Come, Lord Jesus: You’re ‘Someone’ worth waiting for

By Casey Sprehe, NOLA Catholic Parenting

“The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light.”

This line from Isaiah captures many moments for me. Embracing the fullness of the faith in high school was a moment for me of seeing a great light. Laboring for the birth of my children ended in a great light of their births.

This Advent journey is a time of hopeful darkness to the moment of the Incarnation. I desire to see the light of Christ made manifest Christmas morning.

Advent is a time of waiting, of longing, of truly begging “Come, Lord Jesus.” Those who genuinely wait upon the Lord will not be disappointed.

The universal church wouldn’t celebrate this Advent time with such solemnity of devotion did it not contain within it some great mystery. The intentionality with which we observe Advent is directly related to how Christ-centered our Christmas is.

However, we can’t expect to turn on the sacred switch of holiness on Christmas Eve. The consumerism mentality has already won if we wait until then. It is an active battle throughout Advent that we must fight against.

The Amazon Christmas magazine came out at the very beginning of November. My kids devoured it. Every page circled, noted and tagged. It reminded me of how excited I’d get as a kid when the Toys R Us catalog would come to my mailbox.

Today’s culture does its job to prepare our children for Christmas from a materialistic and consumerist standpoint. It’s up to us to prepare them for the greater and real meaning of Christmas.

“They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). Waiting and trusting in God’s plan is very difficult for us.

Why is waiting so hard? We live in an instant gratification society. Amazon Prime, grocery store pickups and deliveries reduce our wait considerably. I’m frustrated when my computer takes too long to load and can’t even imagine what it would be like to go back to the AOL days of the little man sprinting to connect me to the World Wide Web. Today, it seems like a turtle’s pace. My kids are frustrated by previews and commercials. We want what we want when we want it. Believers included.

During Advent, we are encouraged to wait upon the Lord. The Israelites were awaiting the Messiah, the anointed one of Israel who would save the people. As a New Testament people, our needs aren’t any different; we are just on the other side of history. The Messiah has come. Every Advent, we are asking him to come and save the people.

I am waiting for the joy, hope and mercy which only the Messiah can bring to be more fully alive in my heart. However, if I wait until Christmas morning for that to happen, I haven’t prepared myself properly. Shopping, cooking and cleaning all prepare the exterior for family and friends to be welcomed into our home and lives. Praying and acting with intentionality this Advent prepares the interior of our heart to welcome the Christ child more fully.

Joy is “Someone.” Presents can’t buy joy. They buy momentary happiness. My kids’ whining and begging isn’t cured by the next best present. Nor is my grumbling heart quieted by the newest app. The joy that Christ offers gives us a reason to smile instead of grunt when our phones won’t work, when our iPad freezes or our Amazon package took “3 DAYS” to show up on our doorstep.

Hope is “Someone.” Isaiah 9 says there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. Mary delivered hope incarnate to the world. An ancient hymn goes, “Bid every sad division cease, be thyself our Prince of Peace.” We have despair and darkness in our world, but we have the Christian hope that is within us.

When I was in school, we learned about the events in Waco, Texas, the Oklahoma City bombing and the assassination of a few presidents. Honestly, that was the extent of the large attacks on U.S. soil that I studied. In the past few years, 9/11, Sandy Hook, Colorado movie theatre shooting, San Bernardino shooting, Boston Marathon and countless “smaller” school shootings have filled the headlines. Sadly, these events are becoming so commonplace, that I seriously doubt they will fill the pages of our history books 10 years from now.

There is despair and darkness in our world. Christian hope tells us there will be a day with no more tears. Our archdiocesan family prayer calls us to be a voice for life and human dignity. By raising a godly family, we can offer the world a bit of hope in a dark world. We can give people a reason to believe that there are still good people out there.

Mercy is “Someone.” In a time like this, we need God’s mercy, I believe, more than we ever have. We didn’t do anything to deserve forgiveness and mercy. He came anyway. Fairness isn’t a virtue. People may be rude or mean; extend mercy.

This Advent, may we long for the joy, hope and mercy that only a life in Christ can bring.

Casey Sprehe is a wife, mother and parishioner of St. Benilde Parish in Metairie. She spends most of her time schooling her two oldest, playing with her two youngest and trying to remain sane amidst the lives entrusted to her. Outside of the home, she is highly involved in the Charismatic Renewal. Having a high school reversion back to the faith, she enjoys speaking at retreats and conferences nationwide. With a master’s degree in catechesis and evangelization, she has a heart for the new evangelization.

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