The waves lapped on the rocky beach as my children waded into the clear mountain lake. As I sat reading a novel next to my husband in the shade of a pine tree, I forgot the troubles of this year 2020 for two hours even while the haze of wildfire smoke hung over the mountains. We were spending a much-needed break in the refuge of a National Park.
When we packed up our beach things and headed back to the car, masks ready to use, I was jolted back to reality. Even on our vacation, we could not escape entirely.
"Behold, I am coming soon" (Revelation 22:7). The Lord’s words break through our present darkness.
Soon. The Lord is coming soon. Another liturgical year comes to an end; a new year starts tomorrow, and we are still waiting. Ever since the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we have been awaiting the end of our tribulations, and many generations have faced trials harder than ours. We have longed for Our God to save us from the weakness, the confusion, the sin, the suffering, and death.
Advent begins tomorrow in which we enter into the waiting for the birth of Our Savior. But we also await His coming again. He will come again, and when He comes, Our God will be all of the light we need. He will wash away all the sorrows we have borne, and He will lift us up in glory.
That is, if we heed Christ’s warning to not become drowsy and fall into sins and the anxieties of life (see Luke 21:34-36). The life of a Christian is a life of vigilance. We must be aware at all times of our weaknesses. We must hold fast to the crosses we bear, uniting them to His Cross. We must soak in the graces we receive in the Sacraments and in our daily conversations in prayer with Our Lord.
And then we will have the strength, His strength, to persevere until the end and enter into the beautiful life He promises us.
We hope you will join us in our Advent journal this year, narrated by Susanna Spencer.
Susanna Spencer holds a master's in Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville and is the Content and Theological Editor for Blessed is She. She is a freelance writer, editor, and speaker living with her philosopher husband and four kids in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She loves reading theology, attending beautiful liturgies, cooking delicious food, and casually following baseball. She is the author of the Gospel Studies including Seek His Kingdom: A Meditation on Matthew; narrator for Found: Advent With the Good Shepherd and Rescued: Lent With the Lamb of God; a contributing author to our children’s devotional prayer book, Rise Up; and Theological Editor of the Blessed Conversations Studies. Find out more about her here.
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