Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is
at hand.
Luke 21: 28
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Advent is the season of the presence and expectation of
the eternal. For this very reason, it is in a particular way a period of joy,
an interiorized joy that no suffering can diminish. It is joy in the fact that
God made himself a Child. This joy, invisibly present within us, encourages us
to journey on with confidence. A model and support of this deep joy is the
Virgin Mary, through whom we were given the Infant Jesus. May she, a faithful
disciple of her Son, obtain for us the grace of living this liturgical season
alert and hardworking, while we wait.
His
Holiness Benedict XVI
28
November 2009
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“Stand
erect and raise your heads”. I’ve been
hearing and reading these words from Sacred Scripture frequently in the past
few weeks. Have you also heard
them? They remind me a bit of my parents
admonishing me in my teenage years to “stand up straight” when I was slouching.
So perhaps these Advent days the words
serve the dual purpose of exercising good posture as well as living as a grown
woman of faith.
I’ve
been personally interpreting these words as “stand up straight and tall, hold
your head up high, and smile!” I think
the smile is especially important to show the joy of knowing that my redemption
is at hand. It is a blessing to believe
that our Saviour Jesus Christ is coming in a special way. I feel the confidence and encouragement of
our Blessed Mother Mary to journey through these days of Advent.
Do
you feel the joy and confidence? Do you
feel richly blessed? Let’s remind each
other to keep smiling and sharing the gifts we have already received in this
life as we anticipate the eternal life to come.
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