Last August while in Ireland, I met for the first time the granddaughter of one of my cousins. Eve is her name. When I asked her how old she was, she said in her Irish brogue and without hesitation while throwing her arms up over her head so spontaneously and joyfully, “I’m ‘tree’ and I’m going to be four in December!” I am still enjoying that delightful encounter with Eve and SHE is my way into Advent this year.
Advent is all about the already and not yet. Just like Eve, we are already something and not yet something else. We are already in God through the great gift of the Incarnation and yet we are not yet filled as fully as we can be with all that this great mystery of Christ’s birth has in store for us. At one and the same time, we carry with us both joy and longing, both rootedness in God and a certain yearning for more to bloom in us.
Advent calls us into gratitude for what we already are and have and at the same time these weeks also invite us to open up even more. “Rejoice!” this Sunday’s entrance antiphon proclaims to us! Throw your arms up over your head and enjoy the presence of our loving God who is always with us! At the same time, though, “do not let your hands grow weak” (Zephaniah) or your hearts be satisfied. Make your needs known to God (Philippians) and be generous with your food and your clothing (Luke) for that is the way we show who God is.
We know well all in our world today who need our food and our clothing and so many other gifts that we have been given so that they too can “throw their arms up over their heads” in joy. Maybe they need our food of kindness and acceptance, and just as they are. Maybe they need our coats of care and compassion to warm their spirits into hope again. “Out of the mouth of babes,” as Psalm 8 says. Indeed! I thank you Eve for your gift to me last August and now too in Advent! I yearn too for even more joy and wisdom this year from the Babe of Bethlehem.
by Mary Ellen Sheehan, IHM, Monroe, MI