Advent, a quiet season of watching and waiting, contrasts starkly with a consumer-driven season of shopping and indulging. Online discussions abound on this tension, as caring and searching people seek to live meaningful lives.
Although I am not Catholic, I am captivated by Pope Francis and his endeavor to change the status quo within the body of the Catholic church. He chooses to live simply, touches the "unclean," eschews the trappings of his position, and uses words that edify rather than disenfranchise. Last week, I read an article describing the church office of the "almoner," the Vatican almsgiver. Traditionally, a rather benign job held by aging senior clergy, Francis has reconfigured the position from a desk job to an active presence in the world, responding to those in need. The current almoner simply describes the job: "Be with people. Share their lives, even for 15, 30 minutes, or an hour."
Last week and this week, our church is hosting our community's Out of the Cold Program, a coordinated effort by local faith groups to provide shelter and food for those who live on the streets of our town. I thought of Francis last week when Jim and I took our turn with countless others who open church doors, set up cots, welcome guests, prepare food, chat and sit to simply "be" together.
Isn't that what the incarnation means? Christ coming to "be" with us, to share our live. And isn't that what we to ought to be about as well? Leaving our homes to go out and "be" with people, the people who need us, even for just a brief time. This season of light and waiting and watching surely is more than the daily flyers stuffed inside the newspaper and the lists of promotional emails crowding my inbox. Truly, it must be more quiet, more thoughtful, more meditative, more contemplative and yet...at the same time...more intentional and more active. A hurting world needs it to be.
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