What Are We Waiting For?

The tagline of Advent is "wait and hope." But why? Human beings are experts at waiting and hoping. Waiting and hoping for that new job, a team win, a positive outcome for Uncle Jeff's surgery, or that God will soon find you a spouse. There are an abundance of things we wait and hope for. So what does it mean during Advent?

The answer--like many things in the Church--is simultaneously simple and difficult. We are waiting and hoping for Christ to be reborn in our hearts at Christmas; that's the simple part. But Advent is more than just preparing for Christ to come into our hearts; we must prepare our hearts for him.

The King cannot enter a place unless it has been swept clean and the occupants welcome him with open arms. Just as Mary was made immaculate to receive the King, so must our hearts be scoured in anticipation of his arrival. But which products to use for this spiritual scrubbing?

During Advent, we recall the humility with which Christ entered the world, the faith with which the shepherds and wise men accepted the Good News, the love God showed the world in bestowing upon it his only son, and the hope for Salvation the Christ Child brought with him. The practice of these virtues--humility, faith, hope, and love--which are products of sanctifying grace, are what we use to cleanse our souls and ready our dwelling for Christ. With these, we remove the dirt, we light a lamp in the window, and we dim the noise which surrounds us so that we can hear Jesus say, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Rev 3:20).