Does the Election Make You Feel Empty? Good.

We spent two years preparing for an election. We've listened, read, discussed, and debated. But even if the candidate you supported won the election, there is still a sense of something missing, something unfulfilled. That is because no human being can answer infinite desires and hopes of the human heart. In comparison, the Church gives us just four weeks of Advent to prepare ourselves for the One who can and does answer the infinite desires and hopes of the human heart. When we elect a candidate, we do so hoping that he or she will somehow live up to their promise to make me happy or to make life better. We hope that he or she will not let us down too much or will provide some improvement for a few years. 

Advent, however, is not about hoping that the One whom we are waiting for will somehow be able to make me happy. Advent is rather a time to prepare my heart--to enlarge my heart--to receive One who far surpasses my hopes and desires. We've spent two years entirely focused on some human beings who will never be the answer to our heart's deepest longing. What if we spent the next four weeks enlarging our hearts through prayer, sacred reading, charity, and sacrifice so that our hearts were ready to receive the One who is MORE than what I hope for?

Do we know our political candidates better than we know Jesus Christ? Do we place more hope in our political candidates than we do in Jesus Christ? Do we prepare more for the arrival of a political candidate than we do for the Coming of Christ? Do we worship politics?

Advent is a gift to us. Let's spend it well. Let every heart prepare Him room.