An Advent Message: Secretly Cynical, Profoundly Blessed

[caption id="attachment_97398" align="aligncenter" width="758"] Fra Angelico (circa 1395–1455) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]

Advent Is a Time of Waiting But How Do We Wait?

Do we wait as with joyful expectation or has life's disappointments left us jaded and closed to any spiritual surprises?

Come to think of it, how many of us actually expect to receive any spiritual joy on Christmas morning? When we are secretly cynical, we will not receive a thing, not even a tiny flicker of Light because we have locked the door to our hearts. Then, our cynicism will be confirmed once again; we will cement our cynicism in place for another year.

As we wait, secretly longing for the dark, empty places within us to be flooded with His light, we should look to our children to teach us how to wait for the Christ Child to be born anew in our hearts. They trust and believe the words of both their earthly and heavenly Fathers. Think of a young child, eyes twinkling, barely able to sit still and contain his excitement because he knows that his dad will never give him a stone instead of a loaf of bread. No wonder Jesus tells us,

“I assure you,” He said, “unless you are converted and become like children, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven…” Matthew 18:4