Jesus didn’t come to lift us out of the human condition during our time on this incredible planet, Earth. Jesus came to immerse the Trinity into the joys and sorrows that are part of the daily life of the human family: people of complex loving, struggling, division, embrace; people who are fearful and free.
Advent and Christmas come, at least on this side of the equator, in the midst of longer nights and later dawns. A small candle brightens a room better when it is dark. There was no fanfare when Mary gave birth to Jesus, with Joseph at her side in an animal manger. Yet we believe that the entire course of history was transformed with that birth! Each night before I retire, I stop in the chapel here in our house, our Missionary Cenacle as we call our places of residence. Often, I will have listened to someone in person, by phone, on Skype who has been struggling with tremendous life situations. I say to the Lord: “O, Lord, for so many Life is really hard.” Jesus responds in my mind: “Tell me about it!” Ah, yes, it is then I recall that Jesus knows from direct experience how hard… and how wonderful… the human journey is.
Would any of us have believed we would be nearing the second anniversary of this world-wide pandemic this coming March? I remember thinking we might need to isolate for perhaps two weeks at most. So, yes, for this time in our history, “Life” has been really hard for just about everyone. For some, it has been unbearably so. Just when we in the US think we are emerging from Covid, a variant comes along to knock us down. Yet I marvel at human resiliency and creativity. I am deeply touched by the dedication of all emergency and hospital workers, from those who clean the floors to those who hold the hands of the dying. They keep on keepin’ on beyond normal human strength, and then return home to keep on some more.
Like the four candles we will light on Advent wreaths throughout the world this month, human courage, hope and compassion shine brightest at times like ours. Come, Lord Jesus, in every age. Come, and set us free!
