Certain things that which we do regularly, become part and parcel of our life. They cannot be replaced by the modern gadgets or by the cyber age. Like brushing our teeth, the mirror outlook, and a glance at the calendar or the wall clock! A glance at the calendar today reminds me that 2019 is come of age with the vivid radical unsoiled entrance of the purple candle and carols in the air. The season of grace is here, with ample opportunities to renew, to trim, or mend ways, to change and transform. This year let’s make some different kind of preparation for the arrival of our Special Guest – Baby Jesus.
Usually after the rains, around November, December we see a different outlook of the houses, fences with pretty colours which indeed is a remote preparation for Christmas and a farewell to the current year. A lot of preparation goes into a making of an event. So also a lot of groundwork has to be done to invite the special guest of the important event. Hence we prepare a room for the special guest whom we await will dwell within our heart. And so, our heart is the inn where Christ the special guest wishes to dwell and Advent is the perfect time to make room in it for His presence. If our heart is filled with filth, it has no room for the Special Guest. For that reason, let’s begin by an examination of conscience of any negative traits like anger, pride, unforgiveness, greed, etc, that exists in our heart. Remember that as God has forgiven you, you are also asked to forgive others.
After an examination of conscience it is important to clean out the little strings or vestiges of cobwebs – envy, revenge, gossips… that may still be lurking in the dark corners of our heart. This means that we should make a point of making confession during Advent. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is an important part of preparing our heart for Jesus; thus, the room of our heart is ready; the filth and cobwebs have been cleared out. However, it’s not just enough to paint the house, we need other appliances and matching set of curtains to give a pleasant ambience – interior designing. Absolutely! Interior designing of our heart! So we hang new curtains! Many of us fall into a rut in our daily lives and forget how to live in joy. You are preparing for Christ’s indwelling and he abides best in those who have delight in their hearts. And King David prayed “Give me again the joy of your help, with a spirit of fervour sustain me”. So throw out the old curtains of fear, jealousy, pride, despair, ego and exhaustion and hang new curtains of hope, joy, goodness, kindness and love.
When all the deco and preparations are done let’s have a look into it and then we keep the door open and wait expectantly to receive our special guest. Yes, it is a time of quiet for us all, the work is finished and we are ready. Thus, in preparing our hearts for Christ this Advent, the last step after all the prep work is to simply “be.”
In this state of “be-ing” we don’t question how time slipped through our fingers; we don’t worry if there was more we should have done. But enjoy the peace that reverberates from our being.
