Reflection for Afternoon Prayer, 1st Sunday of Advent 2021

Advent, from the Latin, means coming toward or coming to. So, on December 25 we celebrate, we experience, we wonder at God’s Advent, God’s arrival. You could say that we have an appointment with the Lord.

How should we prepare? For family and community it’s a celebration and so requires much preparation, and we are familiar with this. At the same time it should be a personal encounter and this echoes the Martha - Mary challenge: the necessary community preparation set against the need for personal time with the Lord: busy-ness on the one hand and quiet anticipation on the other.

The parable of the Prodigal Son can be an example for our journey to The Encounter. The son was lost, in every way. He wanted to go to that place, that person, where he might find food and shelter. In desperation he embarked on his solitary journey from a foreign land, probably from that place within himself that was so far away from his father, his home and all that was meaningful to him.

As he trudged home he would have been totally absorbed, going over and over in his mind what he would say, his confession of his failure, his sin against his father.

We know what happened. His Father gave him no chance to speak and rushed to embrace him. Nothing was said; the silent embrace expressed more than words ever could, both the father’s love and the son’s contrition. As the Persian poet and mystic, Rumi, wrote 800 years ago, “The language of God is silence.”

So how might these thoughts help us prepare for our own personal encounter on December 25, or any future time? The first step is that we must make the journey, not necessarily physically, but from our busy-ness. Set aside some time at the end of the day (or first thing in the morning) to sit quietly, to be with Jesus –“Just you and me, Lord.” Practise sitting quietly without thinking about what you need to do or about anything else. Distractions always come but simply return to “You and me, Lord.” Or concentrate on your breathing – breathe in the Holy Spirit, breath out your distractions and worries. Be rhythmical and relaxed and this settles the mind. Or you might slowly, deliberately, reverently recite a decade of the Rosary, leading to stillness and quiet.

If one day you suddenly realise that you have been sitting without thinking then God has gifted you with silence, two have become one. And if God has touched you then you are changed.

We are urged in the psalm, “Be still, and know that I am God.”