Have you ever heard anyone say: “Please be patient—God isn’t finished with me yet!”
 
“God isn’t finished with us.” Doesn’t that feel like a hopeful thought to celebrate the first Sunday of preparation for Jesus’ birth, his beginning as a little child? 
 
And have you ever heard, “The journey is as important as the destination.” In this life, God is leading us on a journey, more of an adventure, where we must trust constantly, since we never see the road ahead. So, the Psalmist cries out, “Teach me your paths, God. Let me know your ways!”
 
All our lives, we’re in the process of God bringing us to a destination. Along the way, we’re being asked to prepare for something we can’t entirely envision. We will make mistakes at times during this trip—but, as Scarlett O’Hara might say, “Tomorrow is another day” to renew our best intentions and try again.
 
The main thing is that we pick ourselves up and try again. All our efforts should go in one direction—as St. Paul says, “Make more and more progress in the kind of life that you are meant to live: the life that God wants….”
 
But what kind of life are we meant to live? Jesus says, seek “the life that God wants.”  He warns us “Watch out!” that we don’t get worn out and weighed down by an unspiritual rut of chronic over-work, no rest, and a frantic life.
 
When our hearts become insensitive, we are not living the life God hopes for us. Life’s meaning begins to fall apart, and there is only One who can put broken hearts and broken lives together for us. As we say at Mass, “We wait in hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ!”
 
As I am preparing for my episcopal ordination, these readings and the Season of Advent, are truly fitting. I am trying to figure out, what God has in store for me, and how I can best serve him. Your prayers are of great assistance to me, as I make this journey. Thank you for your support!