Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus promises his Second Coming.

In one sense, Christianity is a religion of fulfillment (the Lord has come), but in another sense, it is a religion of waiting, for we expect the Second Coming of Jesus in the fullness of his power. We wait and watch and keep vigil.

What we all know is that great things take time. When a kid comes to an artist’s studio to apprentice, he has to submit to a long and difficult discipline; when a young man enters a monastery or a seminary, he has to do a lot of waiting; when a woman becomes pregnant, she has to wait nine long months before the baby is ready; when a gardener works, he waits and watches and cultivates; when an author writes a book, he has to let it come on its own terms and in its own time.

“How long does this analysis take?” a woman asked Carl Jung. He replied, “Just as long as it takes.” Gestation, growth. So we endure the harsh and the sweet processes that make growth possible.