A profound and magical promise
“Mommy! Santa picked me up in the air!”
“I saw you! That looked so fun! What did you tell him?”
“I asked him for an Elsa dress! Oh no! I forgot to ask for a dinosaur stamp!”
“Oh, that’s okay Kayleigh. We can write him a letter. And maybe we will see him again before Christmas.”
“No, Mommy. I have to go tell him.”
As I watched my almost three year old go back to a very understanding and child-centered Santa to request her 99 cent dinosaur stamp, I just reveled in the magic that is Christmas for a toddler. I also said a quick prayer of gratitude that our friends were right behind us in line so Kayleigh could easily return with her request.
As a parent of a toddler, the Christmas season is interesting to navigate. What messages do I want Kayleigh to hear? How do I want her to experience Christmas? To experience advent? Is it enough to connect Christmas with baby Jesus? How do we incorporate traditions of giving instead of just receiving? How do I connect the magic of Santa to the religious significance of Christmas?
Do I even need to be doing all of this questioning of my Christmas parenting choices when she is only 2?
The thing is, she is really too young to know what she is excited for. She doesn’t ask me how many days until Christmas. She doesn’t really remember the traditions. I have to remind her what we are waiting for, but she isn’t waiting. She just looks around in wonder. She is fully in it.
The first reading of the day is about waiting. Waiting for a union with God that is filled with peace, knowledge, mercy, and healing. “Blessed are those who wait for the Lord.” Blessed are those who have faith that though we are tired, hurt, lonely, hungry, and broken, the Lord will embrace us one day in a way that will “bind up our wounds”. We will be healed.
The thing is, she is really too young to know what she is excited for. She doesn’t ask me how many days until Christmas. She doesn’t really remember the traditions. I have to remind her what we are waiting for, but she isn’t waiting. She just looks around in wonder. She is fully in it.
The first reading of the day is about waiting. Waiting for a union with God that is filled with peace, knowledge, mercy, and healing. “Blessed are those who wait for the Lord.” Blessed are those who have faith that though we are tired, hurt, lonely, hungry, and broken, the Lord will embrace us one day in a way that will “bind up our wounds”. We will be healed.
How can I be patient as I wait for this profound promise?
The Gospel shifts from the passive waiting to the active harvesting. Jesus has announced that “the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He sees the suffering of his people and he sends his disciples out to the lost sheep because “the harvest is abundant, and the laborers are few”. They are to go out and heal, which is reminiscent of the healing that was promised in the first reading.
So am I waiting for the Lord? Or is He here? Am I passive? Or active? Which message connects with me this advent season? As I was struggling to connect these readings to my experience, I thought of my daughter. Christmas is here for her. But she’s also waiting. She is waiting for something she cannot quite understand. She is told about it. She sees my excitement about it. She has been promised something magical. She sees the changing of the decorations and the new special activities we only experience during Christmas. She is active. And she is waiting for something she doesn’t quite understand. And aren’t we all?
My prayer for this advent is that I continue to wait in suspense while also feeling the active presence of the Lord. I hope we all can recognize the ways in which the Lord is already with us, healing our wounds as we walk through this life. And that we can, with childlike anticipation, recognize that something is coming that we still do not quite understand.
The Gospel shifts from the passive waiting to the active harvesting. Jesus has announced that “the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He sees the suffering of his people and he sends his disciples out to the lost sheep because “the harvest is abundant, and the laborers are few”. They are to go out and heal, which is reminiscent of the healing that was promised in the first reading.
So am I waiting for the Lord? Or is He here? Am I passive? Or active? Which message connects with me this advent season? As I was struggling to connect these readings to my experience, I thought of my daughter. Christmas is here for her. But she’s also waiting. She is waiting for something she cannot quite understand. She is told about it. She sees my excitement about it. She has been promised something magical. She sees the changing of the decorations and the new special activities we only experience during Christmas. She is active. And she is waiting for something she doesn’t quite understand. And aren’t we all?
My prayer for this advent is that I continue to wait in suspense while also feeling the active presence of the Lord. I hope we all can recognize the ways in which the Lord is already with us, healing our wounds as we walk through this life. And that we can, with childlike anticipation, recognize that something is coming that we still do not quite understand.
Because haven’t we been promised something magical?
Author: Tricia Gerber, Campus Ministry Department
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