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FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT:

Fr. Arturo Pérez Rodríguez, a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, offers this week's meditation, prayer, and actions. Fr. Arturo visits inmates in Divisions 1, 5, 10, and 11 and has been appointed staff chaplain of Division 9 at Cook County Jail. He began working in the jail ministry in 2003. He has published and lectured on the topic of Hispanic Liturgy and Spirituality. Fr. Arturo is Director of Kolbe House and Pastor of Assumption BVM Parish.

STORY
I have conversation starters that I use whenever I make my jail visits. I try to avoid the question How are you today? It seems awkward, strange and out of touch when I consider that the person I am talking to is behind a steel door with a small window opening in it. This is how I would answer that question: “How do you think I am? I am in jail!”

I have begun starting my conversations by asking a different question: Have you heard any good news? This question seems more appropriate since I receive a variety of answers. One of my favorites is: “No -- no good news but then I haven’t received bad news either. So I guess that is good news!”

One of the most common answers to my good news question is: “No-- just waiting for my court date, that’s all I can do.”

I respond: “Then we will wait together in prayer, but make sure you let me know what happens.”

Waiting is easier to do when you do not have to wait alone. During our conversation we talk about what makes waiting easier for them. Sometimes it is reading a new book, picking up the Bible, playing cards with a cellmate, writing a letter home, talking about sports, or exercising by yourself. A brief conversation, a simple question, an interested listener makes waiting easier. Waiting with someone is better than waiting alone.

REFLECTION
The men that I visit in jail are teaching me how to wait. I am not very good at this. I want to be productive, not waste time, be efficient, get things done, move ahead with my plans. Waiting is the opposite of everything that I want. That is one of the main lessons that I am learning from the men and women that I visit in jail. Waiting reminds me that I am not control, that things will be done in God’s time and not mine, that I am not the center of the world.

Waiting helps me to lean upon God, especially the God that waits with me. This Sunday’s first reading reminds me that No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen, any God but you doing such deeds for those who wait for God. I am not waiting for a court date (thank God) or waiting in a hospital emergency room (again thank God). My waiting is simple, just waiting for a letter to arrive or for a returned phone call or for Christmas to come. I wait with those around me by paying attention to them, to their needs, to their questions, to listen for any good news in their lives.

SCRIPTURE READINGS TO REFLECT ON

Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.
Proverbs 8:34

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.
James 5:7

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.
Psalm 5:3

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:14

ACTIONS FOR THE WEEK
1. Take 5 minutes in the morning or the evening and just sit and wait in silence. Is it easy?

2. How fast do I drive? Am I running to somewhere or from somewhere?

3. Pray for women who are waiting for the birth of their child, especially those who are having difficulties because of domestic violence, physical or emotional problems.

4. Invite someone other than a family member or friend for a coffee/tea/ lunch.

DAILY PRAYER
God of all families,

I place myself before You with all of my extra baggage that is
packed with all of my needs and wants, desires and disappointments.
I add on my hopes, dreams, successes and satisfactions.

I place myself before you and wait.
Read my heart this day.
Simply read my heart as I wait with you.

Amen.

THIS WEEK’S POINT
Wait with the Lord and with those around you. image image image