The Advent of the Consecrated Life

It’s advent: the season of waiting. 

There may be no time in the liturgical season that more powerfully stirs my heart (and the hearts of many consecrated persons) to yearn for the Lord. We are thrust into the awareness that, yes, the Son of God became Man for our salvation, but we have not yet fully entered into the Kingdom. 

We are living in the permanent awareness that God is with us and coming for us. At times, we may be waiting in the dark, but we have the light of hope illuminating our vigil. There is nothing on this earth that can replace the joyful anticipation of the coming of the Christ. Besides, we do not wait alone. We wait together, with the Church, with our communities, and with the laity – who offer us a particular glimpse into the loving relationship of the Holy Trinity.

In this Advent of the consecrated life, healthy (though imperfect) families, are like the decorations and lights. They remind us that Christ so loved the world that he entered into a family, lived its dynamic, and then surrendered it all for the salvation of many. The family is the complement of the consecrated life, a visible, tangible sign of Christ among us. The family is a great gift of God that we are happy to surrender for the sake of waiting diligently for the coming of Christ.

It would be dishonest to imply that this patient waiting is never tiresome. Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical on the Dignity and Vocation of Women, reminded us that  the surrender of the family is particularly courageous for some women. We can be tempted by the “grass is always greener” mentality, but we may also ache for the authentic goodness that is the family. In healthy relationships, the spouse alleviates some of the loneliness of this earthly pilgrimage, and the child fills the heart with a clear purpose. Both make room in the heart for a love that is indescribable. Who would not desire these things?

The consecrated replies: “Who would not desire God?” “Who would not be willing to offer them for the good of others?” “Who would not be willing to wait in the dark, lamps lit, for the coming of the Groom?” Yes, there is REAL JOY in the waiting. We are the virgins of the Gospel. Hearts afire with the love of God, bearing the light of Hope, as we wait joyfully – together – for the coming of our Love, our Groom, our Everything. 

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