3rd Sunday of Advent
Isa 35:1-6,10
Jas 5:7-10
Mt 11:2-11
They will come to Zion shouting for joy, everlasting joy on their faces.
We are now in the mid-point of Advent and steeped fully in the season of waiting. This practice of waiting hardly comes easy to most of us — certainly not me. As I ponder on the various seasons of life that have required me to wait and to exist in a certain kind of limbo, I am aware that I am not a happy ‘wait’-er. Pun, unintended.
We wait for all sorts of things. As a baby in-utero, I had to wait to be born. As a pregnant mother, I waited 9 months to give birth to my child. I waited for my child to wake, to nurse, to learn how to crawl and walk, to call me ‘Mama’, to run to me, to eat solids, to say ‘I love you’, to go to preschool, etc.
All of life, we wait to enter into something ‘next’, something ‘new’, something ‘different’, something ‘better’. Yet, how often have I been truly present to this in-between station? How often have I set aside the sensation of anticipation to exist in the present moment with joy?
The three scripture readings today point to the necessity of taking heart while waiting and to brace ourselves with courage when we are still in the in-between zone of dry-lands. Isaiah’s words for the Israelites remind them that waiting can be joyful. He calls upon the wilderness and dry-lands to exult, the wasteland to rejoice and bloom!
Every station has its reason and purpose. Even the wilderness exists to give glory to God. We are not empty without the fulfilment of our desires — God is still with us in each present moment. Barren as it may be, there is joy to be had in the spiritual vacuum.
I have been waiting interminably for a very specific prayer and desire in my heart, and the whole family has been praying fervently too. Nothing has happened for years and it was easy to lean into despair and doubt, questioning if God cared or heard our prayers. Finally, we decided as a family to welcome a puppy into our lives. This embrace of new life in a puppy joining our home was truly the breath of fresh air, hope, and joy that our weary waiting hearts needed! We did not creatively imagine that such joy can dwell even in the wait and in the unexpected form of a pet.
There are times when I foolishly say, “I will only be happy when _____ happens / materialises.” Forgetting that I can exist in joy and love while still living in the ‘not-yet’. What are you waiting for this year end, and what are you feeling weary about that courts despair? Surrender this present ache to God and let him strengthen your soul now.
Strengthen all weary hands,
steady all trembling knees
and say to all faint hearts,
‘Courage! Do not be afraid.
‘Look, your God is coming,
vengeance is coming,
the retribution of God;
he is coming to save you.’ (Is 35:3-4)
Jean-Pierre de Caussade, the 17th century French Jesuit priest, and one of my favourite writers, penned so beautifully: “When you surrender to what is and so become fully present, the past ceases to have any power… Suddenly, a great stillness arises within you, an unfathomable sense of peace. And within that peace, there is great joy. And within that joy, there is love”.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Debbie Loo)
Prayer: God of the dry-lands and the flowers of splendour, help me to see with new eyes and feel with lifted soul the joy of this present moment. Teach me to breathe in so deeply the air of now that I fill my lungs with hope and light. Reveal to me what I can be joyful for today and grant me the grace to hold on to that.
Thanksgiving: Let us give thanks for the air we breathe and the sunlight that kisses our skin. Let us give thanks for the water that quenches our thirst and the flowers that dance in the wind. Life is truly good because I exist.
OXYGEN 
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