What Are We Waiting For?

The days are coming when I will fulfill the promise…

Jer. 33:14

By now the turkey is long gone, not even a shred remains.  The exhaustion and excitement of hitting the big Friday sales has dissipated. Many of us don’t remember the score of the big game even though we watched avidly.  The infusion of joy that comes with Thanksgiving has gone and left us flat.  I’ve noticed in the last few years, since I first reflected on the week-long gap that often occurs between the Feast of Christ the King and the first Sunday of Advent, that peace is even more elusive.

What used to be fun for avid shoppers-getting up super early, the thrill of the chase and all-is not fun anymore.  Black Friday somehow stretched back into the wee hours of darkness and eventually back into Thanksgiving itself, robbing workers of one of the few days they all could celebrate with their own families on the same day as everyone else.  This year I am baffled that Big Business seems to think that’s not too much, and we’ve been treated to “deals” for most of the month.  Thanksgiving is not about family anymore, it’s about Big Money. As in how much stuff can we be persuaded to buy for how much, as if that were all that matters in life.

Now what?

One holiday is done, Christmas is coming, but now, today, we are waiting.  For what do we wait?  Are we waiting for the next big sale, or are we waiting for something greater?

The days are coming when I will fulfill the promise…

Are we waiting for more shopping?  Are we waiting for the round of must-do holiday parties that leave us so exhausted we take no time for ourselves and our families? Do we attend Mass with joy and thanksgiving, or is it just one more thing we have to do?  Are we looking forward with something akin to dread because of the stress placed on us by difficult relatives, financial pressure, and the tribulation of serious illness?

The days are coming when I will fulfill the promise…

What has God promised us except His very own Self?  In Jeremiah’s time, the promise was still far off.  We are much luckier.  For though we are waiting for the Messiah to come again in His glory, He is already here with us now.  He waits with us, and if we take His hand in prayer, all things become possible.  The illness may not disappear; the trying relative may not change.  But we will change and what was unbearable a moment ago will be far less daunting.

Jesus our King is coming, and yet He is here already.  What are you waiting for?  What burden is too great?  Ask the Lord to bear it with you.  Remember that hope, patience, fortitude are gifts from Him and free for the asking.  They are gifts that will remain long after the fleeting happiness of the holiday celebrations are gone.

Better still, these gifts can be shared unreservedly, without being diminished.  In fact, they actually grow larger. Who do you know who is waiting too?  Is it an elderly neighbor, living alone, who waits for someone with whom to share a lifetime of experience?  Is there a young family who is waiting for someone to guide them through the labyrinth of parenthood?  An ailing relative who needs comfort while waiting for the results of that scary test?  Wait with them in their trials, and share with them your own struggles with them too.  Where two or three are gathered in the Lord’s name, He is surely with them, and we can have no friend better to wait with us.

The days are coming when I will fulfill the promise…

Jer. 33:14