One of the “mottos” of Advent, one of the phrases that captures the spirit of this time that we began last Sunday, is “Come, Lord Jesus,” taken from the end of the Book of Revelation (Rev 22:20). It is, we could say, one of the most appropriate prayers of Advent.
And yet, it is important to make sure that we understand these words correctly. Because they are not a request, nor a demand that we address to Jesus so that he decides to come to us, as if he, for some reason, was hesitant and we had to convince him to actually come to the world.
“Come, Lord Jesus” is a request addressed to ourselves: a prayer in which we ask to gather the wisdom and the strength to open the doors of our lives to him and remove all the obstacles that we sometimes put in the way, blocking his way. Obstacles that we put because, in reality, we are afraid of his coming.
And why, we should ask ourselves, are we afraid of Jesus? Why do we resist Jesus' coming (even if we keep repeating "Come, come...")?
One possible answer is that we know, or we sense, that in one way or another Jesus always comes to unsettle us. He comes to give us a little push, to urge us to go further in our generosity, to abandon the routines that numb our conscience, and to make an exodus, outside the comfort that binds us and the territories that we already know, towards the risky life of the Gospel. That is why deep down, perhaps unconsciously, we fear Jesus' coming.
It would be good to identify the attitudes that tend to tie us into a desperate search for comfort. Review them, understand that they impoverish us and reject them. Then we will be able to say with all sincerity and vigor, in this Advent and always: "COME, LORD JESUS!"
