As we celebrate the Second Sunday in Advent today,
the second reading speaks to us about God’s time
lines.

How often I say in this column how quickly time
seems to pass by. Just realizing that we have again
celebrated Thanksgiving and are heading into
Christmas season, we wonder where do the days go.
But for the people of the Old Testament, as they
awaited the coming of the savior, time stretched before
them almost endlessly. They wondered why it was
taking God so long to fulfill his promise. They grew
tired along the way and forgot. They wandered away
and worshipped other gods. They lost faith in the God
of the covenant and looked elsewhere. Time and again God calls them back and renews that promise. And still they waited.

Jesus was sent when the time was right. God’s time is
not measured in years but in the readiness of the
moment. As with every birth, the baby arrives when it
is ready to be born. We can approximate a delivery
date but how often is that date wrong!

So too it is that when God chooses the right time, he
enters into our lives and brings us the gifts of His love
and salvation. No one of us can determine or force
God into action. God arrives in His own time!
As we approach Christmas, many children (and adults
too!) grow excited and impatient for the day to arrive.
And that anticipation is at the heart of the Advent
Season.

And so we wait; we light our Advent candles, one
week at a time; and we prepare our hearts for THE
arrival. As we pray: Come Lord Jesus, Come!!