my mother’s womb?” (Psalm 139:13).

As the season of Advent invites us to prepare for Christ’s coming, all of those seriously discerning the call to religious life are also asking themselves the questions: Is Christ seeking to be born in me in a new way at this season in my life? Is He seeking for me to live out my baptismal promises in a more profound way? As in Advent, if Jesus desires to come into my life more deeply, how am I preparing for His impending arrival?

The time of waiting for us to hear clearly the call of the Lord for our lives is not a passive waiting, any more than it was for Our Lady or St. Joseph as they awaited the birth of our Lord. We, like the Holy Couple, need to prepare ourselves for the Divine Guest’s deeper entrance to our souls. This moment of waiting is full of expectant hope. Thus, it is a time of joy and anticipation for the arrival of the fullness of time where God will more fully reveal Himself in my life. It is also a time of trustful journeying, towards the unexpected Bethlehems He asks of us, listening and obeying carefully the directions of the Lord even when they may not seem to make sense.

How can I live more simply, more single-heartedly and obediently? What needs to be left behind so that I can journey to Bethlehem without obstacles. How am I obeying our Lord’s commandments and the smaller indications He is using to guide me in my daily life? How is my prayer? Is it unobstructed by the noise of my own will?

The Advent time of waiting on the Lord is a time of clearing out the stable of our hearts so that our Lord can find a fit dwelling place for His Heart. What in me needs to be purified or uprooted so the stable of my heart is worthy to receive Him? Lastly, where is my treasure? Am I like our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph, single-heartedly waiting for the coming of my Lord?

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