WATCH!

Monday of the 1st Week of Advent

Come, O Lord, visit us in peace, 

that we may rejoice before you with a blameless heart.  

communion antiphon Ps 105: 4-5; Is 38: 3

WATCH!

Watch me!

…a little too me-centered for Advent

Watch out!

…a little too threatening for Advent

Watch it!

…a little too ‘lording it over’ for Advent

Watch and learn!

…a little too catechetical for Advent

WATCH!

Advent watching calls for attentiveness to presence.

Presence of God in History

Presence of God Mystery

Presence of God in Majesty

History

Christianity is a religion grounded in events

The incarnation happened

The crucifixion happened

The resurrection happened

We tell the old story

Mystery

What happened

Is still happening

Christ incarnate in the beauty of creation, in the beloved, in me

Christ suffering in my neighbor, in the stranger, in me

Christ risen on the other side of that suffering, where two or more are gathered, where sin is overcome by grace

We enter the story

Majesty

There is a horizon

Never robbing the present of its weight,

There is an ultimate hope and promise
Living in the meantime

We look forward to the culmination of the story

Lord,

In my watching

Remind me why I watch

Remind me how to watch

Remind me what I am watching for