Waiting For The Lord
Lighting the Christmas Tree in Sisimiut, Greenland on the 1st Sunday in Advent. Photo by Nuka Kristiansen via Wikipedia
One afternoon, I stepped into the Church of All Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives. With its dark purple windows, little light penetrates this building, so called because people from all over the world contributed to its construction. On this day, I sat down on a folding chair and after a short time noticed a young man in his twenties directly in front of me. Evidently an American, he leaned forward in his chair with his eyes fixed on the sanctuary and the dimly lit altar.
Apparently, he had traveled a long way, with a serious purpose on his mind, to this holy place of Gethsemane where Jesus had waited on His Father for consolation and strength. Not a sightseer, as so many visitors to the Church were that day, this man at the beginning of his adulthood was, like Jesus, “waiting on the Lord.”
What was on his mind, I could only guess, perhaps a wonderment what to do with his life, maybe seeking an answer to the kind of work he should do. He may have been experiencing a dissatisfaction with his lifestyle and was looking for a better way of serving God.
He had come to this holy Temple of God to await the enlightenment of the Lord, for inspiration from God, looking for His consolation and strength. Just next door in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus had sweat blood in His agony of “waiting on the Lord”, saying, “Father, if You will, take this cup of suffering away from me.”
This young pilgrim went away from this Church a different person after spending several hours before the Lord. His spirit of faith, his willingness to give time to God in this sacred place of Gethsmane brought a change in his attitude towards life.
Everyone has the chance to “wait for the Lord” in this Advent Season. You may agonize in a spell of darkness and dryness of spirit, your soul filled with the tedium of living. Perhaps, a crisis has risen in your marriage; those close to you have broken your heart. Sickness has claimed you and dear ones. Like this young man in the Temple, “wait for the Lord.” Refuse to give up or allow happenings to overcome your faith in the Lord Who never disappoints those who wait for His coming with His strength, consolation and hope.
Fr. George Mc Kenna
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About
Fr. George P. McKenna
Born July 12, 1919
Entered Eternal Life January 25, 2019
The son of Patrick and Mary (O’Malley) McKenna, Fr. George was a graduate of St. Theodore Grammar School, Quigley Seminary North, and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary. On May 6, 1944, he was ordained by Samuel Cardinal Stritch and faithfully served the Archdiocese of Chicago for 75 years.
His assignments included: Maryville Academy (1944-1949), Teacher at Quigley Seminary North and South (1949-1968), Christ the King (1963-1968), Pastor of St. Barnabas Parish (1970-1976), Missionary at Fairbanks Diocese in Northern Alaska (1976-1977), Pastor of St. Catherine of Alexandria (1978-1982), Associate Pastor of Our Lady of the Snows (1982-1989).
While assigned to Our Lady of the Snows, he would walk around Midway Airport for exercise and would stop in there to warm up. When he realized there was no Chapel at Midway, he knew his next calling and he founded Chicago Midway Airport Chapel on July 24, 1988 and served as the Chaplain until 2011.
His life long quest was to know and love Jesus of Nazareth, and Fr. George traveled to The Holy Land 27 times during his life, to walk in His footsteps and grow in his love an understanding of Our Lord.
Fr. McKenna wrote four books: A trilogy titled “I’ll Only Speak for 3 Minutes” and his last work, “Wisdom From the Pulpit“. After his retirement as Chaplain in 2011 he started this Blog and began sharing old and new messages of faith, hope and love that he had written as homilies over the years. This Blog will remain active until his treasure trove of messages is exhausted.
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God is Good! 
Thank you for yet another inspiring lesson. I look forward to getting these posts.
Arlene Johnson
Thank you for your reminder to never give up. You have touched me thiis morning and I have renewed enthusiasm for life.
Hi Fr. George! How are you doing? I hope that you had a nice Thanksgiving. Thank you for another post in your blog – always a treasure to read your writings. The richness of this story has touched me significantly today – as someone close to me has had a terrible disappointment and is very sad… it brought up for me a time when I too had such sadness over a loss… and at that time, I turned away from God but you and my mom brought me around. Now, I can’t imagine being away from Our Lord. Another Advent here already – the year has flown by. Another year of reading your posts, how LUCKY we are for that! I look forward to many more words of wisdom from you… you are such a great writer and priest. And what a great picture! It reminded me of a play that I have heard about but have been unable to get tickets. It is called Come From Away and it involves the story of the many planes that were diverted to Iceland on 9/11 and how the town welcomed the many airline passengers into their homes, feeding them, letting them do laundry! I wish I could go see it but it has completely sold out. The generosity of spirit at that time – priceless. And now, with so many ‘events’ in the world – we all need the grace of God and love to keep us going. Love you, Fr. George – you are so dear to me!
Love,
Nancy
“Refuse to give up or allow happenings to overcome your faith in the Lord Who never disappoints those who wait for His coming with His strength, consolation and hope.” Father McKenna never disappoints either! Ever grateful for your wisdom and devotion and guidance. At Thanksgiving and always, thankful for all of you giving. Nan B.
Loved this blog post. Waiting on the Lord shows a trust and a faith in Him. Brought my mind immediately to one of my favorite verses, Isaiah 40:31. “But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.”