Article: Advent: We Wait in Hope

Advent : We Wait in Hope

The word advent is coming from the Latin word, Adventum, meaning, “coming”. During this season we focus on waiting for the Lord, waiting for the coming of Jesus.  

We have the three-fold waiting. We know that Jesus has already come in history and we remember that during the week before Christmas our waiting changes to waiting for our celebration of the birth of Jesus. We also wait for his final coming at the end times when he will take all to himself.  We also experience his daily coming into our life through the Eucharist, word of God and also in the various persons and events of life. 

Waiting is something very important in our life. We all have many experiences of waiting for someone whom we love dearly. Many a time, when we wait for long and when the person doesn’t turn up we feel sad. And when he comes unexpectedly, we feel a great joy. We express that joy through our bodily gestures, such as hugs, kisses, hand shakes etc. 

Unfortunately, the year 2020 was not so kind to us. It brought pain in our families and lives. We suffered greatly by putting up with the pandemic. It is very hard to find blessings of God in this year. Many even ask "Why for me?" On the one hand many of us have lost our jobs and lost our near and dear ones and on the other nothing has been not so great in our lives. All our plans have toppled. From this point we wait for a better day. This waiting will not be vain dear friends. God will save us. 

During Advent we look forward to Jesus who will come in a total gesture of love. Jesus is coming to save us. God is becoming human. When he comes, we need to be ready to welcome him. That is the joy of Christmas. 

All of us are waiting eagerly for the release of Fr Stan Swamy and many others who are incarcerated by the NIA for speaking against the injustice and standing for the poor and the marginalised. The season of Advent teaches us to be the people of hope. Hope that our waiting will not go in vain. A day will come, where our waiting will come to an end and the smiles will manifest our joy with the release of Fr Stan and others. 

For more details on Advent click here.