Third Sunday of Advent

Third Sunday of Advent A

            “Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You too must be patient.” Today’s second reading from the letter of Saint James encourages us to be patient. We are waiting for the Lord and we don’t know when he is coming. We know he is going to be born on Christmas’ day, but we don’t know when he is coming for us, to pick us up, to take us to the place he has prepared for each one of us. He is very keen to show it to us, but we are not ready, because we are still here.

            Patience is a virtue we don’t talk about much. It is not a glamorous virtue, a talent to be proud of, but we all need it. We all know people we find difficult to put up with: at work, at home, among our relatives or friends, at church, on the street, waiting in a queue, driving the car, or being put on hold when we make a phone call. We get upset, frustrated, we lose interior peace or we become anxious. In all these circumstances we fail to identify the virtue we need to keep cool, to maintain our serenity and to have inner joy. And it is called patience.

            It is important to discover how patient God is with us. Just like the parents of small children. This is what they learned when they had their first baby. It changed their lives completely because it has become a twenty four seven job. They grow immensely in this virtue thanks to their love they feel for their children. Love can be crazy and makes parents do things we are not ready to do for other people. A baby is cute and brings out the best in us. But to do the same with old people demands Christian charity. The knowledge of how much our parents have done for us, help us to do what we can for them, when they are in need during their old age.

            The same with God. When we look at him as a Father, we realise that everything that has happened in our lives has a meaning. Either he allowed things to happen, used our silly stubbornness to bring out some good in us, or to plan things in a way that events that appear awful, will help us in the long run. We, like little children, are not aware of it, even when we rebel or throw tantrums. When we look back at our lives, we can begin to understand what God has been doing and we become patient and grateful for God’s actions. His plan is a long term plan. We are impatient and we want things here and now. When we see how patient God is with us, we can learn to be patient with others. God is working with each one of us and we need to wait for the other life to understand things completely.

            For this virtue it is important to go to our mother Mary. Mothers are schools of patience. You can see how women change when they have a baby; they grow and mature, even physically. Contemplating Mary looking at baby Jesus, we can learn and develop our patience with others.

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