Next Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent, which begins the new Church year. Advent is four weeks, leading up to Christmas, in which we put ourselves into the position of the Hebrew people, who waited, and planned, and prayed for the coming of the Messiah. We also put ourselves into a sense of waiting and planning and praying for the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time. 
    
The spiritual meaning of this season is “WAIT.” Waiting is not something that most of us are good at. Ours is an instant gratification culture. We want everything now.  Can you imagine waiting for over a thousand years for the fulfillment of the promises made by God to an ancient patriarch, Abraham, and to Moses? One of the prayers in the Psalms that we hear repeatedly is, “How long, O Lord, how long?” And yet some (not all) waited and kept faith with God throughout Israel’s history.
    
When will Christ return? We do not know, but we wait with expectation, and we prepare ourselves for whenever He does return.