By Sister Eileen Reilly, SSND
I’m not very good at waiting. Yesterday, I left a store without purchasing the items I had chosen because there were six people in line in front of me.
I also checked the dryer three times before my clothes were actually dry.
So you can see that this Advent season of “waiting” poses a challenge to me. That challenge is lessened when I think of it as the season of “joyful anticipation,” but it still isn’t easy.
Every year during Advent I need to be reminded that it is not all about the countdown to Christmas - be that shopping days or calendar days - but rather, the days of Advent are rich in themselves. They are days to be savored as we remember and meditate on the reality of the Incarnation.
Phrases like “the people who walk in darkness have seen a great light,” or “they shall beat their swords into plowshares” can easily lead me to prayer - over and over again, if I only let them.
And what about those O Antiphons? They contain such treasures.
This Advent, I hope to enter into the gift of each day, rather than count the days until it ends.
