“ The sufferings of the present are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed in us. Indeed, the whole created world eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God . Creation was made subject to the futility , not of its own accord but by Him who once subjected it; yet not without hope , because the world itself will be freed from its slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God. “
(Romans 8:18-21)
We are Christians are in a perpetual Advent, and at the same time, in a perpetual Christmas. Advent at the same time can be viewed in some ways as also a season of Lent. Lets look a bit closer..
“ The whole created world eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God.” We are awaiting the coming of God, and we do this perpetually every single year during the Advent season, every season of the liturgical calendar, and indeed, at every single Holy Mass said in every corner of the world.
“We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your resurrection, until you come again !”
As a child we lived far away from our extended family. When the holidays would draw near, my mother used to tell us that we needed to clean the house because my grandmother was coming to visit.
We would work furiously over a weekend or two to make sure everything was spotless. There were our rooms to be cleaned ( a feat unto itself) and there were animals to attend to, Vacuuming an dusting . We had a rather large brass table that was intricately engraved and a set of floor length candlesticks that were also brass that had to be polished.. etc.. Needless to say it was ( at least for us kids) exhaustive work. In the end, she did not come. This went on for a number of years, and finally one year when we were in high school, the expected news came that grandmother would be on her way to visit, and my mother said her expected lines, that we would be required to clean the house top to bottom and the work would begin immediately ( regardless of whatever we had planned ) …
As you might expect, like the boy who cried wolf, we kids finally lost any faith that grandmother was coming, and began to suspect that either, grandmother was full of malarkey OR, that we had been made the subject of a ploy by our mother to get the house cleaned in a manner fit for the setting for the holidays fit for a Rockwell painting.
It took Grandmother about 8 years to show up. Eventually she did. It was forever for her to get there and it was not during the Holidays as we had expected, however, it was none the less a grand celebration .
Possibly, we allow ourselves to fall into this trap as well with our spiritual lives. We spend time once or twice a year to clean things up a little, just in case, and after we have fulfilled our family obligation… Back we go to where we were.. Its back to work.. back to school.. back to our lives.
That little burning ember, and light, goes dim from being smothered because the air that it needs, is being suffocated by the demands of the world. Responsibilities, work, family, finances etc. are the things that we can allow to take air out of the chamber of heart where that flame lives.
We have to work on our faith, on our spiritual lives every day. We are waiting , preparing , longing for the coming of Christ. Christ is present in each member of the Body., we also long for the coming of Christ in our brothers and sisters. To celebrate Christ in them as well, and to be the channel of grace for them.
We await the “freedom from corruption of sin”. We need to work to make that happen. It won’t happen on its own. It is a map of conversion, daily, that we need to follow, to push away the darkness, and work to avoid, and clean through a regular examination of conscience, and confession.
This is the path where we can finally share “ in the glorious freedom of the Children of God”.
This does not have to wait until Christ comes again, we can share in this freedom today. We can enjoy the blessings today if we desire it in our hearts, if we share the love of God, if we work towards our own personal conversions, and seek Christ in others.
May God give you the gift of His peace !