Missionaries of Africa
ADVENT: A TIME TO STRAIGHTEN OUR PATHS
By James Ngahy, M. Afr
December 2010Waiting is part and parcel of life, and there is no life without it. Each and every human being waited to be born, waited to be fed and nourished, waited to be loved. Indeed, each and every Christian is waiting for the realisation of eschatology. Thus, we do realise that the fullness of life is not available or achieved like instant coffee or bournvita (milo) which one can make and drink instantly. There is always more to life and to people who are in Advent. They are to straighten their paths for the one to come, the Messiah. As Christians, we have all the reasons to call to mind and attentively reflect on Advent and how we can truly get ready to receive Christ since he comes especially for us. However, our waiting is not an empty one; it is rather full of substantial meaning!
Certainly, our life in the contemporary world is becoming more and more fast and furious in its pace. Our life most of the time is tight, compact and full of 'busy businesses'! In this sort of atmosphere and more so in our waiting for the coming of the Messiah, - a shoot that springs from the stock of Jesse,- we need to pause a bit and have a good spiritual check up, which consequently nourishes our physical life too. For this reason, George Maloney say, "We need to enter into an aloneness with the Alone, with God himself, if we are to find any meaning in our human existence. This is not escapism or avoidance of our responsibility to serve others. It is a movement of the Spirit to contact God and to experience him as the beginning and the end of our lives." (Maloney, Alone with the Alone, p. 11)
'Advent' or 'Adventus' in Latin, and 'Avent' in French, means to reach or arrive. It is described as the period including the four Sundays before Christmas in Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, p. 13. Advent is a special time for all believers to open their hearts more fully to the love of God and to the eternal salvation offered to all by the Saviour of humanity, whose birth is celebrated on Christmas Day. It is a waiting period. However, our waiting is different from that of the Old Testament and our hope has a different quality. For them, they waited for a future; we watch for God's presence.
They hoped for a future event; we hope that what is hidden may become visible. They waited for the world to change; we are called to work for a change that has already begun. They looked for a distant horizon; we have to see what is happening under our nose.
Therefore, Advent is the celebration of the coming of God - in the past, the future and the present. We are his point of entry and point of reference. His coming in the past remains buried in the past unless he comes again in us. His coming in the future will never happen if he can find no entry in us now! Thus, it is a time for us to make a complete change in our lives because the Kingdom of Heaven is near, as we are told by John the Baptist (Mt. 3:2). This change has to prove itself in action and not just in lip-service.
This Advent is a special time for us as Christians. Firstly, we recall the time when the Jews were waiting for the Saviour. (Unfortunately, they missed him, and they still continue to wait for him up till now.
This does not mean we pretend we are living in a pre-Christian era, looking forward with the Chosen People; the Jews, to that birth of the Messiah. Nor is Advent an exercise of the imagination or mere remembrance! The Saviour we are keeping Advent for has already come and he still keeps on coming in our daily lives. Our looking forward for his coming always makes a new beginning.
Secondly, we simply prepare ourselves ascetically and liturgically for his coming. It is for this very reason that Mother Church has set these four weeks aside for us. The Church wants us to be in that rhythm, that mood of preparation. She wants us to internalise the spirit of God in view of solidifying our preparation; to deepen our understanding and to intensify our intimacy with God and one another beginning from our own families or communities. We want to reach a point where we can dare to say, "Ah, my soul smiles at God, and God smiles back, whereby Trinity and humanity are born or made one." It is a point whereby that vertical relationship which is with God is perfected and made whole and holy with that horizontal relationship which is with humanity, with people around us, those whom we encounter daily, those whom God has entrusted to us, and with all of creation.
Thirdly, prayer; pondering his Word in Scripture and being at the disposal of the needy, are part and parcel of this preparation.
If we manage to achieve this understanding of waiting, then we shall surely move beyond mere grateful remembrance of Jesus' birth to a powerful transformation of the way we live daily. There will be no superficiality in our lives.
Our four weeks of Advent, which are somehow the 'coming away by ourselves to a lonely place and resting awhile' as Jesus himself did from time to time (Mk. 6:31) is not and should not be an empty one. It is rather an opportunity for us to step back from our ordinary rhythm of life in order to reappraise it with a critical eye; an opportunity to scrutinise our waiting, our preparation for the coming of our Lord in our lives. In other words, this is an objective way of screening our whole self, our engine room, our entire life. Just like an architect who, after finishing an assignment, stands at a distance and examines how successful the building has been. Is there any firm improvement that can be sustained for the future? Is there any weak point or angle that needs solidifying? Where or which aspects of my engine room needs proper service?
Ty Boyd wrote: "You can polish up the outside of an engine, make it look like a million dollars, but unless you do something from the inside, to keep those rings and seals properly cared for … unless you keep the pistons in great operating condition, unless you oil the inside of that finely tuned mechanism and furnish it with the proper fuel, the engine will look great when you polish it on the outside, but it won't perform when it's asked to."
This period of Advent is not escapism, getting away from reality or avoidance of our responsibility to serve others; nor do we try to avoid our responsibilities. It is not even a time for taking a tranquilliser for our painful life experiences. Not at all!
It is rather a moment and movement of the Spirit to contact God and to experience him as the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. We crave the experience of God, who alone can give direction and purpose to our fragmented lives.
Our getting ready for Christ's coming must be consumed by a constant revolution, a disarming of our human heart, of our lives as Servants of Charity. Our waiting must be embraced by a radical conversion and depth of trust in the one we are hoping and expecting to come, the Christ. It must be trust in faith, which will allow his power to be released in our weaknesses, his wisdom in our longing for him and his truth breaking into our disillusion or misunderstanding of him.
All in all, Advent is a call for us to make a U-turn, to return to our roots, to turn our hearts inside-out and, upside down in order to allow the Messiah to penetrate into all those areas of lives which have not yet been touched by Him, since he is due to be born in our hearts!
Here are some practical suggestions on how to prepare the way for the Lord and make his paths straight.
1. Do I recognise God's hand in my life? To what extend do I follow my own agenda and just fit God in when it's convenient? Do I have time for him?
2. What is my relationship with members of my family, close relatives, colleagues at my place of work or where I study, neighbours? How much do my words and actions reflect honour and respect for these people? Is my relationship with them positive or strained?
3. Am I growing in concern for the poor, less fortunate, sick and suffering? Is my concern translated into action, especially in the call to foster justice and peace according to the love and compassion of Christ ?
4. Do I allow myself to be controlled by my moods? Do I give in to thoughts of anger, bitterness or resentment?
5. Are there people who have hurt me whom I need to forgive? Have I damaged anyone's reputation or dignity through gossip or lies?
6. Have I been respectful of others and honest in my words and dealings?
7. Are there any other areas in which the Holy Spirit is leading me toward repentance, a need for healing, a need for God's forgiveness as part of the straightening of my paths?
Prayer:
Lord, increase my strength of will for doing and being good, that Christ may find an eager welcome
at his coming, and call me to his side.
Lord, let me know your ways.
Lord, teach me your paths and help me to straighten them.
Make me walk in your truth since you are God my Saviour.
Confirm my heart in holiness.
May we, together, make more progress in the kind of life that we are meant to live - the life you want for us - the life we are called to by your Spirit (1Thess. 3-4)Maranatha - Come Lord Jesus!!!
James Ngahy, M. Afr
