We don’t tend to think in this way, having learnt not to expect or hope for too much so that we won’t be disappointed. However, this isn’t a Christian way to think because Christians expect great things.
Many centuries before Jesus came, the prophet Zephaniah said: The Lord God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.’ This Advent, God wants to renew you in his love. We can anticipate and rely on the truth that this is what God wants for us.
John the Baptist shows us how this renewal occurs: through repentance and turning away from sin. Of course, we cannot confess our sins to God on our own, but the best way to do this is through the sacrament of reconciliation; truly the sacrament of mercy and forgiveness.
It can be hard to acknowledge our sinfulness and weakness. It takes courage and a willingness to let God’s light shine into the deepest and darkest parts of us. This can be a lonely and daunting journey, but God is with us. There is no sin that God cannot forgive. There is no sinner beyond his mercy and forgiveness. There is only grace, mercy and forgiveness as we are renewed in God’s love. So don’t be afraid; take courage and be assured of his love and mercy.
‘Our brokenness is the wound through which the full power of God can penetrate our being and transfigure us in God. Loneliness is not something from which we must flee but the place from which we can cry out to God, where God will find us and we can find God…Yes, through our wounds the power of God can penetrate and become like rivers of living water to irrigate the arid earth within us. Thus, we may irrigate the arid earth of others, so that hope and love are reborn.’ (Jean Vanier)
