Parish Missions

A Time of Waiting

Conrad the Cobbler was poor. Having lost most of his family

to sickness and death, his life was a struggle as he plied his trade.

He often wished his life too would end. A holy pilgrim passing

through encouraged him to read the Gospels. Conrad found

solace in the stories of how the Master healed the broken, fed

the hungry and preached good news.

One day he told his friends, who were surprised to find his

shop so clean and his spirits so free,

The Lord appeared in a dream to me

And said, “I am coming your guest to be.

He comes today, and the table is spread

With milk and honey and wheaten bread.

His anticipation overwhelmed him. He dreamed of the

moment of the Lord’s arrival.

The knock, the call, the latch pulled up,

The lighted face, the offered cup.

And then at last he would sit with HIM,

And break the bread till the day grew dim.

His reverie was broken by the sight of a beggar drenched

by the driving rain. He called him in and gave him shoes for his

bruised feet. Then soon after an old woman, bearing the weight

of firewood on her back, he welcomed in to steady her load and

give her a loaf of bread.

Later, as he waited in growing eagerness, to a little child,

lost and afraid, he offered milk from the waiting cup and led him

home to her mother’s arms.

As the day turned grey, Conrad sighed at the thought Lord

had forgotten his promise.

Then soft in the silence, a voice he heard:

“Lift up your heart, for I kept my word.

Three times I came to your friendly door;

Three times my shadow was on your floor.

I was the beggar with bruised feet;

I was the woman you gave to eat;

I was the child on the homeless street.” *

And even today the world waits.

In times of struggle, division and disappointment we tend to give up hope. Like the humble cobbler, the anxieties of daily life often cause us frustration and even despair. The Gospels console us with stories of the power of Christ’s love and compassion to bring healing and peace. So the signs of tribulation and dismay that Luke foretells should not frighten us, for faith tells us the Messiah will come, a new creation will dawn.

And so we wait.

But like Conrad the cobbler, the Gospels should not simply console, they must challenge us to see the Risen Christ in the very people who reach out to us in their need. Being able to see, in our pain, the pain of others is the key to the new creation. This waiting time invites us to seek out the coming Messiah in those around us: in a neighbor who is alone; in a relative out of touch; in the homeless or unemployed in our community.

The popular tradition of the “Giving Tree” in our parish communities speaks to this coming Messiah in our midst. The Annual Appeal for the Retirement of Religious is especially noteworthy. Even the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots and the Salvation Army’s Sidewalk Santas are all expressions of the universal understanding that there is a powerful witness in sharing in the pain of others. Even in the secular world the “good feeling” gained from these little sacrifices gives evidence of the challenge of our waiting.

The Gospel invites us to be strong and determined in the face of tribulation, an appropriate challenge for our time. As individuals, as a local faith community, as a universal Church, Jeremiah offers a promise that only we can fulfill. He challenges Jerusalem, as he challenges all of us, to be called “the LORD our Justice.” Trials and tribulations, anxious days and troubling nights are part of the human experience. Getting through these times with courage and hope is the message of this season of waiting.

Lest we forget that promise in the midst of life’s struggles, we have the Eucharist, the real presence of the Messiah, the Christ. But even in the Eucharist, Jeremiah’s challenge remains. It has been said that "the Eucharist is a verb that does justice." As we wait, we have the Eucharist, not just as food for the journey, but Eucharist that is the journey itself. In our waiting, we celebrate the Eucharist in the spirit of St. John Chrysostom who wrote in one his homilies:

Do you wish to honor the Body of Christ?

Do not despise him when he is naked. Do

not honor him here in the church building

with silks, only to neglect him outside, when

he is suffering from cold and from naked-

ness. For he who said “This is my Body” is

the same who said “You saw me, a hungry

man, and you did not give me to eat.” Feed

the hungry and then come and decorate the

table. The Temple of your afflicted

brother’s body is more precious than this

Temple (the church). The Body of Christ

becomes for you an altar. It is more holy

han the altar of stone on which you

celebrate the holy sacrifice. You are able

o contemplate this altar everywhere,

in the street and in the open squares.

So we wait, though he is here.

* There are many versions of this folk tale first written by Leo Tolstoy in 1885 under the title “Where Love Is, God Is.” Tolstoy’s cobbler was named Martin. The verse version quoted here was penned by the American poet Edwin Markham as “How the Great Guest Came." He names the cobbler Conrad.