A Gift on the Way

It was the week before Christmas when a mother suddenly realized she hadn’t mailed a single card. In mild panic she handed her teenage son, home on break, the car keys and said, “Run to the drugstore and grab a box—anything festive. Hurry, or we’ll never get them in the mail in time.”

He came back a short while later with a box of twenty-five cards, all alike. Hurriedly, she sat at the kitchen table signing, sealing, and stamping until the last envelope was gone.

The next afternoon one of the envelopes was returned as undeliverable. She opened it, and only then saw the message printed on the back panel:

This little card is just to say,
a gift you’ll love is on the way.

This morning we begin the Advent Season of hope and expectation. The world around us has already raced ahead—lights up, carols playing, calendars full—but the Church begins quietly, with candles and prophecy, with words about watching and waiting. Advent…