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Thursday of the SecondWeek of Advent
Isaiah 41:13-20
Psalm 145:I & 9, 10-11, 13-13AB
MT 11:11-15
Summary
The gospel reading for this day is the words of Jesus to his followers. He focuses
on John the Baptist, letting them know that John prophesizes what is to come in
the days ahead, and that the Kingdom of Heaven awaits those who heed and act
on his words.
Reflection
Oh, good. More waiting. Often, it seems like life is just waiting in line after line
after line. You wait at the grocery store, the shoe section, the dry cleaners, the
movies. You wait for your kids to be dismissed from school, wait for them to get
out of the sports practice, wait for your mother at the doctor “Enjoy your day”
says the barista at Starbucks (after you have waited, again, in line). “It’s the jour-
ney!” everyone says. WHAT journey? I’m not GETTINGANYWHERE!
And yes, these minor waits do add up to the accomplishment of living our daily
lives; that is indeed important, especially for the child that depends on you, the
mother whose care matters to you, and the clerk at the store whose job depends
on your dollars ( and thus his own set of “waits”.) But what a relief it can be, to
hear the words of Jesus, who celebrates what John has to say to us. That this
wait, this delicious, important anticipation of what John himself is heralding,
will ultimately bring us to the Kingdom of Heaven. If only “whoever has ears
ought to hear”. Do you have ears? Have you heard? Or are you so irritated
with waiting that you just want to get on with it? Does going to church on Sun-
day just mean one more hour of waiting?
When I used to moan about going to church,
my father would say to me “Are you not able
to spare one hour a week to thank God for the
life that you have?” He was right, of course, but
I was nine. There was too much to DO. And be-
ing in church was just moreWAITING. I think
some days, when I am too busy “living”, I am
still that nine year old. And I forget that to