We are certainly in the season of Advent. How do I know? Well, everyone is rushing around trying to get ready for Christmas! It can be a very stressful and intense time. Fr. George Aschenbrenner, S.J. once said “We should not confuse intensity with profundity. Just because an experience is intense doesn’t mean it is profound”.
So then how do we create profound experiences during the intense situations we may find ourselves in? One way that is suggested by Ascension Press in their REJOICE series is to spend some extra time with God and place yourself amidst the Advent Story; for if Christmas is meant to change our lives, then we need to take the time to enter into the changing.
During this Advent season, can I sit patiently with God and share with him who I am with all my heartaches? Can we name the aches in our lives? I think we share some of the same aches – the ache of wanting to be intimate with God and others, the ache of longing to be recognized, known, loved, held. Ah, but can we admit these aches to ourselves? To do so and name them would make us vulnerable and dependent on God. This is hard for those of us who want to be in control and avoid the aches. We try so hard to avoid being with ourselves and engaging with God in the wait.
Does God want to be with us in our aches, messiness, and brokenness? My answer would be YES! Why else would he have been born in a messy stable instead of a palace? God wants to be born in the messiest places of our lives. Why not open your heart to him and share your aches?
During this Advent Season, spend time opening your heart to your aches, accepting your brokenness, and pay attention to the places you find yourself in. Pray with Psalm 37:3-7 during this week, recognize where you are presently and know, that God wants to be with you – brokenness and all!
Till next week,
Sister Theresita
P.S.: While writing this a friend called and we talked about brokenness, and how our light can shine through it like light shining through a piece of broken glass. God has created us so our light can shine forth despite our aches!
