This month has flown by like a blink and despite all my best laid plans to do a series of Advent meditations, I only managed to eke out a grand total of 4 posts. Funny enough, when I had the idea to do this series, I wondered if it wouldn't be better to just do posts for each Sunday of Advent. Then I reasoned that if I kept things short, I should be able to churn out a little something each day.
I failed to remember just how busy of a month December can be. I don't know why I forgot this. It's not as though I haven't been through several Decembers in my life. I think I was just feeling overly ambitious! Whatever the reason, I think this year I have learned my lesson! If I decide to write on Advent next year, I'll confine it to Sundays. Y'all hold me to it, okay?
Christmas is almost upon us and the time for preparation of our hearts is almost at an end. Until Friday, we light our candles and wait beside the still empty manger, breathless with anticipation of the arrival of the Word Made Flesh who comes to dwell with us until the end of the age.
Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts
Monday, December 21, 2015
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Meditating on Advent - Day 4
I'm a little behind because yesterday (12/2/2015) was a struggle with energy. My brain was so tired that I was having difficulty following discussions in a Facebook group I help administrate and during a thoughtful discussion my hubby and I were having after we got the girls to bed. I was sluggish and tired all day and just couldn't get it together. Anyhow, here's my thoughts on yesterday's gospel!
Yesterday's Gospel: Matthew 15:29-37
Here's the message: even while we are waiting and preparing for celebrating His birth, He is here with us even now. He is here and He is providing what we need. We are so much like the disciples, I think. They had no hope that there was any way that all these people would be able to be fed given the sheer number, lack of supplies, and deserted location. What's wild is that they even asked Jesus such a question. Verses 29-31 of this passage from Matthew show Jesus healing people of all kinds of ills and deformities. In fact, verse 30 says "great crowds came to him" and that "he cured them." The disciples had witnessed all these miracles and yet, they lost hope when it came to food.
Isn't that SO like us humans? We see all kinds of amazing things, but when we get hungry or tired or hot or cold, or inundated with too much to do, we lose hope that God is able to provide for those needs. I love the phrase that Shakespeare uses to describe all the frustrations of our earthly existence as "the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to." It's so true though, isn't it? This mortal life isn't an easy one and because of the sinful fallen nature we inherited from Adam and Eve, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that God doesn't just do amazing and fireworks-worthy miracles like curing an incurably blind person or turning several gallons of water into the best wine. He works smaller miracles in our everyday lives like giving us an extra push of energy when we think we have none left so that we can do what needs to be done or providing a friend to spend time with when we are feeling lonely and low or finding a sale on something so that we can give our children Christmas presents and still buy groceries to feed the family.
So when you get frustrated during this season of waiting and preparing, remember the feeding of the four thousand here in Matthew. Remember that even as we wait, He is here and He provides.
Yesterday's Gospel: Matthew 15:29-37
Jesus summoned his disciples and said, "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way." The disciples said to him, "Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place to satisfy such a crowd?"(verse 32-33)In this season of Advent where we are waiting and preparing for the birth of Jesus at Christmas, we may find ourselves wondering amidst all this preparation if we will really make it to Christmas. We may wonder if there is any way we'll get it all done or worry that we're rushing through Advent without adequately preparing our hearts or we may have so much to do and places to go that we wonder if we'll get to Christmas without losing our minds altogether!
Here's the message: even while we are waiting and preparing for celebrating His birth, He is here with us even now. He is here and He is providing what we need. We are so much like the disciples, I think. They had no hope that there was any way that all these people would be able to be fed given the sheer number, lack of supplies, and deserted location. What's wild is that they even asked Jesus such a question. Verses 29-31 of this passage from Matthew show Jesus healing people of all kinds of ills and deformities. In fact, verse 30 says "great crowds came to him" and that "he cured them." The disciples had witnessed all these miracles and yet, they lost hope when it came to food.
Isn't that SO like us humans? We see all kinds of amazing things, but when we get hungry or tired or hot or cold, or inundated with too much to do, we lose hope that God is able to provide for those needs. I love the phrase that Shakespeare uses to describe all the frustrations of our earthly existence as "the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to." It's so true though, isn't it? This mortal life isn't an easy one and because of the sinful fallen nature we inherited from Adam and Eve, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that God doesn't just do amazing and fireworks-worthy miracles like curing an incurably blind person or turning several gallons of water into the best wine. He works smaller miracles in our everyday lives like giving us an extra push of energy when we think we have none left so that we can do what needs to be done or providing a friend to spend time with when we are feeling lonely and low or finding a sale on something so that we can give our children Christmas presents and still buy groceries to feed the family.
So when you get frustrated during this season of waiting and preparing, remember the feeding of the four thousand here in Matthew. Remember that even as we wait, He is here and He provides.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Meditating on Advent -- Day 3
Today's Gospel: Luke 10:21-24
"Turning to the disciples in private, he said, 'Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.' " (verses 23-24)
Have you ever had difficulty seeing or hearing something? I know for me, seeing things is sometimes very difficult because I am severely nearsighted and have an astigmatism in both eyes. It's not normally a big deal though because I have glasses which correct my vision so that I can see clearly. In fact, those glasses are such a big help that I really only take them off when I sleep or when I'm going to shower. Without them, everything is fuzzy -- even if I squint. I am incredibly grateful that my glasses give me eyes to see clearly.
Seeing clearly what God wants me to see is sometimes more difficult. Some things are obvious. Seeing that He loves me, that I'm supposed to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that I'm supposed to love my neighbour as myself. Those are easiest to see because Scripture plainly spells those things out and all I need do is open my Bible and read. What is hard to see sometimes is how much God loves me and how best to love Him and my neighbour. Sometimes it's hard to see where He is leading me or what His plan is.
I think the reason for this is because I live in the world and I get distracted. Like right now as I'm writing this, my youngest GB is watching Go, Diego Go! on TV and as it's after 3pm, I know my two biggest girls will be getting off the bus soon and charging through the door. Those two things are a distraction to my focus on this blog post. Those are just the little things. The world is so full of problems and pain and I think we often get distracted by all the horrible heart-wrenching things going on and we lose our ability to see Him and to see what He wants us to see amid all the distractions.
One of the things that I think He wants us to see during this Advent is that we need to slow down and wait. Advent is a time of waiting, you know. It's so easy though to get distracted by all the Christmas decorations and lights going up around us, the shopping for presents, the cooking, the card writing, and all the many things we do to ready our homes and hearts for Christmas, that we lose sight of Advent altogether. We lose our ability to see the importance of waiting, anticipation, stillness, silence, and the darkness of the night that came before the dawn of the Incarnation. We are so preoccupied with "Away in a Manger" that we forget "O Come, O Come Emmanuel."
Our modern need to make all of December into one big Christmas celebration blinds us to the disciplines of waiting and stillness and the joy that can be found in these things. There is a phrase that is part of the Liturgy of the Eucharist during the Mass which follows the Our Father that says: "As we await the blessed hope and coming of Our Saviour, Jesus Christ." In the context of the Mass, we are, of course, talking about the Second Coming, but I think it's appropriate in this season of Advent and something good to meditate on a bit.
If we can stop a bit each day, slow down and still our minds, we can have our eyes opened anew to the joy that comes with waiting on the coming of the Word Incarnate. In these moments of reflection, we can have our vision restored so that we may see as the disciples did and hear His Voice calling us while we anticipate His arrival.
"Turning to the disciples in private, he said, 'Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.' " (verses 23-24)
Have you ever had difficulty seeing or hearing something? I know for me, seeing things is sometimes very difficult because I am severely nearsighted and have an astigmatism in both eyes. It's not normally a big deal though because I have glasses which correct my vision so that I can see clearly. In fact, those glasses are such a big help that I really only take them off when I sleep or when I'm going to shower. Without them, everything is fuzzy -- even if I squint. I am incredibly grateful that my glasses give me eyes to see clearly.
Seeing clearly what God wants me to see is sometimes more difficult. Some things are obvious. Seeing that He loves me, that I'm supposed to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that I'm supposed to love my neighbour as myself. Those are easiest to see because Scripture plainly spells those things out and all I need do is open my Bible and read. What is hard to see sometimes is how much God loves me and how best to love Him and my neighbour. Sometimes it's hard to see where He is leading me or what His plan is.
I think the reason for this is because I live in the world and I get distracted. Like right now as I'm writing this, my youngest GB is watching Go, Diego Go! on TV and as it's after 3pm, I know my two biggest girls will be getting off the bus soon and charging through the door. Those two things are a distraction to my focus on this blog post. Those are just the little things. The world is so full of problems and pain and I think we often get distracted by all the horrible heart-wrenching things going on and we lose our ability to see Him and to see what He wants us to see amid all the distractions.
One of the things that I think He wants us to see during this Advent is that we need to slow down and wait. Advent is a time of waiting, you know. It's so easy though to get distracted by all the Christmas decorations and lights going up around us, the shopping for presents, the cooking, the card writing, and all the many things we do to ready our homes and hearts for Christmas, that we lose sight of Advent altogether. We lose our ability to see the importance of waiting, anticipation, stillness, silence, and the darkness of the night that came before the dawn of the Incarnation. We are so preoccupied with "Away in a Manger" that we forget "O Come, O Come Emmanuel."
Our modern need to make all of December into one big Christmas celebration blinds us to the disciplines of waiting and stillness and the joy that can be found in these things. There is a phrase that is part of the Liturgy of the Eucharist during the Mass which follows the Our Father that says: "As we await the blessed hope and coming of Our Saviour, Jesus Christ." In the context of the Mass, we are, of course, talking about the Second Coming, but I think it's appropriate in this season of Advent and something good to meditate on a bit.
If we can stop a bit each day, slow down and still our minds, we can have our eyes opened anew to the joy that comes with waiting on the coming of the Word Incarnate. In these moments of reflection, we can have our vision restored so that we may see as the disciples did and hear His Voice calling us while we anticipate His arrival.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Meditating on Advent -- Day 2
Today's Gospel: Matthew 4:18-22
"As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen."
Today is the Feast Day of St. Andrew the Apostle*, so we get a reading about his call to follow Jesus in today's Gospel. It's a short passage and doesn't tell us much about Andrew except that he was a fisherman and that, along with his brother Peter, he left his nets at once and followed Christ.
At once. I think that's really amazing. Can you imagine if you were just going about your day to day life, hard at work at your job and Jesus suddenly walks in the door and says, "Follow me"? I think most of us, if we're being honest, would say that we'd be shocked initially and then after a moment or two, we'd ask Jesus for a few minutes or hours or days to get our lives squared away before coming with Him. I'm a stay at home mom of three girls who need me to supervise them and help them with things all the time while my husband is away at work. If Jesus walked in and suddenly wanted me to come with, I think it would be awfully hard to go "at once" and not want to take some time to call someone to look after my kids, pack a bag, and get all the hugs and kisses I could before I left.
But that's what we're called to do, isn't it? Go when He calls us. He calls all of us in one way or another. My vocation -- or calling -- is to the married life and motherhood. Jesus called me to that when I was a small child. But just because I have accepted that calling and I've followed Him into it by marrying and having children doesn't mean that He ceases to call me. He continues to call me in my day to day life to die to myself and to love others more like He does. That's a hard one for me sometimes. He has also put in my heart a new calling in the past year and that's to educate others about mental illness and suicide prevention. To become an advocate for those who struggle to advocate for themselves and who don't know how to get the help they need. That calling has been a very hard one for me to accept and follow, but I'm doing my best.
I think a good thing to do as we go through this Advent season is ask Him anew to reveal to us how and where He is calling us, to look again at our current calling and seek ways we can better fulfill those callings in obedience to Him. In doing this, we continue the process of readying our hearts for the celebration of Christmas and we better prepare ourselves to be ready when He comes again.
How is He calling you to come and follow Him?
*Since today is St. Andrew's Feast day, I thought I'd include this little prayer for Advent that is often referred to as the Saint Andrew Christmas Novena. It's a prayer that is meant to focus our hearts on the coming of Christ at Christmas and to ask God to grant a particular request in honour of the birth of His Blessed Son. If you're interested in more information, click the link.
"As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen."
Today is the Feast Day of St. Andrew the Apostle*, so we get a reading about his call to follow Jesus in today's Gospel. It's a short passage and doesn't tell us much about Andrew except that he was a fisherman and that, along with his brother Peter, he left his nets at once and followed Christ.
At once. I think that's really amazing. Can you imagine if you were just going about your day to day life, hard at work at your job and Jesus suddenly walks in the door and says, "Follow me"? I think most of us, if we're being honest, would say that we'd be shocked initially and then after a moment or two, we'd ask Jesus for a few minutes or hours or days to get our lives squared away before coming with Him. I'm a stay at home mom of three girls who need me to supervise them and help them with things all the time while my husband is away at work. If Jesus walked in and suddenly wanted me to come with, I think it would be awfully hard to go "at once" and not want to take some time to call someone to look after my kids, pack a bag, and get all the hugs and kisses I could before I left.
But that's what we're called to do, isn't it? Go when He calls us. He calls all of us in one way or another. My vocation -- or calling -- is to the married life and motherhood. Jesus called me to that when I was a small child. But just because I have accepted that calling and I've followed Him into it by marrying and having children doesn't mean that He ceases to call me. He continues to call me in my day to day life to die to myself and to love others more like He does. That's a hard one for me sometimes. He has also put in my heart a new calling in the past year and that's to educate others about mental illness and suicide prevention. To become an advocate for those who struggle to advocate for themselves and who don't know how to get the help they need. That calling has been a very hard one for me to accept and follow, but I'm doing my best.
I think a good thing to do as we go through this Advent season is ask Him anew to reveal to us how and where He is calling us, to look again at our current calling and seek ways we can better fulfill those callings in obedience to Him. In doing this, we continue the process of readying our hearts for the celebration of Christmas and we better prepare ourselves to be ready when He comes again.
How is He calling you to come and follow Him?
*Since today is St. Andrew's Feast day, I thought I'd include this little prayer for Advent that is often referred to as the Saint Andrew Christmas Novena. It's a prayer that is meant to focus our hearts on the coming of Christ at Christmas and to ask God to grant a particular request in honour of the birth of His Blessed Son. If you're interested in more information, click the link.
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.
Meditating on Advent -- Introduction and Day 1
Technically speaking, Advent began yesterday, but as I only got this idea today, I hope you'll forgive me for not being super good at planning or getting my act together! I was thinking today about what I want to do for Advent and came across an idea that another blogger I know had about writing a little haiku each day to kinda help slow down and prepare our hearts for Christmas. This blogger is hosting it at her blog and even providing prompts too. I first thought, "hey, what a great idea! I should do that!" And then as I thought about it some more, I realised that given my verbosity, there would be almost no way I could restrict myself to a haiku. I mean, can you imagine me trying to do a short thought on Advent in 17 syllables? Eeek! Gives me anxiety just thinking about it, y'all!
So, no haiku for me. Instead, I'm going to take the idea of brief meditations and share briefly each day on the Gospel reading for that day. I tried to do this last year and it was an abysmal failure. I think it's because I'd just come off doing Write 31 Days in October and trying to keep writing a lot in November and didn't rest enough. This though, I should be able to do. Since I'm a bit behind, this will serve as both my introduction and my catch up from yesterday's Gospel.
Yesterday's Gospel: Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
"Be vigiliant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."
I think this verse really sums up the entirety of the Christian life when it comes to what our purpose on earth truly is. Jesus tells us in Matthew's Gospel that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbour as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). Part of being vigilant so that we are ready "to stand before the Son of Man" when he comes again in glory is live our lives as though He is coming at any moment. Our entire purpose in life should be to follow those two greatest commandments so that when He comes again, we will be ready to stand before Him.
So why such a dark sounding passage during Advent? Well, it's simple really. Advent is a season of waiting and preparation for the birth of the newborn King. It is a time when we ready our hearts to once again come to the manger and adore Him. Likewise, it is also a time to prepare our hearts for His Second Coming -- or Advent -- when He will, as the passage from Luke says, come in a cloud with power and great glory.
At Christmas He is the Word Made Flesh and on that last day, He is the Risen and Glorified King of Kings who will put all His enemies under His feet. Our celebration of Advent is both preparation to celebrate His Incarnation and a reminder to ready ourselves for when He comes again.
Until tomorrow...
So, no haiku for me. Instead, I'm going to take the idea of brief meditations and share briefly each day on the Gospel reading for that day. I tried to do this last year and it was an abysmal failure. I think it's because I'd just come off doing Write 31 Days in October and trying to keep writing a lot in November and didn't rest enough. This though, I should be able to do. Since I'm a bit behind, this will serve as both my introduction and my catch up from yesterday's Gospel.
Yesterday's Gospel: Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
"Be vigiliant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."
I think this verse really sums up the entirety of the Christian life when it comes to what our purpose on earth truly is. Jesus tells us in Matthew's Gospel that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbour as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). Part of being vigilant so that we are ready "to stand before the Son of Man" when he comes again in glory is live our lives as though He is coming at any moment. Our entire purpose in life should be to follow those two greatest commandments so that when He comes again, we will be ready to stand before Him.
So why such a dark sounding passage during Advent? Well, it's simple really. Advent is a season of waiting and preparation for the birth of the newborn King. It is a time when we ready our hearts to once again come to the manger and adore Him. Likewise, it is also a time to prepare our hearts for His Second Coming -- or Advent -- when He will, as the passage from Luke says, come in a cloud with power and great glory.
At Christmas He is the Word Made Flesh and on that last day, He is the Risen and Glorified King of Kings who will put all His enemies under His feet. Our celebration of Advent is both preparation to celebrate His Incarnation and a reminder to ready ourselves for when He comes again.
Until tomorrow...
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Anticipating Jesus and M2
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| M2 at about two days old in the NICU. I was smitten with her from the moment I saw her! |
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| Visitation by Philippe de Champaigne |
If you think about it, the 40 weeks of pregnancy are one big ball of anticipation. Everything you do is driven by that feeling because in the end, you are anticipating something -- the birth of your child. You take care of yourself, visit the obstetrician, buy baby items, and take classes in birth techniques or parenting. Even your thoughts are filled with anticipation as you contemplate baby names, share your news with others, dream about what your baby will look like, wonder what gender it will be, and worry about whether or not you'll really be up to the task of caring for this new little person. In this way, I think Mary was just like the rest of us mommies. True, she had a heads up on the gender and name, but I can imagine the rest of it was pretty normal.
I can imagine she probably gazed down at her rapidly growing belly and began to wonder if Jesus would have St. Joachim's nose or St. Anne's smile. I'm sure she, along with her female relatives and friends, made the swaddling clothes that she wrapped Him in before laying Him in the manger (Luke 2:7). I have no doubt that there were times that the enormity of her consent (Luke 1:38) to allow the Holy Spirit to overshadow her must have weighed on her as she pondered the task of protecting, nurturing, and raising the Son of God. There is a very popular song that I hear a lot on the radio at Christmas called "Mary, Did You Know?" that asks several questions about Mary's understanding of who this child she was entrusted with really is. I believe that she absolutely knew during those 40 weeks of waiting quite a lot about who this child was going to be (my dear friend and fellow blogger Mark Shea actually wrote a fantastic piece about this song in a FAQ format that goes through the various questions the song asks and answers them with verses of scripture). She had been told much of this by Gabriel and yet, she still consented to participate in God's will for her life.
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| The Annunciation by Philippe de Champaigne c. 1645 |
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| Me with M2 at her class Christmas party just a few days ago. |
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Another little update
Christmas is fast approaching and I have SO much to do -- hence the not posting in like a week. Also, I've been feeling a lack of inspiration of late too and struggling with my depression some too. Sometimes when it rains, it pours...
All that said, I've got a post that's almost ready and will be posted on Saturday. I'm participating in an Advent Blog Hop and this is my contribution! I hope you'll enjoy it. I'm going to try to write a bit over the next couple of weeks, but I'll be with family some, so I might not have as much time for it.
Peace to all of you and yours!
All that said, I've got a post that's almost ready and will be posted on Saturday. I'm participating in an Advent Blog Hop and this is my contribution! I hope you'll enjoy it. I'm going to try to write a bit over the next couple of weeks, but I'll be with family some, so I might not have as much time for it.
Peace to all of you and yours!
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Pity -- Wednesday of the First Week of Advent
At that time: Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, went up on the mountain, and sat down there. Great crowds came to him, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them. The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the deformed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind able to see,and they glorified the God of Israel. Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way.”
The disciples said to him, “Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place to satisfy such a crowd?”
Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few fish.”
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.
-- Matthew 15:29-37
Pity
During Advent, in the Catholic Church, the colour of choice is purple for the priest's vestments, altar cloths, three of the four candles on the Advent wreath, etc. The reason for this is that purple is a liturgical colour that represents healing, repentance, and mercy. It is the colour of the stole that a priest wears when he hears confessions or when he administers the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick (which calls us to repent of sin, lean on the mercy of God, and be healed in spirit and body). It is also the colour of Lent for this reason. Advent and Lent are kind of sister seasons inasmuch as both are a preparation for a time of joyous celebration. These two seasons help us prepare our hearts for the two biggest Christian feasts of the year -- Christmas and Easter. A big part of this preparation of our hearts is to do things for others -- to be moved with pity for those in need -- and to do something to meet those needs.
The disciples said to him, “Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place to satisfy such a crowd?”
Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few fish.”
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.
-- Matthew 15:29-37
Pity
During Advent, in the Catholic Church, the colour of choice is purple for the priest's vestments, altar cloths, three of the four candles on the Advent wreath, etc. The reason for this is that purple is a liturgical colour that represents healing, repentance, and mercy. It is the colour of the stole that a priest wears when he hears confessions or when he administers the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick (which calls us to repent of sin, lean on the mercy of God, and be healed in spirit and body). It is also the colour of Lent for this reason. Advent and Lent are kind of sister seasons inasmuch as both are a preparation for a time of joyous celebration. These two seasons help us prepare our hearts for the two biggest Christian feasts of the year -- Christmas and Easter. A big part of this preparation of our hearts is to do things for others -- to be moved with pity for those in need -- and to do something to meet those needs.
Reveal -- Tuesday of the First Week of Advent
Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.” -- Luke 10:21-24
Reveal
One of the biggest things about the days and weeks leading up to Christmas is that we are waiting to see what will be revealed when we open our presents on Christmas morning. When we pull back that paper, what will we see? Will it be something we've been hoping for or something we take one look at and want to return?
Revelation is a theme throughout scripture. In the Old Testament, God reveals Himself to Noah and gives him the instruction to build the ark that saves mankind and again through the covenant that he makes with Abraham and his descendants. He continues this revealing through the Messianic prophesies and in the ways He interacts with His people Israel. He reveals Himself to Moses through the burning bush and when He gives him the Ten Commandments and through the prophet Samuel who admonishes King David when he has sinned. He reveals Himself to King David when He gives him the instructions for building the temple and to David's son Solomon through a dream where He instructs Solomon to ask for whatever he wants.
Reveal
One of the biggest things about the days and weeks leading up to Christmas is that we are waiting to see what will be revealed when we open our presents on Christmas morning. When we pull back that paper, what will we see? Will it be something we've been hoping for or something we take one look at and want to return?
Revelation is a theme throughout scripture. In the Old Testament, God reveals Himself to Noah and gives him the instruction to build the ark that saves mankind and again through the covenant that he makes with Abraham and his descendants. He continues this revealing through the Messianic prophesies and in the ways He interacts with His people Israel. He reveals Himself to Moses through the burning bush and when He gives him the Ten Commandments and through the prophet Samuel who admonishes King David when he has sinned. He reveals Himself to King David when He gives him the instructions for building the temple and to David's son Solomon through a dream where He instructs Solomon to ask for whatever he wants.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Faith - Monday of the First Week of Advent
When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.” -- Matthew 8:5-11
Faith
"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed."
What a faith filled statement to make! The centurion who approached Jesus that day showed great faith by recognizing his own unworthiness and yet having the boldness to lay bare his belief in Jesus' supreme worthiness. This statement is on of my favourite parts of this passage because it is both an admission of how wretchedly sinful we are, but also a confession of how perfect and merciful God is. At every Mass that is celebrated on any day, we speak these words just before receiving Jesus' Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. They are a little different, but still just as powerful. The words we say are, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed."
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Watch -- First Sunday of Advent
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming,
whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’” -- Mark 13:33-37
“Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming,
whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’” -- Mark 13:33-37
Watch.
We do a lot of watching in our lives. We watch our children grow. We watch what we are cooking so as not to burn it. We watch for a loved one to return home safely from a trip. We watch television and movies. We watch the seasons change. We watch our gardens grow. We watch the sunset or sunrise.
As a mother of three, I do a lot of watching of my children -- laughter, tears, fights, tantrums, frowns, smiles, dancing, singing, tea parties, Lego building, story telling, modeling shows. I watch the years pass by and my girls get taller and more mature looking. I watch them learning to read, dress themselves, make their own toast, and play outside in our yard unsupervised. I watch all of these things, but one of the things I love to watch time and again is their growing love for God and their faith. It is so sweet and innocent and every time I hear one of them tell me proudly something they've learned in PSR or make a statement like, "You know Momma, I love you and daddy and my sisters and <insert several other family members>, but I love God most of all!" my heart just melts into a puddle.
Faith is so important in this life, but of course, it is our eternal and immortal souls that are the biggest focus of faith. In this passage from the Gospel of St. Mark, Jesus is telling His disciples to watch for Him and be ready when He comes on the last day. Like the disciples, none of us knows the day or the hour when Christ will come again, so we are well advised to make ourselves ready every day.
Obviously in this season of Advent, we are not making ready for the second coming of Christ, but making ready is at the center of what this special season is all about. We make ready our homes by doing things like cleaning and beginning to decorate. More importantly, we make ready our hearts by examining our consciences to discern where we've sinned, confessing that sin to Him and asking His forgiveness and by acts of worship and service.
By doing these preparations of the heart, we prepare a precious gift of ourselves for the newborn babe in the manager. By doing these things, we are joining with the Israelites of old as they waited and watched for the Messiah. By doing these things, we are reminded of the reason for His first coming -- "to save us all from Satan's power, while we were gone astray." By doing these things, we not only prepare our hearts for Christmas but for that second coming and as the Eucharistic prayer says, we "await the blessed hope and coming of Our Saviour, Jesus Christ."
How do you prepare your heart for Christmas?
Faith is so important in this life, but of course, it is our eternal and immortal souls that are the biggest focus of faith. In this passage from the Gospel of St. Mark, Jesus is telling His disciples to watch for Him and be ready when He comes on the last day. Like the disciples, none of us knows the day or the hour when Christ will come again, so we are well advised to make ourselves ready every day.
Obviously in this season of Advent, we are not making ready for the second coming of Christ, but making ready is at the center of what this special season is all about. We make ready our homes by doing things like cleaning and beginning to decorate. More importantly, we make ready our hearts by examining our consciences to discern where we've sinned, confessing that sin to Him and asking His forgiveness and by acts of worship and service.
By doing these preparations of the heart, we prepare a precious gift of ourselves for the newborn babe in the manager. By doing these things, we are joining with the Israelites of old as they waited and watched for the Messiah. By doing these things, we are reminded of the reason for His first coming -- "to save us all from Satan's power, while we were gone astray." By doing these things, we not only prepare our hearts for Christmas but for that second coming and as the Eucharistic prayer says, we "await the blessed hope and coming of Our Saviour, Jesus Christ."
How do you prepare your heart for Christmas?
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