Family Faith Reflections from Chris

Waiting

The Bible is full of waiting stories. Abraham and Sarah waited decades before they were blessed with a child. Moses and the Hebrews waited forty years to arrive in the Promised Land. Isaiah prayed for God's help and waited his whole life for it to arrive. Jesus waited hours in the garden for the soldiers to find and arrest him. Advent is a great time to talk about waiting with our children, and to share our own stories of waiting.
 
But there is another waiting story that's worth telling. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, he gathers his disciples and tells them that he is leaving. He asks them to wait in the city until “the promise of the Father” arrives. Then he ascends up into the sky and is gone.
 
The disciples returned to the Upper Room, the place where they had shared the Last Supper with Jesus, and lock themselves in. They knew that the same people who had put Jesus to death wanted to kill them, too. For nine days they hide there, praying fervently that God would save them. On the ninth day, the Holy Spirit appeared to them as wind and fire. Their fear was transformed into courage; they stopped hiding, and began publicly proclaiming the story of Jesus.
 
That began a long tradition of novenas, the “prayer of nines.” When Catholics urgently desire some special help from God, they commit to praying about it each day for nine days in a row. If there is something that your family is longing for this year, consider making a novena of prayer for it! That could be something very simple (a Lord's Prayer, three Hail Mary’s, and a Glory Be), or something longer (try doing an online search for “Advent novena”).
 
Try turning the pain of waiting into a passion for prayer!