Persistent preparation: The counter-cultural call of Advent

By Sr. Diana Rawlings
Catholic Online

The season of Advent strikes me as a paradox. We're called to darkness but blinded by lights. We espouse a quiet longing while advertisers bark "Buy more! Buy now!"

In the relentless pursuit of a competitive edge, retailers rolled out the holiday red carpet earlier than ever this year, offering bigger bells and louder whistles. And we heeded their gun shot, rolled up our sleeves and commenced the race, chasing limited-time sales, bidding on eBay, ordering over-night delivery. Little time, much to do.

Today's box-office winners reflect our appetite for unceasing action. "Happy Feet" contains almost nonstop musical numbers, packing in the Beach Boys, Queen and Prince. "Casino Royale" is a blur of martial arts: leaping off buildings, diving down stairwells and fighting on towering cranes.

"The Nativity Story" - a film that portrayed "no chemistry" between Mary and Joseph, one critic griped - didn't stand a chance.

Pop culture is urging us to go ahead and throw the party, sound the horn, eat the cake, buy the coat. And the church is whispering: Wait. Anticipate. Long.

Advent, after all, means "arrival." We are awaiting the coming of Christ, making ourselves more ready for the Savior every day.

That's the theme of Advent Scripture: persistent preparation.

On the first Sunday, Paul tells us: "As you have received from us how you should conduct yourselves to please God - and as you are conducting yourselves - you do so even more."

Raise the bar. Work even harder to better yourself.

Paul's exhortation on the second Sunday sounds similar: "This is my prayer: That your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception to discern what is of value so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ."

"More and more" and "even more." Keep at it. Persist.

The Adorers realize that's a counter-cultural message, to persist in a society of instant gratification, to contemplate in a frantic, noisy age. That's why we created a discernment program called LifeChoices. Our trained counselors help people navigate life's cluttered canvas to make decisions that are both informed and inspired - of the head and the heart.

We don't push you one way or another. We're a sounding board, a listener, a friend. We empower you to carve a life that will ring true to your innermost being, the core that so easily can be muffled by others' expectations and the chorus of conformity.

When people meet me, they immediately realize I'm an outgoing woman. I enjoy connecting and sharing with others. I'm a people person, a capital E on the Myers-Briggs spectrum of extraversion to introversion.

So some are surprised to learn how critical my daily prayer is. It slows me down, puts things in perspective and nurtures my soul. It is my fountain of peace.

When Pope John Paul II spoke at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, he urged us busy Americans to make time for prayer. "Through the prayer of Christ to which we give voice," he said, "our day is sanctified, our activities transformed, our actions made holy."

He wasn't asking us to cease from our activities, but to frame them in prayer, and therefore, to transform them.

That can guide our Advent actions. Whether we are praying or shopping, whether we are stilled by a Christmas fire or stalled in a traffic jam, we can make it all holy. And when we do, we'll be ready for Christ.

_________________

Diana Rawlings is the director of vocations for the U.S. Region of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ. For more information about LifeChoices®, log onto www.adorers.org or call 877-236-7377.

The Adorers of the Blood of Christ is an international congregation founded in Italy by St. Maria De Mattias.

Some 1,850 Sisters now minister in 27 nations on all the continents in the areas of education, health care, spiritual development and social justice. Nearly 400 ASC sisters minister in 17 of the United States and in Korea, Bolivia, Guatemala and Rome, making it the largest of the international congregation's nine provinces. U.S. Region headquarters are in St. Louis, Mo.

Contact

Adorers of the Blood of Christ
http://www.adorers.org MN, US
Sr. Diana Rawlings, ASC - Vocation Director, 612 709-6467

Email

krystaniznick@comcast.net

Keywords

Advent

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