The first day of Advent this year found me in a desert. It was the retreat of all retreats in Southern California desert on a backpacking excursion with dozens of like-minded Catholics. It was absolutely exhilarating! We camped in a canyon, prayed the Divine Office together throughout the day, assisted at Mass, began and ended each day with a Holy Hour in the moonlight – and walked.

To say that the majority of the trip was spend walking is an understatement. Each day, we walked through the desert hills, mountains, canyons, and open plains for hours on end. 

I had a lot of time to this and pray during this trip. There is a reason why this life is called a pilgrimage. While the advent season and Faith’s encouraging words to follow Mary’s wait help me to embrace the unknown, this walk reminded me how important action is to a fruitful wait.

I spent three entire days walking toward the beautiful –  the sunsets, the sunrises, the palm trees – never dreaming there would be a treasury of grace prepared for me along the way!

There wasn’t an actual destination in sight, physically or spiritually. We lived in the now; walking while waiting to learn more about the next step through the journey itself.

And just like the physical journey, Our Lord worked with each step in my soul – by strengthening my heart, revealing His love, and prompting me toward grace. 

Our group stopped occasionally to hydrate ourselves with the water we carried on our backs and to admire the view we were creating with our climb. Silence and prayer, also, were incorporated into the journey. (And who says you can’t eat an Oreo in the desert!?)

Imagine my surprise when one step up a steep canyon proved to be the last – and I suddenly found myself standing in an actual oasis. (Did you know an oasis was a real thing? Not a mirage or a hypothetical term for an unrealistic paradise.) Dozens of palm trees rose up from the damp ground, forming shade, cultivating life, and providing resting place for the weary. The wait was well worth the walk. And in the strangest of all ironies: the walk was well worth the wait!

There, at the top of a canyon and in the very center of an incredible oasis, the priest leading our group said Holy Mass. In the miracle of all miracles, the Creator of these wonders came in the form of a little white host.

Like Mary, who journeyed to Bethlehem in her maternal wait, who pondered in her heart, and who mourned with the Apostles and in the upper room – we are all called to not just wait, but to take action in that wait.

When we walk in the wait (very often, a desert), we accept the unknown and lift our eyes and hearts to the beautiful. We put one foot in front of the other, opening ourselves up for an adventure only God could plan for our lives. We never know when the next step may be the last one before the prize! We trust that there will be an end to the journeying, the pondering, the mourning and at that end, there will be new life – the Eucharist in a desert oasis.

Dear sisters – are you walking in your wait?

Do you leave the future into God’s hands, surrendering each step to Him along the way? Do you match His stride? Do you look up from your wait and walk toward the sunrise? Do you trust that there is an oasis at the end of your journey?

Because the view at the top is worth every step we take.