Advent Reflections

It is chilly, dark, and quiet, as I sit beside my husband in this beautiful, old, church on a Saturday afternoon in December.  It's technically not a cathedral, but it feels like one with it's majestic arches, stained glass windows that are at least 22 feet tall, each one depicting a story of the life of Christ.  The Stations of the Cross are glorious works of art.  They are about 4 1/2 feet tall and 2 1/2 feet wide, carved wood, three dimensional, each one telling a part of the story of our Lord's Passion. 
We arrived early, along with a handful of others, on this gray, cold day, before the big snowstorm would hit and transform a plain, bitterly cold landscape into a soft, deep, white, snowy, silence.
After sliding into the pew, we prayed...thanking God for this day, this gift of the sacrament of reconciliation.  We each took our turn in the confessional, and then made our way to a pew in the center of the sanctuary.  Hearts cleansed,  spirits refreshed.  Making room in our hearts for the Christ Child.  As we sat in silence, preparing our hearts and minds for the mass, I began to meditate on the incredible mystery of it all.  God could have remained distant.  But He did not.  So many others have expressed it far better than I.  Yet I still feel the need to attempt to put into words what I was feeling.  And what I was and am feeling is an overwhelming gratitude that our God loved us enough to not stay away, to not remain distant.  And Mary, conceived without sin, became an integral part of His plan to enter into the history of mankind.  To show us in the flesh His Love.  His Word.  His Christ.  Our Christ.  Soon the warm lights of the church would be on, pews filling with parishioners in good spirits, our voices rising toward heaven with song and prayer.