“It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.” It is now the time for us to be serious with our lives. All of us really do a rollercoaster or cycles with God, where we are close to God and then we fall away and then we get closer and fall away. We have these cycles that we get serious and do what we need to do to be close to God and then those things fall away for one reason or another. That is why the Church offers these seasons for us to return to God and that is what Advent is all about.
What can you do to return to God? And how can you make those things habits? We need to make those things habits, where we want to do it every single day. That we enjoy it and want to pray, or read scriptures, or to go to adoration. It is when we can make it a habit is when we only feel content when we do it. What is it that will help you get closer to God and then make it a habit?
In order to make something a habit, we need to continually do it, without fail, many times. It is when we fail and stop for some reason is when we need to start over and try again. I believe when our relationship with God is a habit, we feel something missing and we are not content. It is only when we know this is where we belong and what we are supposed to be doing is when a true habit is formed. How can you get there?
Advent is the perfect time for us to make whatever gets you closer to God a habit. We can refocus our lives on God and start to make sure that we do it every single day and maybe multiples times a day. Maybe you have not found what gets you closer to God which means then start to search until you find it. Keep on trying things but do it a few times. Or change things up if you do not feel that connection anymore. It is okay to change things if that thing is not helping with your connection to God.
Advent is a perfect time for all of us to build up and maintain our relationship with God. It can be easy to allow life to get in the way of God, and the Church offers these seasons for us to refocus our lives on God. What is it that you can do that helps with that? If you do not know, ask God for help to guide you to try out what will help you be closer to Him. It might take time, but God will be your guide to help and sustain you this season. Allow Him to be your guide and trust what He is doing.
(Given on First Sunday of Advent Year A)