The Church is now in the season of Advent. This is traditionally a time spent "waiting" for the Baby Jesus. But the other day...it had me thinking....just exactly what is all this "waiting" for??? I mean...Jesus has been born...Jesus is alive and well, sitting at the Right Hand of His Father in Heaven...why do we Catholics go through these practices of preparing ourselves for events that have already occurred in history???
Just as I am pondering this, a good friend decides to call me up and asks me to go wassailing in New Braunfels. YES! A distraction!!! It's that time of the year! Time for cold temperatures, and frolicking about the town, drinking warm cider to our hearts delights...
We get to the small German-Texas town, and the parking is ridiculous...not one spot within a mile radius of the wassailfest. There has to be about 5,000 people converged in an area as big as half a football field...(and not even that big!) After waiting in traffic that seemed to go nowhere, I think, "The church must have some good spots!" Sure enough, Sts. Peter & Paul did not fail us! HA! I love being Catholic! We got a prime parking space, and my friend and I bounded towards the downtown area. We bought our wassailfest mugs, and immediately jumped into a LOOONG line to try out a sample of wassail.
And we waited...
And we waited...
And we waited...
...drank that sample, enjoyed it, walked to another line...
And we waited...
Of course, we enjoyed our conversation, laughed and talked it up with perfect strangers. We listened to the bands playing around us, and the choirs singing and the dancers dancing. But we sure did wait...a lot. That's when I realized, we humans spend a great deal of time...just waiting....
Looking about the crowd I saw hundreds of families enjoying the festivities. Parents of babies, older parents of teens, and grandma's and grandpas with grandchildren, great grandchildren...I found myself thinking, "There's a whole history of waiting, right there...!" When a couple decides to get married....there's usually a period of waiting and preparing for the wedding. This could be smooth sailing, but most of the time, there's blood sweat and tears involved until the happy couple finally say their "I Do's." And when that moment comes, how sweet it is! But that's not the end. No, the Mrs. will become pregnant, and then there is another period of waiting and preparing, waiting 9 whole months...preparing for the new life that is coming into the family. She will go through a great deal of changes, and pain, to bring that beautiful life into the world. But all that is forgotten when the bundle of joy arrives...very much worth the wait and all it entailed. This is repeated for however many times the Good Lord gives the family life.
I spotted many pre-teens and teenagers. All of them waiting for that big day when they graduate from their studies and move out of their parent's homes, (to their delight.) As they move out into the world on their own, they will begin new periods of waiting and preparing...
Little kiddos were running about, laughing and happy as can be, most of them fascinated by the live Nativity Scene with all its animals. Probably those little ones are just dreaming at night of Christmas Day, waiting to open presents and gifts. Their joy was contagious, and I found myself reminiscing of past Christmasses when I had my family intact. Now, it just seems as if we are in survival mode these days, waiting for that "Eternal Christmas Day," when our family will be whole again.
As I was enjoying a sausage on a stick, I almost bumped into an estranged friend. She didn't see me, but I saw her all alone in the crowd. And I immediately felt a pain in my heart. She was like a sister to me, more like family than friend. And I started thinking about how long I was going to have to wait in order to enjoy her friendship once again. And as Tom Petty once sang, "The waiting is the hardest part..."
So, now, I can better understand why the Church puts us through this "practice drill." We wait for Jesus every Advent. The "waiting" is really a lesson about life, endurance, patience...love. It is a chance for us to stop and reflect on ourselves...try and see how we really are, and make the changes we need in order to better receive Christ into our hearts. We need to be reminded of this over and over, year after year...and continue to welcome Christ...not just once in our lives, but ALWAYS. For most of that which we wait for in our lives, waiting for Jesus is the longest..., but in the end, it's all worth it.
