Anticipation

I can’t wait.

/ chriskmn / Leave a comment

What are you looking forward to right now? Maybe you have a vacation coming up. Maybe you have a child graduating or competing in something they love. Maybe you have a date nigh this weekend. Maybe you have a big work thing about to be accomplished or completed. Maybe you just have a solid plan for dinner. Whatever the case, anticipation of something good (or the end of something tough) is one of the great joys of being human. 

April 10, 2022 is Palm Sunday. We all get palms and participate in a reenactment sort of procession before Mass begins. The other name for this Sunday is Passion Sunday because we will be hearing the story of Jesus’ suffering and death when the gospel is read. 

At the beginning of this story we hear Jesus say, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer…” Jesus is literally looking forward to sharing this last supper. I think for the most part we take for granted that Jesus is God and so everything was “easy” for him, but I honestly don’t think that is the case. 

Imagine knowing you are about to share your last meal with your friends. You know that when this meal concludes you will be arrested, tried, tortured, and killed. I don’t know about you, I don’t think I would be eagerly anticipating each of the next steps to happen. Yet Jesus says he eagerly desires it. Why?

I think he eagerly desires to share this meal because of what it is going to mean for his disciples and indeed for the Church. Jesus will promise to be with the disciples until the end of the age. He has a plan to be intimately close to his followers and that plan is through the Mass and the Eucharist. This meal, this last supper, is the institution of the Eucharist. 

It is on this night when Jesus begins the practice of Mass and makes this sacred meal a Sacrament for the Church. On the one hand it is Jesus’ gift of himself to God the Father, a sacrifice made on our behalf. On the other it is Jesus’ gift to us in order to be intimately close to us now so that we can be in perfect communion with Jesus forever in heaven. The Eucharist is the Bread of Life. 

Why is Jesus eager to eat this Passover with his followers? Because he is eager to accomplish his mission to save us from sin and death. Jesus is eager to institute the Sacrament of the Mass. Jesus is eager to share himself even more fully and completely with his followers and with you and me. 

Live It: Are you eager to go to Mass this weekend? Do you eagerly desire to receive the Eucharist? Take out your phone and turn to notes or grab a piece of scratch papered a pen. On a scale of 1-10, how eager are you to go to Mass or receive the Eucharist? Write that number down. Are you happy with that number? If not, what can you do to raise it? Do that. 

Sunday Readings April 10, 2022.

The Pleasure of Anticipation

/ chriskmn / Leave a comment

When I was growing up, my mom used to say, “Often the anticipation of something is more enjoyable than the thing itself.” The older I get the more true I find this to be. Whether it is taking the kids to Disney or waiting for date night, the anticipation of something is a significant part of the enjoyment for me. 

These days in the midst of this pandemic the thing that I most often anticipate is online delivery orders. I know this sounds a little crazy but I have developed a whole system of anticipation so that I get the maximum amount of enjoyment from my order. Doesn’t matter if it is long desired wood shop tool or just a bottle of vitamin C, I try to maximize my anticipatory enjoyment.

Here is what I do. As soon as the website where I made my online purchase gives me a tracking number, I click on it. Usually all they’ve done is printed a shipping label, but no movement yet. That’s okay because then the next time I check the tracking number SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED! YAY IT’S COMING! Get it? Then everyday I click on that tracking number and watch my package travel from wherever in the USA slowly making its way towards my house. Then when my package is “out for delivery,” I watch the front door for a brown box. I listen for the talking computer that lives in my kitchen to tell me a delivery has arrived. As silly as this sounds, it is really enjoyable for me.  

With this in mind, I think the gospel this Sunday is less of a threat and more of an invitation to enjoy Advent/Christmas more. Let me explain.

In the gospel Jesus says we need to actively wait for the end of the world. He says, “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.” What does he mean? Jesus explains it is like a rich man who travels abroad and leaves his servants in charge. Jesus explains that they have to be ready for him to return any time. God forbid he return and find them not ready. 

My whole life, I read this scripture like a threat. It’s as if, Jesus is threatening us with the end of the world. If not the end of the world maybe Jesus is threatening us with our coming death! I always felt like he was saying, “Better be good, because you never know when you’re going to die! Better watch out!” Yikes! But that is how I read it. I don’t think that is the whole story and the way we can know this that we read it on the first weekend of Advent. 

Advent is all about preparing to welcome Christ again this Christmas. Advent is all about waiting and watching. Advent is all about Anticipatory Enjoyment! Instead of dreading the end of the world or our end, Jesus is trying to given us clues as to best enjoy this life!

Jesus is inviting us to live lives of anticipation. Jesus is telling us to wait and watch because good things are coming and we will lead the good life now by anticipating the good life of heaven. 

What do you hear when Jesus says, “Be watchful! Be Alert!” I hope you hear his invitation to have the best Advent you’ve ever had. Don’t worry, anticipate with joy!

LIVE IT: Figure out a way to anticipate Christmas this year. Advent calendar, Jesus Tree, countdown calendar, traveling wisemen, put one decoration on your tree everyday, etc. When you do these anticipatory actions, say a simple prayer asking for Jesus to come and to fill your life with joy.