“Advent is all about desire.” Yes, it is folks. Now let those words just sink in while you reconcile a faith column with such a suggestive thought. Go ahead, have a sip of coffee. Okay. Ready? Lets continue.
Fr. James Martin, S.J., author and editor, wrote about this relationship in “Advent is about Desire” (29 November 2012, America Magazine). He writes that desire often has a bad rep in religious circles, and often related to temptation or greed. There is that kind of human condition, of course, but I want to talk about a different kind of desire — the desire to recognize the presence of God.
A friend of mine leads a small community called Landings Community in Singapore. This community runs a 10-week program “for Catholics who have left or drifted away from the Church but would now like to explore returning to the faith”.
The participants review their day and their week to look for their “God Moments”. A “God Moment” is when one feels most loved, and thus most alive.
It is also when one cannot explain how something happened, but the results were marvelous. Each participant is assigned a small group, and a participant shares their “faith story”. The purpose of the sharing is once again to recognize the steady presence of God in their past and until this present moment.
I took the Landings Program in 2014, and it was an eye-opener for me. As I showed up for each weekly meeting, I realize that indeed, I had not one, but several God moments! It ranged from having a kind stranger share his umbrella with me or to a client family who made me so grateful to be doing the kind of work that I do.
As I grew more aware of ‘God Moments’, there grew a desire in me to keep going into the day so that I could recognize these moments in my day and in other people.
When I did meet God in the person of a kind French priest for the Sacrament of
Reconciliation, I felt that I really DID meet Jesus. I think it was because I wanted to meet Him once again.
Advent is the extended season for us to anticipate and desire God. This desire can be very liberating, since it allows us to make choices that will heighten that desire and not diminish it.
I wish you a wondrous season of desire and expectation, dear reader.
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