As I drove out to church the other day I saw that a farmer had put manure on his field–the liquefied form that seems popular these days. Now he isn’t going to grow anything new on there for several months, it’s not growing season by any stretch. But he’s getting his field ready. And I dare say with the cows spending more time in the barn in the weeks ahead, he’ll no doubt do it again.
It made me think of where we are in the Church Year right now–Advent. It’s a time of getting ready for us too. A time of anticipation and waiting. A time when there’s all sorts of hustle and bustle going on around the secular gift giving holiday that is incorrectly called Christmas (often pronounced cris-mus, thereby leaving out both Christ and Mass or sacrifice).
As Christians, though, we are busy experiencing Advent, waiting and longing for the One, the Christ, the Messiah, who will save us from our sins and restore us to a right relationship with the Trinity. And a week from this coming Sunday we will experience the Incarnation of Christ–the fulfillment of the prophecies of old, the coming of the One who is a king but appears as a pauper. The One who will save, not with weapons that kill, but with “weapons” that give abundant life.
Don’t rush to the Incarnation. Spend time in Advent, spend time in longing, longing for the greatest love of all times.
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