By Mary Roy Weiss, SSND
Today, as Catholic Sisters, we have much to wait for. We have many questions that need answers:
How will our community grow, or will it come to completion gracefully?
Will we be able to meet the needs of the people of God, even as our capacity may be diminishing?
Who will carry the torch of religious life into new times, ones we haven’t imagined yet?
How will we spend our time in waiting for the answers?
Our Associates, colleagues, loved ones, and neighbors share our questions, and carry their own: When? How? Why?
We might call this period of waiting our personal Advent.
The Jewish community historically waited for 4,000 years for an answer to the question: Where in the world is the Messiah we long for? God answered humanity with the arrival, the coming of the Word - God made flesh, Jesus.
During this Advent, we hope, we wish for God’s presence among us, we pray to see and recognize God among us.
Where is God in all this time we spend waiting for answers?
As God comes to us, we might hear ... nothing.
Silence is the language of God, as Thomas Keating said, but listen closely. God is present to us in whisper fashion, taking Divine sweet time to reach us, or so we feel!
Give your waiting to this, knowing that God says to all of us: “Patience, people! Open your eyes to witness the Magnificat moments that I give you.”
What happens as we wait for any answer is up to us, whether we wait for test results or answers to problems not easily solved.
Waiting for answers to issues involving relationships with others can frequently be more complex and time-consuming than we would prefer.
How, for example, do we have healing conversations for hurts committed? How do we build bridges to span distances that have grown among those we once held close?
What do we do while we wait? We drum our fingers, pace, switch the TV channel or play solitaire to distract ourselves.
Can we focus on living prayerfully, lovingly, peacefully, patiently? Can we model how to wait?
As we wait, let us recall the psalmist’s verse. Let us contemplatively digest it in parts: Be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I AM. Be still and know. Be still. Be.
