Holy Waiting Advent is a time of waiting. Waiting can be boring and frustrating. But is there perhaps a rich and hidden dimension in it? How can we turn our dislike of waiting into ‘holy waiting’? God builds a great deal of waiting into our lives. The Old Testament is all about waiting. Finally God sends his Son. It seems then that waiting is at an end. But think of the uneventful years Jesus spends in Nazareth.; God, it seems, makes Jesus wait! Then comes the whirlwind of his public ministry: ‘he appeared, he spoke, he went, he prayed, he healed, he broke bread…’ In the Passion, waiting returns as a central theme. Jesus is shown as extraordinarily passive. Where before he did so many things, now everything is done to him: ‘they took him; they scourged him; they crucified and buried him…’ Jesus has handed himself over totally: he does not struggle. He waits for what his enemies decide to do with him. He is saying to his tormentors, ‘My love for you is inexhaustible. No matter what you do to me, my love will not falter. ’ The love in his heart makes this a time of ‘holy waiting’. Waiting, then, has a divine quality. Jesus’ waiting shows his great love. He knows what our human waiting is like. We can learn from him to endure lovingly what cannot be changed. We are close to God at such times. Advent provides a special time for ‘holy waiting.’
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 10:38:28 +0000
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