Waiting is something we do not like to do because it takes patience.  Life today often seems like a brief interlude between rushing and waiting.  We rush to airports and wait; we go shopping and wait in lines; we rush between classes to eat lunch and wait in lines; we even wait in line to receive communion! Yet we wait. Our expectations are ultimately fulfilled.  That is the reward for our waiting.  The essence of waiting is in the hope fulfilled and that is the central theme of advent: a faithful God fulfills his promise to an expectant people. 
  
Friday of the second week in Advent 
Isaiah 48:17-19 
Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4+6 
Matthew 11:16-19 "But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates, 17 `We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.' 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, `He has a demon'; 19 the Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, `Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds." 
  
Meditation by John Schlegel, S.J. 
As I start this reflection, the first snowflakes of the season dance across the campus.  Our Hawaiian students try to catch flakes on their tongue while giggling through it all.  They have been waiting for these snowy days to arrive throughout a very long and moderate autumn.  It is a tradition here that our first-year students from Hawaii run through the snow in flip-flops and make snow angels in the Jesuit Gardens .  They wait with great anticipation and expectation for this first experience of “winter on the mainland.”  How appropriate it is—at least to me—that their expectations coincide with the liturgical calendar and the season of advent, this great season of expectation and anticipation. 
On reflection, waiting is something we do not like to do because it takes patience.  Patience is not our strong suite—at least not mine.  Yet the church invites us to wait expectantly and patiently as we visit the fulfillment of promises spoken in the Hebrew scripture and as the story of the birth of Jesus emerges, yet again and afresh. 
  
Life today often seems like a brief interlude between rushing and waiting.  We rush to airports and wait; we go shopping and wait in lines; we rush between classes to eat lunch and wait in lines; we even wait in line to receive communion! 
  
Yet we wait because we know we will catch the plane, get the gift, or have lunch.  Our expectations are ultimately fulfilled.  That is the reward for our waiting.  The essence of waiting is in the hope fulfilled and that is the central theme of advent: a faithful God fulfills his promise to an expectant people. 
  
That fulfillment is found in our first reading from Isaiah.  Amidst all of the destruction, uprooting and desolation of Israel , Isaiah is telling the people that if they return to the ways of the Lord, “their prosperity would be like a river, and their vindication like the waves of the sea.” But they must wait, they must be patient because the Holy One of Israel will teach them what is best for them, will teach them what is for their own good—as individuals and as God’s chosen people.  This only will happen if they listen to God’s commandments and wait for God’s directives. 
  
This, I suggest, is a great place to pause and reflect and ask these same questions: during this advent season what do I most lack that keeps me from doing what is good?  Which way should I go to find the right path in following the Lord, in healing relationships, in making a difference at home, workplace or community?  Can I wait patiently for God to direct me?  Can I even formulate these questions this December day?  The answers will not come easily or soon, but that is what Advent is about: waiting in anticipation for the manifestation of the Lord and the fulfillment of his promises. 
  
The response to today’s psalm is very affirming for those who wait, to those who delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on his law day and night.  For they “will have the light of life.” 
  
  
  
  
Supplementary Reading 
Receive the Gift 
  
“Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” - John 1:12 
  
What an amazing privilege it is to know that when we receive Jesus, we become children of the Most High God! The scripture says we are “adopted” into His family. In the natural, by law an adoptive parent can never disown their adopted child. In the same way, God will never disown you! When you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you become a permanent part of God’s family. 
  
This privilege is a free gift, and when you receive this gift, it’s the beginning of a long life of blessing. Receiving Him means receiving all that He is and all of His promises for your life. It’s a process, but God is the one working in your life, and He promises to complete what He’s started in you. Your part is to keep your heart open and receive by faith every gift, every promise and every blessing in His Word. Receive by saying thank you. Receive by declaring His truth over your life. Receive by obeying the Word of God. Put the Word of God into practice in your life and receive every blessing He has for you! 
  
Father God, thank You for the gift of eternal, a bun dant life. Today, I open my heart and mind to You. Have Your way in my heart and help me to receive the wonderful blessings You have for me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. — Joel & Victoria Osteen