JASON'S REFLECTIONS
The season of Advent, the season of waiting and preparation is upon us, and my heart is fully open to a pivot of my energy and attention away from the chaos and commotion of 2020 and towards the breaking in of the light of God and the grace and peace that ensues.
"Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ." This salutation by St. Paul in this week's NT reading was a common feature of his letters. And while functioning ostensibly as a greeting, the two words grace and peace that St. Paul casts upon his readers are more than perfunctory words of introduction, they are his way of authentically wishing upon the Ephesians and all members of the Jesus movement the preliminary experience of Christ's salvation in the penultimate as they (we) await his ultimate return.
That is what I think Advent is all about; that experience of embracing the dawn of God's grace (the experience of God's love) and peace (wholeness and justice) in our lives, in our families, and in our communities now because of Christ's first coming (the Christ child) as we wait and prepare for it to be fully realized in his second (the parousia).
It is my prayer that this season will be a time of embracing God's grace and peace in your lives--as you wait and prepare* for the breaking in of the light of God.
Amen.
