Question of the Week, December 6, 2020, Second Sunday of Advent, Year B
The year 2020 has undoubtedly been an exercise in patience on many levels! We have done much waiting—for answers, for vaccines, for some sense of normalcy.
In today’s Second Reading (see 1 Peter 3:8-14), we are reminded that God has been patient with us and that we are awaiting new heavens and a new earth. We are charged to wait in peace.
Let us take that charge and make it the heart of our prayer this second week of Advent.
When we are put on hold for the thousandth time, and the repeating message and background music are driving us crazy, let us pray again and again the words, “Patience. Peace.” When we don our masks to do some holiday shopping and are standing on our socially distanced “X” behind ten other people, let us pray again and again, “Patience. Peace.” When it has been a long day and the traffic driving home from work is especially heavy, let us pray right where we are, “Patience. Peace.”
Moreover, no matter how much we love our family, when we have had a bit too much togetherness, closed in with each other because it is too cold and wet to go outside, let us light a candle, gather our family members around us, and pray together, “Patience. Peace.” (End that prayer with cups of hot cocoa all around!)
Yes, that first batch of Grandma’s Sugar Cookies might come out of the oven just a little crisp around the edges. The perfect gift you ordered for a friend might be on backorder. The usual holiday markets, theater outings, concerts, and special gatherings at church and with extended family may be canceled or seriously modified, but in faith, He calls us to continue to prepare our hearts and our homes for Christ and for Christmas to come.
This week, let us with great hope and faith pray these two powerful Advent words for ourselves, for others, and the world: “Patience. Peace.”
Mary Sellars Malloy has over forty years’ experience as a Catholic educator and lay minister. She is a frequent workshop presenter on prayer, liturgy, spirituality, the Sacraments, and the RCIA. Also, Mary leads retreats and parish missions throughout the country. Her goal is to encourage Catholics of all ages to appreciate and to live their Catholic faith.