Last week, I suggested that this Advent we focus on preparing the Way of the Lord to receive Him in our hearts while we keep praying, "COME LORD JESUS". When we pray these three powerful words, do we think of Jesus' first coming at Christmas (The Perfect Gift) or do we think of Jesus' second coming at the end of time, the Day of Final Judgment? Or are we simply asking Jesus to come and stay in our own hearts right NOW? When is Jesus coming? IS JESUS COMING TODAY?
I was invited to give an Advent talk to a group of young Catholic women earlier this week. By coincidence (or God's incidence) I was asked to talk about "ADVENT AND THE COMING OF JESUS, COME LORD JESUS!" The interesting part was not my talk (it is always difficult for me to connect in virtual meetings, when unable to see the reactions of individuals) but rather the questions and reflections by the participants.
I will share only some of the takeaways from our discussion: it does not matter where we live, it does not matter what are our personal circumstances, we all face sufferings (including some linked to the pandemic) but our Faith in God, our Faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ gives all of us HOPE. When we truly seek the presence of God in our lives, we find out that OUR LORD JESUS IS ALREADY within us. HE HAS ALREADY COME. HIS SPIRIT IS ALWAYS WITHIN US even when we feel abandoned and cannot find His Love. As I had mentioned in my talk the great example of Mother Teresa (the Saint I call my friend) in loving the poor, and seeing in each of them the face of Christ, some participants commented on how they have found Jesus through other people assisting them in unexpected and loving ways.
So the question is no longer when has our Lord come, or when is he coming, or IS HE COMING TODAY? The real question is: Have we already found Jesus? Have we found HIM in the faces and actions of our friends, family members, parish members, and neighbors? Have we found the presence of Jesus when praying in silence? Have we found Jesus in our meditation on the Gospels? Have we found the face of Jesus in the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament? Have we found the Love of Jesus when receiving His Body in the Eucharist? Have people found Jesus in us?
Right now, today in December 2020 in Waldorf, we live between these two comings of Christ. Like St Bernard, 1,000 years ago, we can talk about a third coming of Christ, HIS COMING IN SPIRIT. Today, Jesus is not coming in the flesh as at Christmas. Today, Jesus is not coming in his glorified body as at the final judgment. Today, Jesus is coming in SPIRIT. Today we can meet Jesus in SPIRIT. His Holy Spirit is coming into our hearts: Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus is also coming at every Mass. We cannot see Jesus at Mass, but we can feel His presence throughout the entire Mass and we can receive His Body in the EUCHARIST. Like Mother Teresa, we can see Christ today in others, and we can pray that others can see Christ in us.
Let us pray with Mother Teresa, the prayer that she prayed with her sisters every day at time of Communion: "Dear Jesus, help me to spread Thy fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Thy spirit and love. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine.
Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Thy presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus. Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as You shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. Amen."