Knocking On The Door of Each Of Us
Julián Carrón - The Church today inaugurates the season of Advent, marking the beginning of a new liturgical year. This is not simply a cyclical repetition: Advent knocks at the door of each of us, pilgrims on the journey of life. Everyone goes through a particular phase of his or her existence, at a precise moment in history, and each year brings with it something new, as we ourselves are constantly evolving.
What peculiarities distinguish this Advent from past Advents? What does each of us really await? What expectation predominates in our hearts this year in the face of the circumstances each of us faces? Are we still capable of waiting for something, for some novelty? Where do we expect the renewal of life to come from? In a world marked by turmoil and uncertainty, where do we look for salvation?
Let us try to identify ourselves with the disciples who were following Jesus when he began to speak of the end times. His words still resonate today, “There will be signs in the sun, in the moon, in the stars, and on earth anguish of anxious peoples because of the roaring of the sea and the billows, while men will die in fear and expectation of what is to happen on earth.
For the powers of the heavens will be upset.”
Jesus spares his own no upheaval. The disciples will be challenged like every other human being on earth. We, who like the disciples seek to follow him, how will we be able to stand before any eventuality without succumbing to anguish and fear?
No strategy, no security plan would be able to free us from all these feelings of fear and anguish. What does Jesus promise his own to be able to cope with any upheaval? Only in the face of this question can we grasp the true meaning of his words.
“Then they will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with great power and glory.
When these things begin to happen, rise and lift your heads, for your deliverance is at hand.” What Jesus promises is thus more than any strategy: it is his presence in all his power.
What enabled the disciples to accept these words with confidence? Only their direct experience in living with Him. The disciples could not hear these words without having their eyes filled with the works of Jesus: they had seen Him calm the storm, witnessed extraordinary miracles, seen the resurrection of the dead, countless healings.
To deal with any future or present upheaval, Jesus offers His followers an even more precious gift than we could have imagined: the assurance of His presence, which they were constantly experiencing before their eyes. It is this presence that enables them to face anguish and fear in the face of any future upheaval.
Jesus' words resonated credibly with the disciples because they were anchored in the concrete experience they were having with Him. The invitation to “rise and lift their heads” was grounded in the tangible certainty of His presence.
That is why He only invites them to one thing: “Take heed to yourselves that your hearts may not be weighed down in dissipation, drunkenness, and the cares of life, and that that day may not suddenly come upon you; for like a snare it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.” But we, like the disciples, what do we have? What do we have today, at the beginning of our Advent?
Christ has come and will come to wake us up from any kind of loss, from any heavyness, and fill our lives with his presence. Advent waiting is not empty nostalgia, but the desire for this presence that has come to become more and more decisive in our existence. We wait precisely because He has already come, and His coming continues to be renewed in today.
The more His presence shapes our lives, the more we become sprouts of a new world,
witnesses of that positivity and love that we constantly receive. For we see coming true before us what the prophet Jeremiah announced in the first reading, “Behold, days will come-oracle of the Lord-in which I will fulfill the promises of good that I have made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous shoot to sprout, which will exercise judgment and justice in the earth.”
Jesus came so that, with Him, we can face any storm. On how we welcome His presence today will depend on our ability to face future challenges, whatever they may be.
The fundamental question that remains at the beginning of Advent is: what am I really waiting for this Advent? Do I wait for a presence that will transform my life ever more deeply and fill it with His presence to overcome any anguish?
Or do we put our hope elsewhere? Brothers, we can wait for many things, but who is really waiting for Him?
The author has not revised the text or the translation.
