Advent Thoughts-2009

"Patience, People."
                                                     ~from The Mantle,, Dec 1, 2006

"We are reminded that we are a people who are waiting."

           Advent is upon us.  This is a season custom made for those of us who long for the return of a prodigal loved one to Catholicism!  For now we are reminded that we are a people who are waiting.  We are waiting anew for the Lord to come—into our loves and into the lives of those we love.  We are waiting for our eyes to be opened so that we might see what and where we need change in our own lives so that we might be more effective intercessors for those we love.  We are waiting for the hearts and minds of our loved ones to recognize the truth.

     My favorite Advent CD is an album of the St. Louis Jesuits titled “Gentle Night.”  It has beautiful songs for Advent meditation.  I often say to my husband I wish I had written their title song.  For me, it captures the wonderment of that first Christmas night. 
     Another of the songs speaks directly to you and me as we join in prayer for these prodigals of ours:

                                 Patience, People.  Steady your hearts
                                 for the Lord is close at hand. 
                                You know of His compassion and His mercy. 
                                 Patience, People! For the Lord is coming!

     And so, I invite you to join with me, and the rest of the Marian Mantle crew, as Advent begins.  Let us Praise God for His Goodness and Mercy, thank Him for the answered prayers and miracles we have witnessed among the Marian Mantle Group members to date, and beg Him to come into our lives and those of our prodigals and grant us all the grace to recognize the truth.    

 Let us pray together that great prayer, the last words in Scripture:   "Maranatha!  Come Lord Jesus!"

            May God grant each of us the perseverance of St. Monica and the unconditional love of the father of the Prodigal Son.  May the day come swiftly when we, too, are able to say, “The one for whom I have prayed has come home.”