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While the description is frightening, it was meant to name for early Christians the reality they were experiencing. The world as they knew it was passing away. A natural human reaction to such a time is fear. Jesus suggests his disciples need not be afraid for signs of the end of an age indicate something new is emerging. Disciples can respond to traumatic times with patience, trusting in God. “Be vigilant at all times and pray,” Jesus tells his disciple.
On this first Sunday of Advent, we too are counseled to be watchful and patient amid the turmoil of our times, our lives. We are to trust that Light is coming to dispel darkness. We can wait for the dawn “in joy-filled hope,” knowing that Christ is being made incarnate in this time, in this place, in our lives. Rather than reacting with fear, we can respond to troubled times with an open mind, an open heart.
Reflecting on his experience of Advent while living in a Trappist monastery, Henri Nouwen wrote, “Advent does not lead to nervous tension stemming from expectation of something spectacular about to happen. On the contrary, it leads to a growing inner stillness and joy allowing me to realize that he for whom I am waiting has already arrived and speaks to me in the silence of my heart. Just as a mother feels the child grow in her and is not surprised on the day of the birth but joyfully receives the one she learned to know during her waiting, so Jesus can be born in my life slowly and steadily and be received as the one I learned to know while waiting.” (Henri Nouwen, The Genesee Diary) May it be so for all of us.