Well, today is the first Sunday of Advent, kind of a New Year's Day in the Church's liturgical calendar. It's a time for us to restart our recollection of our salvation history, beginning with the incarnation of God, His physical presence in the person of Jesus Christ in the world. This year our advent theme is "Waiting for Blessed Times." Starting with today's reading from Isaiah, we witness God's people waiting for Him, calling to Him, even blaming God for the fact that they have veered off the path of righteousness.

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus tells us that our waiting and watching should be constant, we must always be on watch because we do not know when the end is coming. Waiting is something that we see in most of the readings throughout Advent. Advent is described in the general norm for the liturgical year and calendar as a period of devout and joyful expectation. So we are in a season of prayerful and joyful watching.

One aspect of our waiting should be the recognition of our total dependence on God. The image of the potter and the clay from the reading from the book of Isaiah is one that appears frequently both in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the New Testament. God is the potter and we, all of humanity, are  the clay in His hands that He forms according to his liking. This is a very powerful image and one that underscores our dependency on God for everything.

God shapes us and molds us in every aspect of our lives. He chooses our parents and the family that we will grow up in. He chooses our circumstances, whether we will be born a child of wealth, power and nobility or, as He chose for His son, one born of the more common class. God allows that some will see no schooling at all, while others will be educated in private prep schools and Ivy League colleges. God knows in advance all of these things about our lives.

So if we believe that God knows all and we put our total trust and faith in Him, why are we waiting for blessed times? I like the theme for Advent but I think it may make us miss the point. While we are waiting for blessed times, we may miss the fact that the blessed times are really happening as we speak.

If we believe that God is the potter, how could we also believe that He is unaware of any event in our lives? God as our Father gives us everything. And that includes the good things as well as the, shall we say, not-so-good parts of our lives. God loves us all the same, so we must accept that He gives us what we need out of love for us. We must remember that all is gift.

Unfortunately, some of these blessings, some of these  gifts that we receive may sometimes take on forms that disguise themselves very well. If you've just lost a job or a home, if you've been diagnosed with a serious illness, or if you've recently lost a loved one, it is very hard to peer deep enough into these events to see any blessings that they might contain. These are times of worry and heartache. But we must always remember what St. Paul tells us in Romans -- that all things work for good for those who love God.

I know we have all had experiences that reveal how God turns difficulties into blessings, and I want to share a story from my life from not so long ago. Back in November of 2005, about 10 months after my mother's death, my father decided to take a trip halfway around the world. He left his home in early November, intending to visit all nine of his children, including my sister who lives in Australia.

Well, on Thanksgiving morning, the morning that he was supposed to leave for Australia, he became gravely ill at my home and I had to take him to the emergency room for treatment. He nearly died, but after a week in the hospital he was released to convalesce at my home. His condition was very fragile, but we spent long hours together. And my wife Julie and I nursed him back to health. He stayed with us until early January, when he was finally able to fly back home to Michigan to complete his recovery.

Although it was a very fearful and difficult time for me  in many ways, I look back and I count numerous blessings. First of all, if dad had gotten sick one day later when he was on that plane to Australia, the chances are that he probably would not have survived the flight. He had already lost six units of blood. If dad hadn't stayed with us, my boys would never have had the opportunity to know their grandfather better than they already did in living so far away. If it weren't for my experience, I might never have known the compassion of my employer who supported me without any question for the weeks that dad was with me. And the time I spent with my dad while he was sick and recovering are some of the best memories that I have of him. I gained a thousand blessings for every inconvenience that this incident cost me.

As we go through the Advent season, I think we all need to do more than wait for blessed times. I think we need to acknowledge the blessed times we are experiencing at the moment. We also need to become the blessings to others who need us. We need to share to meet the material needs of others. We need to share something as simple as a kind word with those around us. We need to be mindful of the homeless and the hungry. We need to take the small steps, the prayers, the letters to those in power, the conversations with others that will contribute to reconciliation and world peace.

God has tried to shape us into people of love and compassion and understanding. While we accept the fact that  we are the clay, we need to become willing accomplices in His work of shaping us into the people that He wants us to be.

So how do we become God's accomplices in shaping us? There is no single answer and certainly no simple answer, but I think it all starts out by turning to God. If we can embrace the reality that God is shaping us in every aspect of our lives, we will be better able to accept and work through the difficult times. That won't make those times any easier or more explainable.

For myself, I am always asking God why about a million things. I'm sure that when we meet in Heaven we'll have a lengthy conversation, because I want to know why. I want to know why little children suffer dreadful diseases. I want to know why war is a fact of life for countless millions. I want to know why people can't see beyond race, or color or religion when they encounter their fellow man. I want to know why, but I think it will all come down to one answer. I think God knows better than we do the things, the gifts that we need at every moment of our life. He knows the kind of people that he wants us to become, and he knows the joys, but he also knows the tears and the trials that we need to experience so that he can shape us into becoming those people.

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