And what is proclaimed in the Gospel from Mark is the coming of Christ. The Parousia is the fancy word meaning advent. The poem I began with was written in Warsaw in 1944 and it sums up this day. It sums up Advent. It sums up what our expectancy, our watchfulness, our waiting is all about.
Advent is about being watchful and expectant.
Being watchful and genuinely expectant is difficult in our culture. I have spoken of that many times. We are Hallmark ed to death by the time Christmas arrives and most people are ready to let it go. But this expectancy is not for some time, some long away time. It s not even an expectancy for Christmas although that is what we get lost in this time of year.