Your Faith This Week: Debut Edition

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[As promised, this is the third and final of the new, recurring columns that will appear weekly on this site.  From this point forward, there will be no more "Debut Editions."]

A quote from a classic movie took on new meaning today: "and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait."  That line from Casablanca perfectly captured the anticipation of people who desired freedom from the dictatorship of Nazism in Europe during the Second World War.  The connection to Catholicism was, oh, so clear!

Ample opportunity for waiting lies ahead in the liturgical year.  For more than a week, the anticipatory season of Advent will go uninterrupted by solemnities or saints' feast days.  In those days of Advent, it will be most appropriate for the faithful to anxiously await the freedom that will be wrought by the Incarnation of God, the birth of Our Savior.

What, then, shall we do during those days of waiting?  A few answers to that question were immediately obvious.

The first "task" of those who will celebrate Our Lord's Nativity is to do exactly as those in the fictional Casablanca did.  They waited, and so should we.  We will do ourselves a disservice if we decide not to wait for Christmas to arrive; if we forget Advent and move right into the celebration.  It is with great wisdom that the Catholic Church has given Her wonderful Advent traditions to faithful worshipers.  Without a doubt, every person will have a richer experience of Advent and Christmas if those traditions are followed.

The second necessary action is to pray and meditate.  Catholics who already have a deep prayer life can seek to go deeper.  Catholics who pray in limited ways can challenge themselves to experience new forms of prayer.  Catholics who don't pray much at all can begin a habit that will transform their very existences.  The focus for such changes in prayer habits ought to be anticipation, joy, and a great hope that we will soon encounter "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived" (1 Cor. 2:9).  Indeed, an ever-deepening prayer life is the thing that makes us most ready to encounter God-Made-Flesh.

The third and final directive that Catholics should follow is to be joyful!  Advent is a season of waiting, but we should never forget the gift that comes after the wait.  Yes, the birth of Christ is a blessing that will only be superseded by His Death and Resurrection (not to imply that one is more necessary than the other).  There are few things in the life of faith more fulfilling than a glorious celebration after hoping and waiting for the perfect Gift from God.

In just a matter of days, we will wait no longer; we will encounter the One, Who came to free us from the dictatorship of sin.  Until then, let us take note of how much we really desire to be set free from the chains that bind us.  Let us wait in desperate, yet joyful, anticipation of the Great Emancipator!

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