Longing

Happy are all who long for the coming of the Lord.
(Psalm response, Saturday of the 1st week of Advent)

This season of Advent brings with it its own joy. Like the building joy of a pregnant mother waiting for her baby to be born. Mary, pregnant, riding on a donkey, continues to be my Advent focus.  My spiritual metronome is the clip-clop of a plodding donkey, slow and steady. It counters beautifully the frenetic building pressure of a world screeching, "only three weeks 'till Xmas!".

The longing of Advent is for something much bigger. It's a longing for the return of Jesus. As Saint  Paul writes, "creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed... We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time." Rms. 8:19,22.

So today I join with all creation in my longing which, in turn, brings with it great joy.

Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus come.
Saint Joseph, pray for me.