Advent : Waiting with Gratitude

It is coming…Advent Sunday…what are you waiting for?

Advent is all about waiting…but what do we really want? Will it be carols under the tree, a big turkey, a new bike, expensive perfume?
How many of us are waiting for God? And will we recognise Him when He Comes?
Waiting…when we wait for Christmas what does that truly mean?

We need to feel loved, but do we feel that God loves us, in spite of all our human failings…are we afraid of getting up close and personal with God. When we wait for His coming at Christmas do we get side tracked by the ‘busyness’…
How can we prepare our hearts to meet him, so that our Christmas will be a super special closeness to Him?

The past few years have been tough, we have all had moments of loss, grief, ill health, worry and fear…it seems some of us have even lost hope.
How can a loving God allow all this suffering? Where is God in all our suffering?

We have to accept Jesus suffered and He told us that we too would suffer, but that we also would have great blessings in the Beatitudes which we studied earlier this year. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus asks God, His Father, to take the cup away but God does not. Christ dies a horrible, humiliating death but He and our God triumph on the third day in the Resurrection. It was all part of a much bigger plan!

Come on Sunday – Yes, it is actually Advent Sunday as we start reflecting on what waiting for God means for us in 2023. Bring the ‘gratitude attitude’ as we can be grateful, even in our suffering, His gift, Jesus Christ, is all we need. We can then respond to that gift of grace by giving ourselves.

With love and prayers

Susan

Licensed Reader