By David Reising
Whenever anyone asked me how I was doing, I used to always say, “Busy, but good!”. You can imagine, then, how stunned I was when sitting at a gala, a priest approached the microphone and said, “Busy… Being Under Satan’s Yoke!”. His words shook me. I had probably already declared over a dozen times that evening that I was “busy, but good”. Was I living under Satan’s yoke without even realizing it!
The Church gives us this time of Advent as a time of waiting. A time to prepare our hearts to meet the Lord when he comes. And yet, how often we feel like this is the busiest time of year! Christmas lights, Christmas cards, Christmas parties, Christmas baking, Christmas music, Christmas shopping, Christmas this, that, and the other thing from the day after Halloween up until December 25th. By the time Christmas is here, we can’t wait for it to be over so we can slow down. Or at least that can be the temptation.
Today’s psalm says, “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord”. Waiting doesn’t mean sitting on our hands. It doesn’t mean complete lack of activity. But let us “seek the Lord while he may be found” (Isaiah 56:6). When we are B.U.S.Y. we run from one thing to another constantly thinking about what is next. But God is not found in the future. He is found in the stillness of the present moment. So while we may have much to do this month, let’s make sure to imitate our Blessed Mother by living in the present moment and frequently taking time to ponder all these things in our heart.