Open to me the gates of justice;
I will enter them and give thanks to the LORD.
This gate is the LORD’s;
the just shall enter it.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior. (Today’s Psalm)
Together they sit in our living room. A pair of foxes … dressed to the nines with seasonal attire, packages wrapped, expressions of some pending joy.
They sit on our couch, next to one of our many lighted Christmas trees.
Waiting.
Like the snowmen in the foyer; the little Cardinals in the bird room; the elves, reindeer and cartoonish characters tucked in nooks and crannies all over the house.
Even the nutcrackers are poised to go … but where?
Why does this vast collection of characters, scattered around our decorated holiday home, seem as if they are ready for something?
Perhaps their presence means more than the traditional reds and greens, silvers and whites of the season of decoration. Perhaps they are not merely waiting on Santa to come on Christmas morning.
Maybe these characters offer us a lesson. A lesson of Advent.
We should all be “dressed to the nines” and ready to go. Not with our physical clothing (unless we are heading to Mass, of course), but with our spiritual attire – the internal things that drive our passions and ultimately determine if we will be ready to go when the time comes.
Pride, greed, lust … envy, gluttony, wrath … and sloth. The seven deadly sins which we obviously need to avoid.
Are we ready? Would you be ready if THE train – the grim reaper himself – pulled into the station … RIGHT … THIS … MOMENT?
Scary thought, eh?
But that is what this Advent season is all about. This is why we are treated to daily liturgical readings that mix a sense of gloom and doom for sinners with a spirit of hope for those who have made peace with God and are simply praying that his Grace will be enough to pull us through the dark night that we will all face at some point in the future.
Holy Mother Church, in her great wisdom, helps us through the daily readings and other resources to recognize where we are falling short and where we are doing the right thing in the eyes of God.
This is the season for examination of our consciences.
The season of confession.
The season of forgiveness and grace as we await the coming of our Lord – both as a child on Christmas Eve and as our Savior at the moment God calls us home.
Our little decorative figures, scattered about our home, are not unlike our friends and neighbors, our enemies and strangers, even ourselves … all of humanity, seeking to be “ready to go” to the next phase of our lives.
Embrace the lessons imparted by our little foxes, who have gotten their selves in order for the coming of our Lord.
During this Advent season, let us prepare ourselves …
Dress to the nines … and get your own house ready for the Lord’s knock-knock-knock. He may come sooner than you think.
