John Henry Newman said that the greatest desire in the human heart is waiting. Waiting for what or waiting for who?
The whole Advent season is about this desire. The gospel of this Sunday quickly tells us who we are waiting for: the Son of Humankind. But we know that he came already, in the flesh. The liturgy of this Sunday takes us back to this starting point. It leads us to revive this expectation, this waiting, the openness to what comes. The First Testament witnesses a long waiting in faith. Think of this myriads of people waiting for the Messiah, for God’s promise for his people, with this beautiful verse:
Isaiah 63: 19: “ that you would rend the heavens and come down….”
We know and feel that there is from the beginning of our journey a dissatisfaction in us; a dissatisfaction of who we are, of what we have to live. This dissatisfaction is maybe the inverse of the of the hope expressed by Isaiah for a new creation. We are, as St. Paul states (2Corithians 5:17), the new creature, created to meet one’s God; But it is not us who walk the path; it is God who is coming towards us. Does it mean that we must be passive, doing nothing? No, our doing is to wait for him and to welcome him. Like Mary at the Annunciation, her “yes” was extremely aware and free. She expressed her full desire to receive the promise made to her people.
Stay awake, warns Jesus. But he does not say what it means. St Paul in the second reading speaks of a daily morality – nothing exceptional. In the gospel, Jesus speaks of ordinary people going to work in the fields, grinding at the mill etc… Nothing extraordinary. So where is the difference? It is the inner attitude that changes everything.
We can go to work for the common good or to make money in a selfish way. Our relationships can foster life in us and between us or they can damage it. Some attitudes do serve our deep desire; others do not. Let us ask ourselves where we are, what we desire to live, what we really want. If our desire is true, if it is healthy, leading us to more humanity, then our way of waiting is always present even when we do not think of it. It becomes a habit, a habit that leads to the true joy. It is this invisible dimension of what we live; it is the joy of the kingdom. It is so deep in our monastic life where the radicality of our life leads to this profound integrity of who we are; we know that it takes time to get rid of all the rootlets of our selfishness, our fears and self-centeredness. But let us remember what Jesus said in the gospel of John:
The one who makes the truth comes to the light
Christ came, Christ is coming and Christ will come again.
The Advent Season reminds us of this so that we can stay aware of the Mystery of Christ, of his presence which surrounds us, his presence always new and unannounced, his love that never fails to meet us where we are.
Sr. Claire Bouttin, Superior
First Sunday of Advent Cycle November 30, 2025
