Advent, the season of waiting, watching, praying, preparing.

The year is 2020 and there are no rules according to most social media. We are faced with the pandemic of Covid, election shenanigans leaving us still wondering who was rightfully elected, and lives which are very different from twelve months ago when we had no idea that masks and social distancing were soon to become a part of our daily routines. Though 2020 has no rules, it can give us a time while many of us shelter again to flatten the curve to silence ourselves, to wait and watch and prepare and pray during Advent for the coming of Christ’s arrival, Christmas.

I’m the mother of five beautiful children. If you don’t believe they are all perfect, check my Facebook posts…. definite proof of perfect children. I remember when I was pregnant with my first babe and being convinced that she was a she; while preparing her nursery with all things pink and Sunbonnet Sue, little baby dolls, and lace on everything. We took our Lamaze classes and practiced my breathing with Dear Hubby coaching. We had three baby showers that filled our home with all the things we needed to properly raise our little one upon her arrival. We prayed over this dear babe and we longed to see her face. I read book after book and handed them over to Hubby to read in his spare time. No stone was unturned in my preparing for this precious baby of ours. As an aside, it wasn’t until just before she was born that I had the dreaded thought that I might have made a mistake and we were about to birth a beautiful baby boy. Mother instincts were spot on happily, and our precious baby girl arrived just as planned.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is talking to His apostles the night before the Last Supper as well as to each of us. He is preparing all of us that though He is about to leave, He will return and is warning us to be prepared. No one, not even Jesus but only the Father, knows when Jesus’ return will occur. (Mark 13:32 But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.)

I wonder if we truly understand this fact. Jesus is returning and we are to be watchful, alert, prayerful, prepared. Advent is the season for us to pause and really think on this truth. Our Lord is coming…. perhaps now, perhaps ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years from now. Regardless of when, how have I prepared my heart, my soul for His coming?

As we continue to live in this challenging time of political and social unrest, of a pandemic which has all of us living with masks and distancing and restrictions, of lack of supplies or jobs or friends, I encourage you to prepare much as I did when pregnant with my first babe and as Mary did when carrying our Lord all those years ago. Prepare your heart for his coming this Advent season. Step away from the world for these forty days and put your focus on God and His Son’s first and second comings. Celebrate Mass and the Eucharist. Pray your Rosary. Go to Confession. Read God’s Word everyday. Fast. Journal. Give to the needy. Celebrate His coming soon with loved ones even if it’s through Zoom. Put your Creche in a place of honor. Do not let Him find you sleeping in the lull of worldly chaos or pleasure but keep your heart guarded for Him.

Jesus is coming. Are you ready to welcome the King of Kings?

Mark 13:33, 36-37, 33Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. 36May He not come and find you sleeping. 37What I say to you, I say to all: “Watch!”

Psalm 85:8, Show us, Lord, you love; and grant us your salvation.