Advent: We beg, 'Make us turn to you'

		Living the Scriptures  with St. Paul University  Catholic Center  Fr. Randy Timmerman

My six-year-old nephew yelled up from his grandparent's basement "I'm hiding and no one is looking for me."

Several of us were playing a game of hide and seek and were interrupted by a neighbor stopping over - we all got busy chatting and forgot that we were in the middle of a game.

I am reminded of that event each Advent. Advent helps me to pause and ask "am I looking for God?" or " am I busy about other things?"

First Sunday of Advent (Nov. 27, 2005) Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7 Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 1 Cor 1:3-9 Mk 13:33-37

Now God is not hiding, but the question remains, "am I looking for God?" Jesus offers, "Watch therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: (watch!)"

We know the Lord of the house may come suddenly. We have received those painful phone calls informing us of the death of a loved one. Obituaries and the television daily remind us of the Lord's sudden coming.

Somehow if sudden death finds one in the "evening" of life, as in a long life, we find it easier to accept than when sudden death arrives for a child or a young person in the "morning" of life.

However, the second half of that teaching is where caution lies, "do not be found sleeping." This is not about physical sleep but spiritual sleep. Rest assured the Lord of the house will come for me. Do not let this truth slip from your consciousness.

Along with this truth of his return for me comes the realization of accountability or a day of reckoning. The master of those servants will return.

Recent Gospels have reminded us that we are servants and tenants rather than the landowner or property owner. We are to be the spouse of Christ with the proper garment and not some invited guests at a banquet. I will be held accountable for the talents entrusted to me and how they have given glory to God.

Reflection questions • What must you say and do to be "looking for God" this Advent? How can you prepare your heart for the Lord's sudden coming whether you are young or in the "evening" of life? • What is the place of resistance this Advent for you in the prayer of "help me to give up what you want me to give up"? Ask God for the grace to find His presence in this place of resistance and trust that He will be found there.

Our interior spiritual life needs complete vigilance, attentiveness, and discipline. Where do we start and how can we be assured we are not asleep on this matter?

Turn to the cry of the psalmist: "Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved." It is a bold demand and not a wimpy plea. With confidence we implore the Lord to make us turn towards him.

A prayer for this Advent might be, "Lord, help me to go where you want me to go. Help me to speak what you want me to speak. Help me to do what you want me to do and help me to give up what you want me to give up."

Fr. Randy Timmerman is pastor of St. Paul University Catholic Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

St. Paul's Web site is www.stpaulscc.org

Faith Alive!

In a Nutshell During Advent we wait. The waiting takes the form of longing. What do we long for? Our Advent waiting and longing can be priceless experiences! Isn't this longing really God's action in our hearts, prompting us in fresh directions? What we long for is beyond imagining. Scripture says, "It has not entered into the mind of humankind" what God has prepared for us. Catholic News Service 3211 Fourth St NE Washington DC 20017 202.541.3250 cns@catholicnews.com	Food for Thought   It is said quite often that a spiritual thirst co-exists in today's society alongside a seeming lack of interest in things having to do with God. Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh, Pa., brought this up at the October 2005 world Synod of Bishops in Rome. He said he believes that a reason for the great popularity of the World Youth Days started during John Paul II's papacy is the "sense among some of our young people that the secular, material world does not provide them sufficient answers for their lives." Bishop Wuerl said, "There is a hunger for God and the things of the spirit, but it needs to be encouraged, informed and directed." There is an "authentic thirst for God and for an intimate, personal relationship with him" that is a "sign of the times," Pope John Paul II once said. This is, he added, a desire for meaning in life. The late pope called this a "silent pilgrimage to the living truth." Leaders in the church, he said, need to ask "whether they have paid sufficient attention to the thirst of the human heart for the true 'living water.'" full story   Advent: Season of spiritual longing By Leisa Anslinger Catholic News Service A gift we might give ourselves this Advent would be to spend a bit of time alone or with others and simply to allow God to be perceived. "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." The words resound in parish churches at this time of year. But the more realistic refrain for many of us might sound something like this: "Let us perceive Emmanuel!" We know that God is always with us, but often don't perceive Christ's presence in our lives. full story  What are we waiting for? By Father Frederic Maples, SJ Catholic News Service Here is a truth that can be difficult for we 21st-century people living in the fast lanes of our lives: Waiting is a priceless experience in its own right! During Advent we wait. We remember the longing of the Jewish people for the Messiah's coming and their centuries of waiting. We recall our Christian longing and waiting for the Messiah's second coming. full story  An Advent story about a man named Ben By Jean Sweeney Catholic News Service Men and women come to spiritual direction for many different reasons. Some have come with a yearning that matches the longing we find in the Advent season. Ben, an active man in the church, came with a restlessness of spirit. He was looking for something deeper in him and in his relationship with God. It was a longing he had difficulty articulating -- more like a glimpse that life could be fuller and truer. There was an emptiness in him, he said. He felt he wasn't really known by others or God. His faith and his life felt like a performance. full story
	Faith in the Marketplace   This Week's Discussion Point: Tell what it means -- what it is like -- to experience a sense of spiritual longing.     Selected Response From Readers:
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