The Second Sunday of Advent! We are all waiting. And for the Middlers, it was a big bag of Legos that helped us understand Gospel Waiting.
Unlike what we called “waiting by killing time” at the bus stop, the train station or the doctor’s office; unlike “waiting by anticipating” your next birthday, summer vacation or Santa at Christmas; unlike “waiting with anxiety” for the game to end, for the test to begin or the marks to be posted; Gospel Waiting isn’t even waiting at all. It’s bringing the future into the now.
We looked at our bag of legos and understood that what would be was right in front of us if we just made it happen now. And we dug in and made it happen. In fact, we made a whole lot of things happen. “Prepare the way of the Lord” is not to kill time waiting or either becoming too silly or serious about it all. It is to make the Lord’s coming tomorrow happen in our lives today. We have to make it happen. In fact, we have to make a whole lot of things happen.
The Elementaries heard all about Thanksgiving with our new grandson Asher (4 weeks old), and how everyone who came to dinner, from the grumpiest old man to the cutest little kid, wanted to do one thing—hold Asher. And it was a Christmas light bulb moment. When those shepherds and magi arrived at the stable, we all bet that nobody knelt down like we usually see them depicted. We bet that everybody asked Mary, “Can we hold him?” And we told ourselves that that’s what Christmas is all about—God came as a baby because he simply wants to be held. And Raymond North taught us the last and best lesson of all—God can still be held by each and every one of us in the Eucharist.
Christmas Pageant News
Our Annual Christmas Pageant will be celebrated immediately before the 4 PM Christmas Eve Mass on December 24th. Every year, our 1st and 2nd Graders become our Pageant Kids. Rehearsals for the Pageant will be on Wednesday, December 22nd and Thursday, December 23rd, from 4 to 4:45 PM.
Calendar Reminder
NO KidsRelig this Wednesday, December 8th. And Tuesday, December 7th and Thursday, December 9th are our last classes before Christmas.
Love,
Deacon Charlie
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