2013 - Advent's 4th Invitation: "The Angel of the Lord Appeared"

Reflection by MJ Adams Kocovski
 

Countdown to Christmas! 2 shopping days left, travel and weather reports, and last minute baking to do. 

We've been counting down the days through the four weeks of Advent, in the planning and the waiting until the big celebration of Christmas. We might feel prepared and ready to welcome Christ into our hearts, or perhaps we  feel that we still have more, more we want to change or to do.

We are so close – so close we might even skip over the last days of anticipation. It is not yet Christmas. We still have time. Though our visions may offer a sense of time slipping through our fingers, Advent reminds us that God's will is different from our earthly imaginings. God is always waiting for us, actively anticipating our response to His love. And it's always a good time, the right time, to turn our eyes to His and try again.

The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, prompting him to change his plans and take Mary into his home, as his wife. Joseph, a good and righteous man, had other plans, likely put in place through careful consideration. And yet he made the culture-clashing decision to release control and take Mary as his wife, following God's will.

Our Advent plans and preparations may not be where we want them to be. And we can fill the remaining days with events, tasks, to do's, and all around busyness to get us up to Christmas. Or we can follow Joseph's lead and listen to the ways that God is calling us into a deeper sense of Christ-with-us. We can create some stillness to see the messages God is sending. Let us give thanks for the gifts we have been given and the ones we are yet to uncover. 

Come to us, O Emmanuel.