The darkest hours come before the dawn. Anyone who had to work at night, or has watched over a sick child, a gravely ill patient\u00a0 or had to get to an airport\u00a0 for an early flight, will agree with me on that.<\/p>\n
Head begins to nod, surroundings\u00a0 become unreal, body becomes almost a separate entity in its effort to\u00a0 resist attempts of the soul to move it. It is the time when \u201cwho cares?\u201d may become a guiding\u00a0 line. It it is very easy to make mistakes \u2013 some of them very serious \u2013 at that darkest hour before the dawn.<\/p>\n
The message of the 1st Sunday of Advent is therefore \u2013 BE ALERT! Wake up! Keep your eyes wide open and your mind and heart on God! Do not drift into the temporary joys of the world, so tempting to your tired mind and body. Stay focused on the Eternal, on Him who is the truly worth loving, on the Joy that is coming.<\/p>\n
St Paul says: \u201cit is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.
\nFor our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;
\nthe night is advanced, the day is at hand.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/jp2doc.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/04\/583bf4eb38d0bPrzechwytywanie-300x198.jpg\")
\nIt is not only in Advent that we are reminded to stay alert and faithful: the wedding guests who come on time \u2013 or too late, the attendant maidens with their empty (or filled) lamps, the guests who refuse the invitation to the Feast because they are too busy.. There is also this heart-rending sentence \u201cwill Jesus find faith when he comes again\u201d?<\/p>\n
We look around and see those empty lamps, turned backs, careless treatment of the great legacy of the Baptismal promises made. I constantly hear from the young people who surround me \u201c I was baptized Catholic, I THINK ( they often do not know), but I really have no religion\u201d.
\nIt is easy to drown in the surrounding darkness and join the number of the perpetually worried who predict the end of Christian civilization and indeed even Christianity itself.\u00a0 True, there is a marked decline in numbers of Christians and also \u2013 related to this phenomenon \u2013 also vocations in the West. Some churches in Alberta (Canada) where I live look pretty empty on Sundays.<\/p>\n
Yet \u2013 when I went to the new Corpus Christi church in Edmonton last week, there were close to 1500 people attending the Mass. Most of them came to Canada from Philippines, India, Pakistan, Syria, Africa and China.\u00a0 When I exchanged a sign of peace with the lady sitting in front of me I could not but admire her red-golden sari. A young woman sitting on my right had a typical loose, colorful African robe and splendid headdress. As we were walking to receive the holy Communion, I recognized softly spoken\u00a0 Urdu – a dark haired father behind me was instructing his son..\u00a0\u00a0 All altar servers were of dark complexion \u2013 and great dedication to everything they were doing. The atmosphere was amazing \u2013 so much enthusiasm and joy.. real, human, down to earth \u2013 joy.<\/p>\n
Many of the parishioners have come from those areas in the world where Christianity is severely persecuted \u2013 Church for them is home, the centre of hope and life \u2013 here and in eternity.<\/p>\n
So \u201cnolite desperare!\u201d \u2013 do not despair!\u00a0 God provides. When old Roman Empire was shrinking and about to go to sleep, its missionaries were bringing Christ to the still pagan world of Europe.<\/p>\n
Now the tide of conversions seems to be reaching the East and some of it comes back to cheer up the old \u201cReminder\u201d, at least here. Half of our priests are \u201con loan\u201d from India, Africa and Philippines \u2013 as well as Poland, the only European country still rich in vocations.
\nAt least one female European congregation that I know has reached towards China and within a few years has built its numbers to over 5000 sisters.<\/p>\n
It is a pretty humbling experience for us, the inhabitants of the West (broadly understood) \u2013 and so very, very moving.. and wonderful.<\/p>\n
God is not done with us yet \u2013 it is obvious.\u00a0 What we see here as decline, elsewhere is still nascent. Many people are still waiting for Christ to come to them through faith.
\nSo – let\u2019s keep ours lamps filled \u2013 and share the light generously.<\/p>\n
The darkest hours come before the dawn. Anyone who had to work at night, or has watched over a sick child, a gravely ill patient\u00a0 or had to get to an airport\u00a0 for an early flight, will agree with me on that. Head begins to nod, surroundings\u00a0 become unreal, body becomes almost a separate entity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n