Don't be afraid, for your Savior is coming, reflection on the first week of Advent.

I love to walk at night and gaze at the stars.  At this time of year it's even more special because the Christmas lights are coming out and people are starting to set up Nativity displays.  When I walk past each Nativity I stop for a moment and I think about the manger sitting there empty and how Mary and Joseph are looking down at it long for it to be filled.

Today is the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Today we think about our Mother and how she was conceived without sin so that she could be the ark of the new covenant. I thought how she is waiting for birth of her son. We are all in a sense pregnant with the expectation of the Coming.  He is coming.

He is coming into our hearts, building His home there, transforming us if we will let Him in.  And who are we letting in?  Do we let in the Baby Jesus?   That non-threatening little baby who we can hold and admire who doesn't ask anything of us?  Or are we welcoming the fully grown Savior who asks us for our very lives? I think we usually have to start with that little baby.  Who loves us and just asks to be loved.  But just as a child grows up and demands more of his family so does Christ ask more of us as we grow in our faith.  Just as it wouldn't be normal for a child not to grow, it isn't normal for our faith to not grow.  In fact if faith doesn't grow, it may well die.

But don't be afraid!  He is coming into the world.  He is our Savior and He saves us!  If He is our Savior, we can trust Him.  He loves us so much, he died for us.  He won't ask too much of us.  He wants what's good for us, for our eternal life.

So, I wait in the darkness,pregnant with anticipation, for the Light of the world to come.  I wait to hold the baby that will grow in my heart to an adult faith.  I wait to hear his voice, the cry in the night that will change my life and make me even more myself.