Message from Bishop John C. Wester

Courtesy photo/Deacon Lynn Johnson

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Detail of the Virgin Mary from the Annunciation stained glass window by Franz Mayer & Company of Munich, Germany, in the Cathedral of the Madeleine, Salt Lake City. 

There is a lot going on in our diocese these days. We are in the beginning stages of Stewardship: Our Way of Life, we are about to begin using the third edition of the new Roman Missal and Christmas is around the corner. Perhaps you, like me, sometimes feel like the driver barreling down I-15 as he talks on his cell phone and jots down reminders on the notepad attached to the windshield. Multitasking has become a fine art! I recently witnessed the epitome of this art as I was waiting for my plane in the Baltimore airport after the bishops’ meeting last week. Seated to my right was a young woman who was using her right hand to talk on one cell phone as she used her left hand to send text messages on another cell phone. Pretty incredible! While multitasking may have its benefits, the young lady is missing out on what might have been a wonderful conversation and the driver may be missing a lot more if he ends up in the hospital.

So how does Advent fit into all of this? Is it just one more thing to fit into my busy schedule? No, it is a holy season of waiting, waiting for the Lord. But we need to focus on what this waiting really means. It is not a time to pull out our laptops and get some work done while we wait for Christmas, nor is it a vacation when we simply do nothing. Rather, it is a time of wakefulness and vigilance; that is, a time of watchful waiting. Advent invites us to slow down and notice what is going on around us as we live the present moment with attentiveness, specifically attentive to the coming of the Lord. Advent comes from the Latin word for coming. The Church invites us to prepare ourselves for the Lord’s coming as we sharpen our skills of observation so that when Christ comes, we will be ready to receive him.

Certainly, Advent is a time to prepare for Christ’s coming at Christmas, but it is more than that. The Advent liturgies remind us that we are opening ourselves to the whole mystery of Christ, who comes to us not only at Christmas but also in glory at the end of time. This latter coming is typically called the parousia, a Greek word that also means coming. The first few Sundays of Advent will suggest this final, eschatological coming of the Lord in glory while the final two weeks will focus on the Incarnation, the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. But there is a third coming of the Lord and that is today – right now. The Church reminds us that Christ comes to us each and every moment of every day. If I am attuned to the daily comings of the Lord in my life, I will be prepared to receive him this Christmas and at the end of my life as well as at the end of time.

Seeing Christ in each moment of my day can be challenging, not only because I am often too busy to notice but also because not every moment seems all that holy. Nonetheless, our faith teaches us that Christ is at work in us (imperfect as we are), in our world, (messy as it is), in our lives (complicated as they can be). It takes faith and real trust to see this. I am reminded of the quote from a National Geographic photographer, who said, "Most people say that they’ll believe it when they see it. I maintain that I’ll see it when I believe it." During Advent we are called to place our trust in Christ, who is the foundation of all life and who sustains each moment of our existence. When I believe this, I will see the miracles that surround me each day. Christ is at work in my life in the beauty of a friend’s smile, in the splash of color during a gorgeous sunset over the Great Salt Lake, in the serenity of an infant asleep in her crib, in the comforting touch of a grandparent’s hand and in an anniversary kiss from a spouse. Paul reminds us that the Word did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at. Christ became one of us, taking on our form, our flesh. Christ is constantly incarnate in his world and he never abandons us – never. The problem is that I am often too busy to perceive these moments of grace. As the old bumper sticker would have it, "If God is missing in your life, guess who moved?"

During this Advent we will hear the Baptist’s cry, "Prepare the way of the Lord!" Notice that it is the Lord’s way, not ours. It is the way of the Lord that we must prepare through vigilance and watchful waiting. If we are preparing the Lord’s way, then we will be on it when he comes. To prepare it means to open a path for Christ’s coming. We must remove the obstacles along the way that prevent the Lord from coming to us: busyness, addictions, materialism and consumerism to name a few. In this sense, it is not so much that we are waiting for Christ but Christ is waiting for us to prepare his way into our hearts.

This Advent, I pray that all of us will be more attentive to the presence of Christ who comes to us always. When I think of that busy young woman with the two cell phones I sometimes wonder if she missed her plane. For heaven’s sake, let’s not miss Christmas!

(Editor’s note: In keeping with Bishop Wester’s call to observe Advent, we are reprinting his Pastoral Letter from last year. The letter can be found on page 9 in English and page 14 in Spanish.)