Podcast Summary: Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons

Episode: The Season of Sacred Waiting

Date: November 25, 2025
Host: Bishop Robert Barron

Overview

In this homily marking the first Sunday of Advent and the start of the new liturgical year, Bishop Robert Barron explores the spiritual meaning and transformative potential of waiting. Framing Advent as a "season of sacred waiting," he argues that this period—while only four weeks long—reflects a universal truth: much of human life is marked by longing, anticipation, and the challenge of letting go of control in favor of God's timing. Through biblical stories, personal anecdotes, and spiritual insights, Bishop Barron encourages listeners to embrace the spiritual discipline of waiting as a pathway to deeper faith and surrender to God’s will.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Advent and the Spirituality of Waiting

• Advent marks the new year in the Church and is a time of expectation, hope, and joyful anticipation of Christ ("the Adventus")
• Bishop Barron insists that "sacred waiting" is not just for Advent but embodies the Christian journey itself—a longing for something the world cannot fulfill.
• Quote:
  • "Advent, even though it’s just four weeks, names something true of all of life...there's a happiness that we want, but we don't have." ([01:32])
• Even at life’s high points, satisfaction is fleeting—prompting the perennial human feeling: “Now what’s my next goal?”

2. The Challenge and Discomfort of Waiting

• Bishop Barron admits to being impatient, sharing humorous stories from childhood and a recent two-hour ordeal at the eye doctor to illustrate the universal discomfort with waiting.
• Memorable moment:
  • Recounting the eye doctor experience—unable to read or use his phone due to dilating drops, growing increasingly frustrated while "doing nothing" and waiting for his name to be called. ([04:09–06:34])
• Quote:
  • "I hate to wait. F. Scott Fitzgerald said the three worst things in life are to try to please and not be able to, to lie in bed and not sleep, and to wait for someone who does not come." ([07:05])

3. Waiting as a Biblical and Spiritual Theme

• Biblical examples abound:
  • Israel waits centuries for the Messiah, 400 years in Egypt;
  • Abraham waits years for God’s promise;
  • Noah waits for the floodwaters to recede;
  • Monastic traditions embrace "keeping vigil."
• In Dante’s Divine Comedy, characters are made to wait for divine help or permission, mirroring human spiritual experience.
• Quote:
  • "[Israel] waits 400 years in slavery in Egypt before the deliverer comes... Abraham is promised a son... he's 75, he's 85, he's 95... he has to wait until Isaac comes." ([08:27])
• Waiting is often a test of intention and commitment—a chance to decenter the ego.

4. The Spiritual Purpose of Waiting: Decentering the Ego

• At the heart of Advent and Christian waiting is the "painful process of decentering the ego," letting go of control and personal agenda.
• "The spiritual life is about letting go of that ego, decentering that ego and allowing God to be the Lord of my life. Not to undertake my project all the time, but to wait on the Lord." ([11:59])
• Control is prized in modern life, but, "when it comes to the deepest things in life, you're not in control. God's in control." ([13:09])
• Drawing upon spiritual anthropology: “Your life is not about you…it’s about what God wants.”

5. Scriptural and Personal Illustrations of Surrender

• Jonah’s Story: Illustrates forced waiting and surrender in the "belly of the fish," where Jonah’s plans are superseded by God’s purposes.
  • "What's happening while he's waiting is he's being brought by God exactly where God wants him to be." ([14:23])
• Priestly obedience: Bishop shares how promising obedience as a priest/bishop involves surrendering “my career, my projects, my plans,” waiting openly for God’s next call and assignment.
  • “I was saying, I’m willing to wait to see what God wants me to do.” ([15:57])

6. The Magi: Attentive, Active Waiting

• The Wise Men appear during Advent as icons of patient, expectant waiting—but move decisively when God gives the sign.
  • "When they got it, they moved... There's nothing passive about what I'm describing. When you wait, you're letting go... but you're turning your life over to God." ([18:16])
• Bishop Barron affirms that sacred waiting is NOT inaction, but a readiness to act when God directs.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "There's a happiness that we want, but we don't have... Even at the best moments, we know that we're hungry for something that we don't have."
  — Bishop Barron ([01:32])

• "I hate to wait. F. Scott Fitzgerald said the three worst things in life are to try to please and not be able to, to lie in bed and not sleep, and to wait for someone who does not come."
  — Bishop Barron ([07:05])

• "The spiritual life is about letting go of that ego, decentering that ego and allowing God to be the Lord of my life."
  — Bishop Barron ([11:59])

• "When it comes to the deepest things in life, you're not in control. God's in control. And can you learn to live out of that acceptance, to let go of your need to manipulate everything and let God set the tone?"
  — Bishop Barron ([13:09])

• "Your life is not about you... It's about what God wants. And that means we sometimes have to wait."
  — Bishop Barron ([13:38])

• "What's happening while he's waiting is he's being brought by God exactly where God wants him to be."
  — Bishop Barron on Jonah ([14:23])

• "When [the Magi] got it, they moved... There's nothing passive about what I'm describing. When you wait, you're letting go... but you're turning your life over to God."
  — Bishop Barron ([18:16])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:40] — Significance of Advent and sacred waiting
• [02:15] — Life’s deepest longing and the feeling of “not yet” even at life’s high points
• [04:09–06:34] — Personal anecdote: waiting at the eye doctor
• [07:05] — “Hating to wait” illustrated by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• [08:27] — Waiting throughout biblical tradition
• [09:45] — Dante’s Divine Comedy and waiting
• [11:59] — Spiritual discipline: decentering the ego
• [13:09] — Lesson: We are not in control, God is
• [13:38] — Surrendering our plans to God’s purposes
• [14:23] — Jonah as a model of surrender in waiting
• [15:57] — Priestly obedience and living in openness to God’s will
• [18:16] — The Magi: active waiting as Advent’s model
• [19:50] — Conclusion: Sacred waiting as Advent’s spiritual attitude

Conclusion: The Attitude of Advent

Bishop Barron concludes by pointing to the Magi as examples: be attentive, open, and patient in seeking God’s will, but ready to move when the call comes. The spiritual attitude of Advent is not restless passivity nor anxious control, but a hopeful, surrendered waiting—and a readiness to act when God gives his sign.

"When you get the indication from God, you go, you act, you move. I think that's the spiritual attitude of Advent. And God bless you."
([19:50])