PERPETUAL WAITING

The Expectant Madonna with St. Joseph- Natl. Gallery

Thomas Merton remarked that life is a perpetual ADVENT. He sensed that in that waiting, trust began to grow. Trust in God, trust in the Holy One who is beyond all that is created and is the source of all things, seen and unseen. Trusting and waiting allow the loving-kindness that is the essence of God’s own Life to grow in us, and to bear fruit that we never expected.

I love this painting of a very serene Mother, waiting for her Child, who is to be our Savior.  And of St. Joseph
who has been told by the angel to wait in patience and to trust...that all will be well!  A message we all need to take to heart this year when there seems to be so much turmoil around us.

Our Advent silence, if done with an attitude of prayer, will open our hearts with joy, to  His coming- which is expected! .

Maurice Zundel, in Our Lady of Wisdom:

 'Be still and know that I am God.' God comes in the silence; on the gentle breeze; on the quiet altar of adoration; and, in the flesh, even as a vulnerable little baby in a manger. That is truly a 'response of love' worth waiting for, especially in silence