THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Offaly columnist reflects on Advent

READY or not it is Advent. It began last Sunday and many of us are already preparing our homes and families to observe this season. As the commercial world about us readies itself for the Christmas season we are invited to take a step back and view the bigger picture and now perhaps more than ever before, in this time of so many crisis around our country and our world, we are being called to stay awake, to stay watchful, to keep our eyes, our hearts and minds wide open and free to recognise the light of God’s presence shining within our own heart.

If approached in a spirit of openness, Advent can be an opportunity to deepen our sense of God who walks alongside us on the journey of life. It is somewhat like a mini Lent before Christmas. We are invited to set aside some extra time and space for prayer, reflection and good works. Many of us are wondering, how could we possibly enter into the celebration of Advent if we are paying attention to what is happening to our beautiful country and our world that we all live in.

How do we celebrate or turn our thoughts and hearts towards Christmas when our hearts are broken by the fact that nearly 15,000 people, families and children are going to be homeless in our country this Christmas? Then there is the direct provision and asylum/refugee crisis, climate change upheaval, so many conflicts and wars in our world, the challenges of forming a new government, our illness and financial worries and the craziness of our country and the world at the moment, where human life is worth nothing anymore and is so meaningless.

These days, celebration can seem heartless and uncaring, if not outright impossible. But here’s the thing: we enter into Advent precisely because we are paying attention. It’s because everything hurts, that we prepare for Advent. It’s because we have stood in hospital rooms, mortuaries and grave sides, empty churches and quiet bedrooms, that we resolutely light our Advent candles. We don’t get to have hope without having grief and sadness. Hope dares to admit that not everything is as it should be, and so if we want to be hopeful, first we have to grieve. First we have to see that something is broken and there is a reason for why we need hope to begin with and hope to wait.

Let's prepare the way

Our Scripture readings in Advent deal with preparing the way for the Lord. The readings encourage us to repent and John the Baptist is preparing the way for the arrival of Jesus and there is a plan in place and it is actioned. During this past year, wars, conflicts and cost of living crises have had a significant impact on all our lives.

Our plans and resolutions for 2024 needed to change and adjust as we were in a cost of living crisis because of various wars and conflicts in our world. As we near the end of 2024 and as we progress through this season of Advent, perhaps it is time to reflect on where we are. Each of us can help others to love more.

Just as John the Baptist promised that Jesus “will baptise you with the Holy Spirit”, and I believe the Holy Spirit to be the Love which unites the Trinity, which “is” the Trinity. God’s love, forgiveness, compassion and mercy is available to all and perhaps we each need to show love, forgiveness, compassion and mercy for ourselves, to adopt some “me time” during Advent.

There is nothing selfish about having "me time" for ourselves, loving the person that we are so that each of us can help other people to love more and do more good while we still have time. Perhaps it is time to be kind to the person that is me. Let each of us start by loving ourselves and then each of us can help other people to love more and as I said to do good while we all still have time. So often we become so accustomed to our life being filled with the stresses and turmoil of daily life that we think it is normal. We just got used to it. We sort of cope with things. We have long forgotten what peace looks like and don’t recognize it when we see it. Listen closely to what people talk about, and you will find that the stresses and turmoil of our times has robbed people of their peace. At this Advent season we can reflect on where we are and come back to the restorer of our peace who is Christ Our Lord. One of the main themes for Advent Reflections this year is The Light Bearers. Each of us has a part to play in bearing the light. Using readings set for the Advent season, we can focus on how we can reflect the love, peace and light of God in the midst of violence, conflict and darkness in our world at present. As you prepare, pray and wait for Christmas and journey through Advent, it is my prayer that we may all find a way to build a more Christ-childlike world.

Advent examination

Speaking of waiting, I was at my doctor's waiting room recently getting malaria tablets for my most recent trip to Africa and as usual for me I was early so I had to wait in line with other patients. If you are like me, as soon as I enter a waiting room or line up in a queue for some meeting or event, I start to feel uncomfortable. There is something about the not-knowing how long you will be there for. And then there’s the uncertainty of what the doctor in my case or whoever it is, it could be a parents teacher waiting room at a school or a bank waiting area, you're waiting to see what they will say when you finally get in. I try to rehearse what I will say. I get impatient and keep looking at the surgery clock on the wall.

The silence is a deafening one; the cloud of stress and worry arising from a room or a line full of patients with loud sighs and various movements, and each dealing with their own worries and preoccupations, feeling restless and in-between. And then, when the call finally comes from the doctor to enter, I never feel prepared. It always feels like an unexpected and rude interruption, though it was what I was waiting for, all along. The season of Advent can be a bit like that as we wait in anticipation for Christmas and the coming of the Christ child. Occurring at the time of year when the earth moves towards the Winter Solstice, when the days are gradually shortening and a chill in the air replaces a soft breeze, Advent conjures up a time of twilight, expectancy and waiting. Trees bravely shed their beauty and stand stark and naked in the freezing cold. A crisp frost covers the ground.

A sense of the impending winter is in the air. We pause in silence and gather to remember and to prepare. Advent for many people is a time of waiting for the coming of the Lord, and many prayer services and liturgies provide us with beautiful experiences and reminders of the glory of the One who is to come. Daily we can make an Advent examination. Are there any feelings of discrimination toward race, gender, or religion? Is there a lingering resentment, an unforgiven injury living in our hearts? Do we look down upon others of lesser social standing or educational achievement? Are we generous with the gifts that have been given to us, seeing ourselves as their stewards and not their owners? Are we reverent of others, their ideas and needs, and of creation? These and other questions become Advent lights by which we may search the deep, dark corners of our hearts. We wait for the coming of the Lord. We are encouraged to ‘Awake and keep watch!’

However we also need to awaken to the fact that the Lord is waiting for us. There is a sense in which we do not need to wait for God. God is always present in a myriad of ways, around us, among us, between us, within us. Do we not need to awaken to the wonder and mystery of this? For those who are awake and for those who see as Gerard Manley Hopkins used to say, can see ‘The earth is charged with the grandeur of God’.

Ultimate hope

Also for a lot of us life speeds up around this time of year although it will be a different type of Christmas this strange year. There are still Christmas decorations to be put up and gift shopping to be done and hopefully Christmas services and carol services to prepare and attend. It has the potential to be a season of manic hype and fun, but it also has the potential to be full of pressure and worrisome stress. There can be tensions and escalating fears, about our personal circumstances and the injustice and disparity in our own life, in our families, in our town, country and world every day. Or the people walking in deep grief, homelessness, addiction, loneliness and those abandoned on the edges of our society at a time when we’re supposed to be really happy and excited about Christmas and the future. I think of the pressure people feel, to shop and buy a better existence, a happier family, a stronger relationship, a whole new identity.

The pressure to buy things that represent a quality of life that can’t be bought. It is hard to see Advent as a Season of Hope when you are suffering from an incurable illness, the worries of the financial difficulties, mental health difficulties, homelessness, being a refugee, living in Direct provision, suffering from addiction, unemployed and abandoned on the edges of society. But Advent is a season of Hope and we must make it so for our people in need in our country. It is a season full of anticipation and hope.

In my family growing up we always kept an Advent wreath whose four burning candles reminded us of the spirit of the season and served to build anticipation for the coming joy of the Christmas celebration. Just the other day I was powerfully reminded of the symbolic importance of the Advent wreath through a beautiful allegory a close friend shared with me. It goes like this: "For me this is an important reminder that hope is an integral part of our Christian faith. The reality of Christ’s birth reminds us that God has a plan to conquer the pain, sufferings and misfortunes of humanity’s existence. That plan consists of the birth of the Christ child in a manger over 2,000 years ago. As we prepare to celebrate the birth of the “ultimate hope” let us reflect on our own abundance or dearth of this vital virtue. Is our “Hope” candle still burning bright? If so, you may be surprised at how many other candles you can light, and how many lives you can touch. As usual a story might help.

A moment of learning

The following true story that happened to me awhile back in my early days living in the midlands before we were blessed with our two beautiful daughters. One day on my way home from a long day at work, I stopped off in a garage on the way out of Tullamore for petrol and to grab a bottle of water and a few treats for myself and my wife. As I got closer to the entrance of the shop after filling my car with some petrol, I noticed a ragged middle aged woman maybe in her mid 50's stepping towards me rather meekishly.

She looked me in the eye and said in a low soft tearful voice, 'Please, can you help me' ..'Sorry', I said abruptly as I cut her off, pushing by her dismissively. Once inside I paid for my petrol and got my bottle of water and a few treats and paid for them with a crispy €50 note and waited for the change. I headed back out of the shop drinking my water and thinking and hoping that the ragged middle aged woman would not be there. But I wasn't so lucky. There she was standing silently in the same spot. I raced by pretending not to see her. I got back into my car and drove away as fast as I could and thought about how nice it would be to get home to a cold beer and delicious food my wife will have cooked for me.

That's when a wave of remorse and sadness and failure came over me. I just realized how selfish and unloving and greedy I had just been to that ragged middle aged woman. I brushed her off with the scorn that often comes easily to us who might have some of the comfortable necessities of life. What an unloving, uncaring and insensitive person I was. I stopped the car and said a prayer of apology and then got myself into action and turned the car around and headed back to the petrol station, this time hoping and praying that the middle aged woman would be still there. And thankfully she was. I got out of my car and walked to her seeing the same meekness and despair on her face as I had seen just moments ago.

She seemed afraid this time as I approached her. But I put her fear at rest when I shamefully apologized for not helping her the first time. I brought her into a nearby cafe and we had a coffee and I found out that she had been homeless through domestic violence and financial problems and only for some of the homeless and social charities and some kind priests and nuns she would have been in a worse case. Her life story was harrowing but not too unlike many people's stories over the past number of years of austerity and recession who live in our midst here in our beautiful country of Ireland. I kept saying how sorry I was for not helping her in the first case. I cried my eyes out as I drove home that evening and I can still hear her words in my ears as I left her after our coffee, "God bless you and keep you". she said.

Four burning candles of Advent that bring hope

In a world where on some days it seems like there is nothing but hate and destruction the story of the four candles will hopefully provide some inspiration that faith, love, peace will triumph. A world without Hope is truly a world that I don’t think many people would want to live in. If you are going through dark days then I can only wish that you find the Hope required to provide the light you need to get through those dark days. "In a room there were four candles burning. The ambiance was so soft you could hear them talking.

The first one said, “I am PEACE, however nobody can keep me lit. I believe I will go out.” It’s flame rapidly diminishes and goes out completely. The second one says, “I am FAITH. Most of all I am no longer indispensable, so it does not make any sense that I stay lit any longer.” When it finished talking a breeze softly blew on it putting it out. Sadly, the third candle spoke in its turn. “I am LOVE. I have not gotten the strength to stay lit. People put me aside and don’t understand my importance. They even forget to love those who are nearest to them.” And waiting no longer, it goes out. Suddenly a child entered the room and saw three candles not burning. “Why are you not burning? You are supposed to stay lit till the end.” Saying this the child began to cry.

Then the fourth candle said, “Don’t be afraid, while I am still burning we can re-light the other candles, I am HOPE.” With shining eyes, the child took the candle of Hope and lit the other candles. I always pray that the flame of Hope will never go out from our life's so that each of us can maintain HOPE, FAITH, PEACE and LOVE."

Thought for the week

As your thought for the week, please remember that Advent matters, because it’s our way of keeping our eyes and our hearts and our arms all wide open even in the midst of our grief and longing. The weary world is still waiting in so many ways, in so many hearts, in so many places, for the fullness of Our Lord and his kingdom to come. Advent reminds us that God seeks us out where we are right now. Not where we should be by our own or anyone else’s estimation. So please be mindful of the people and children in need around you, especially our elderly and those who find themselves through no fault of their own and lovingly try to help out as much as possible with your time and with some of your 'good things' if you can afford too. Advent is the perfect time to clear and prepare the Way.

Advent is a winter training camp for those who desire peace. By reflection and prayer, by reading and meditation, we can make our hearts a place where a blessing of peace would desire to abide and where the birth of the Prince of Peace might take place. Let's try to make our country a place of love, peace and care for all our people, especially our children and for those who might feel marginalized and alone and afraid. Let's always make our country a place of Hope and a place where a Prince of Peace may be born....now that is something we can be proud to do!!! In the stillness of Advent we learn to be active in proclaiming the kingdom of God and in spreading the good news of the Gospel.

We are mindful too of the words, attributed to St. Francis Of Assisi, ‘Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary also with words.’ A prayer I say during Advent time for everyone in need of a prayer of Hope especially for our loved ones that are sick, unwell, homeless, abandoned and in need of our actions of love and caring goes as follows - "Emmanuel, Our world waits in darkness longing for Your light. In the midst of darkness, en-kindle our hope. As we long for lasting peace in the midst of war, Be with us. As we long for families to be reunited, Be with us. As we long for homeless and abandoned people in our communities to be cared for, Be with us. As we long for enemies to be reconciled, Be with us. As we long for cures and healing, Be with us. As we long for decent jobs and decent homes and shelter and economic security, Be with us. As we long for love and community, Be with us. Fulfill the deepest longings of your people and Dispel the darkness in our hearts and in our world. Let your Word ignite the hope the world needs to bring to life your love and justice. May this Advent season be a time for bringing hope, transformation and fulfillment into the real living of our lives. Amen."

I encourage you this season of Advent to make yourself a little sacred space, a holy place you have set aside for prayer, meditation, and worship. A place for daily devotion and rest. A place that draws your heart like a little child into the stillness and the wonder of Advent. I encourage you this season of Advent to make yourself a little sacred space, a holy place you have set aside for prayer, meditation, and worship. A place for daily devotion and rest. A place that draws your heart like a little child into the stillness and the wonder of Advent. God bless you and keep you safe always! And so, this Advent, the candles of the Advent wreath should remind me that it is not Christmas yet. There’s still darkness around us, yet the light will come. We have a season in which to give our faith a workout, in which to exercise our hope muscles. Some years make that exercise more difficult than others.

But it’s Advent now, and, as people of faith, we are called upon to exercise our hope. If hope isn’t created for times such as these—when countries are divided, when war and conflicts of all sorts annihilates whole communities and sends refugees fleeing, when hungry children are ignored because their interests are of no interest to powerful entities, when human beings are trafficked by the thousands to be used for sex or cheap labor, when industry and wealth win over the health of the planet and all its creatures and the global community—if hope isn’t created for times such as these, then why have hope at all? So let’s try this Advent once again. Let’s practice a hopeful way of being in the world. Let's sing the advent songs. Ring the bells. Put up the decorations. Tell the stories. Give lots and lots to all sorts of worthy charities.

Open our homes to those who need welcome; pretend that each one of them is the baby Jesus, born on the road and needing help. Use our creative gifts: to write, bake, paint, act, make quilts or sound financial plans. Go to our churches. Go to the neighbourhood hang-out or the family party. Pay attention to the children and always welcome all of them. Don’t leave our homeless or pets out in the cold. Don’t give up prayer because life feels raw and scary. Don’t hurry through Advent because you’re not terribly good at living it; just let it live in the real life you have. Don’t forget that God loves you. And please don’t forget that God loves everybody else too. He came for us all. Together, we wait for the holy child.