On this first Sunday of Advent Fr. Thomas described three types of waiting.
The first is an unknown waiting, a kind of searching without end. It’s really just an experience of emptiness like “waiting for Gadot”
The second is a fearful waiting, such as the fear of death and judgement. It is really an experience of anxiety, or dread. It’s believing the illusion that we are alone and separated from God.
The third waiting is that of hope. It is an experiential knowing and tasting in the present moment that which we are longing for. There is a real presence hidden within this type of waiting, a fulfillment wrapped within the longing.
The best image for this virtue of hope is the pregnant mother who waits for her child to be born. The expectant hope she has is not wishful thinking but a real presence alive and growing within her.
Advent is a time to feel that divine kick within us. The Christ who is dying to be born in us. Yes we are incomplete, and find our selves longing for something more, but this ache is also a kind of tabernacle, a present space where God dwells in us
Become pregnant with hope, and you will carry heaven within you along the journey.