Getting Ready to Pray                     

Preparing for the last Sunday of Advent when it is so close to the celebration of the birth of Jesus takes some doing. We have only days to experience the prayer of longing.

In our North American culture, we don’t do longing very well. Immediate gratification is our usual style. Waiting is for the “poor”; longing is a frustration to be relieved by a presumed right of purchase.

I wish I longed for the celebration of the birth of Jesus as much as I long for the semester to be over, or the ultimate victory of my favorite football team.

Perhaps I am too accustomed to the story and the reality of His birth.

Perhaps I have too many comforts and warmth of clothing and nourishing food to really want anything! I would want the inquisitiveness of the shepherds, the searching of the Wise Men, the wondering of Joseph and Mary.

Some Thoughts 

We can pray for emptiness, a place in our Inn. We can prepare for this liturgy as we do for Christmas itself by allowing our experience of “not having” as a type of “having.”

Nature abhors a vacuum, our hearts ache for completion. We can pray for a peace of soul that accompanies our unique ways of hungering.

Advent Hints

1. Make sure there are plenty of decorations, especially the tree, and talk about the symbolic nature of the round colored balls and lights, the candles, the greenery and the meaning of having a tree in the house where it doesn’t really belong by nature.

2. If possible, place wrapped gifts under the tree and talk about why there are gifts and why the wrapping.

3. Perhaps there could be a miniature barn or stable with little waiting animals who do not know what is about to happen.

4. Perhaps there can be some sitting in the quiet dark with one candle struggling to penetrate the dark.