-Last week's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures are at USCCB.org>
-I am preaching at 5:30 and 8:00am Masses
Wait for the Lord!
We often speak at this time of the liturgical year about our waiting for the Lord. I am thinking that the Scripture texts this week invite us to not only wait but to check the quality of the waiting. What I mean is that I think many Catholics are legitimately "waiting" for the Lord, but not desiring His life. Many have made an act of faith and sincerely believe in Jesus' resurrection and they are waiting for the Lord's return. But they are not desiring His Kingdom, his Life. What's the difference?
I believe the relationship that we have with God is deeply affected by what we desire and it is revealed by the quality of our waiting. If one believes in the love, mercy, and compassion of the Lord....one's waiting for Him will have a certain characteristic. In contrast, if one believes in the judgment and retribution of the Lord....that's a different demeanor in waiting. If one truly longs for and desires communion with God, one waits differently, believes differently, lives differently!
How are you waiting for the Lord? There are different types of waiting:
We can be waiting for a report from the medical test? That is dread, not desire.
We can be waiting for a surgery to be completed. That is anxiety, not desire.
We can be waiting for the dentist to stop drilling on our tooth. That is endurance, not desire.
We can be waiting for the line to move at the grocery store. That is impatience, not desire.
We can be wishing that our son or daughter would call or visit. That is loneliness, not desire
We can be keeping vigil at the hospice waiting for our loved one to die. That is agony not desire.
What is the quality of our faith? Does it have something to do with what we are waiting for? Do we truly desire the one we claim to be waiting for?
Dread
Anxiety
Endurance
Impatience
Agony
Loneliness
You?
