All the readings that will accompany us throughout this season of Advent will convey a spirit of longing and anticipation. They will also contain messages of hope in times of struggle. We will be encouraged and cautioned to be alert to what is already present in our lives. This passage from Isaiah proclaims the importance of Jerusalem the city on the hill which will be the hope for all people. God’s message will go out to all peoples beckoning all to walk in the light of the Lord. So we listen to our first Advent reading.

We hear mentioned again the light that has come upon us. So many of us linger in darkness and are unaware of what God is doing in our lives. There is a danger we will sleepwalk though life. The light and the hope that the day of the Lord brings to all of us is nearer than we realize.

Both Matthew and Luke as the of their gospels draw to a close on offer images of what the death of resurrection will mean in the all of our lives, in the history of God’s relationship with his people. We will live in an awareness that had been for the most part absent till the time of the redemption brought about by Jesus. Up until that time we walked in darkness now we live in the expectation of the day of the Lord’s coming. That day will be when we least expect but for which we hope in and with the Lord.

There are a number of English words that come from other languages. One of the languages that have provided a great many words for our English language is Latin. As a matter of fact most of the words that end in ION quite likely have their origin in Latin. Words like admiration, contemplation, temptation, clarification. All one has to do is drop the “n” from all those words and we have the Latin word, admiratio, temptatio, clarificatio, contemplatio. See you already know four words in Latin. You did not think you were going to get a Latin lesson did you?

Another English word that has its origin is Latin is patience. The origin of the patience is patiri which means to suffer. For many of to have to be patience is suffering. If there has been any question I have been asked over the years it is “Father how can I have more patience”? I have often answered “If I knew the secret I would bottle it and we would all be rich.

There are occasions each day when we are called upon to be patient. When we have to get out of the house and we are running late why is it that is the time that the lace in one of our shoes breaks and we cannot find a replacement. We are on the highway and invariably we are in the lane that is not moving. We are on the computer and it seems that we wait forever for the webs site to open. We just had some tests and we are wondering when the doctor is going to call us with the results. We spend most of our day waiting and we are in need of patience. Usually there is very little supply.

Yet as we all have experienced patience can bring about some wonderful results.When a couple is expecting the birth of a child the final weeks are maddening. The time seems to drag on.  Being patient can be infuriating but the birth of a child is so wonderful.

There are those who do research in so many areas. It seems that nothing ever happens. They seem to do endless experiments or make exhausting inquiries. Yet after time often a great deal of time and waiting and patience  a cure for a disease is discovered or why individuals act in a particular way and not another. Companies do research to discover what products and what services are needed for their future.

I had an opportunity a number of years ago to go to Alaska. We were in Denali National Park. As we made the rounds in a bus we came across a man hanging down over a cliff. It was a photographer from National Geographic. He had been perched there for weeks with his camera fixed on a nest of a golden eagle waiting for the birth of this very rare kind of an eagle.

Patience really is suffering. It never comes easy. We are a people and a culture who want and demand instant results. Yet I don’t know about you but when I need a doctor I don’t want someone who received a medical degree in three weeks. I would prefer that teachers have their degrees and have had experience in the class room. When I board a plane I pray that the pilot has put in a great deal of time learning what he is supposed to do. I might add it does not hurt to have pastor who knows what he is doing and brings years of learning and experience to the call to lead.

Yet for anyone to bring a degree of competence to any undertaking there has been time spent waiting, learning and being patient. So it is with the journey of life. We often have walked in darkness and in time after learning, waiting and be patient as well as suffering we come the light that along the way we are not alone. The light that is with us is the Light of the Lord and through us that light shines and beckons all we meet. It will take time; patience and suffering In the meantime let us awake from our sleeping and walk in the light of the Lord. The Lord’s Day draws near.

Homily preached at the 5:00 Saturday and the

8:00 and 9:30 Sunday Liturgies December 1-2 2007

Reverend William D. Mannion