Yesterday afternoon I had one of those Brooklyn Heights experiences. So you all know where the corner of Clinton and Atlantic is. Yeah. Key food is right there. The barbershop. And so you’ve all been there, right? So a gentleman in a black looked like a black station wagon. Small SUV was trying to pull into a parking place. Now, coming up right behind him was someone in a larger white SUV who wasn’t paying attention, who wasn’t watching what was going on, and came right up to the bumper.

And so the gentleman in the black car was not willing to give up a parking place in Brooklyn Heights. Wasn’t going to happen. Now, the problem, the driver of the white car wasn’t going to back up. So what was the first thing that happened? Horns began. So after the horns began, what was the second thing that happened? The windows got rolled down and the names began flying.

What was the third thing that happened? Someone got who said prayer. Thank you. Thank you. It didn’t happen that way. But bless you, no prayer involved in this encounter because I have never heard words so creatively strung together. As I heard yesterday, I marveled at the level of creativity involved. So it was a real standoff. Clearly, somebody was going to have to give it finally, I think, as things were heating up, because now there’s a crowd watching.

Why wouldn’t we stop and watch Free Flower Show Saturday afternoon? The white car backed up just enough for the black car to be able to to navigate in. And he went around. Interesting. It really was because somebody wasn’t paying attention. Somebody wasn’t watching what was going on. Now, have we all had this situation like that? Have we all seen that in Brooklyn Heights, watching, paying attention, being patient?

The horns were all honking. Nobody had enough time to wait. It’s very interesting. And yet here we are on the first Sunday at that event. And what is the message of our first reading? What? Pay attention. Be alert. Interesting. Now we have some younger members of our community here with us. And at the 9:00 mass, there were lots of younger little disciples.

Children are not necessarily good at waiting, are they? But then again, are adults necessarily good at waiting? After all, if I want Chinese food right now, what do I do? I hit the app. If I want my package delivered immediately, what do I do? Punch in Amazon? We don’t have to wait for anything anymore. We don’t even have to wait to see our favorite movies.

We just streamed them. Waiting is something that we are losing. Do we still have the ability to wait patiently or do I want everything right now? Well, I am going back to someone’s childhood. 58 years ago when we were given the answer. Now how many of you would know One answer from 58 years ago. come on. A moment of truth.

How many of us remember Christmas? Alvin, Simon and Theodore the Chipmunks? What did Simon want for Christmas? A hula hoop. All he wanted for Christmas is a hula hoop. And what was what did he always say? We can hardly stand the wait. Please. Christmas. Don’t be late. That is as relevant today as it was then. Try as we might.

It is difficult for children or adults to wait for the coming of the Lord. We want Jesus and we want Him right now. But we have to wait. We have to be patient. So where are the patient people in our community? If you’re a patient, raise your hand. Okay. I am not seeing a lot of hands go up.

Perhaps Sergio and Coco need to sing the famous Saint Louis Jesuit advised him. Patience, people, patience. Teaching children and ourselves to be patient is a slow process. It takes patience. And that’s important because we have become an impatient people. Each and every one of us needs to relearn how to wait. Jesus is first followers. The early church thought his return was going to be right now with every day that went by, they wondered, Where’s the Lord?

Why is it taking so long for Jesus to come again? They became impatient. And here we are 2000 years later, waiting patiently for the coming of the Lord. Be patient until the coming of the Lord is what we hear over and over again. This is our one and certain hope salvation in Christ, whether it is fall or winter, spring or summer, we wait for the Lord to come.

Paul reminds us of this in the second reading that we heard today. If the first readings watchword was what Paul’s word is. Wait. He knows how waiting can tempt. Does. It gives us time on our hands. It forces us to wait for the results to pray fervently. And Paul advises the church not to give up, but to pray unceasingly.

Paul it knowledge is that waiting is painful. He uses the prophets as an example. The prophets had to wait and they suffered. So do we. We wait and we suffer for the return of the Lord. Now, this type of patience takes a lot of practice. The prophets and the apostles tell us that we don’t wait passively. We’re not just supposed to sit.

We’re supposed to look busy, busy building the Kingdom of God, busy getting the kingdom ready for the return of the King. James the Apostle, along with Paul, gives us a kingdom tips, for example, he says, Don’t grumble about one another. If you were on the corner of Atlantic and Clinton, he might say, Give each other a little space.

Don’t honk your horn, wait patiently. They say, Don’t complain about anybody. And let me say, especially about your pastor, don’t complain about him. They say love one another and care for one another. Add that is the countdown for the coming of the Lord. Advent is a time of waiting and preparing for Jesus. But the story isn’t over. On Christmas Day, Jesus will return again in glory with this kingdom, and we prepare for the gift of Jesus coming again in glory.

So works of health to help our children. Wait. Prepare for Christmas. We’re supposed to help them wait and prepare for the coming of the Lord. So this advent, how are we helping our children to be happy, to be patient, to be loving, to be caring? How are we helping them get ready for Jesus to be born again, but to come again over and over again?

What we hear are the words Be patient, seek to live as those who are the citizens of the Kingdom of God. In patience, we enter into the presence of Christ every day. And today, after almost two years of being patient and waiting for the return of Jesus to come to our hearts and lives in the form of the precious blood.

Today, after our patient wait, the Lord returns to us today, we will once again offer communion under both forms. We’ve run the race. The time is right, and it will be your choice to wait a little bit longer, to receive the blood of Christ or to be ready. Now the choice is ours. Patience is living today and waiting for the return of the king.

Patience is preparing. And so we say patience, people. And the Lord. With Alvin and Simon and Theodore, we say, Please Christmas, don’t be late. And unlike two drivers will be watchful. Will be ready, will be patient. But you have each other a little space because really, bottom line, our prayer is come, Lord Jesus, come, Don’t be late. Come, Lord Jesus, come.