Reflect on these insights from St. Augustine and St. Francis de Sales and make them your goal Advent 2019

 

St. Augustine of Hippo, "To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek Him the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement."

 

St. Francis de Sales wrote, “Be patient with every one, but above all, with yourself …. Do not be disturbed because of your imperfections; always rise bravely from a fall.”      (Golden Counsels)

 May your Advent be profitable to you and your family.

May God Be Praised!

Moses told his people, “Take these words of mine into your heart and soul.”  He reminded the people of Israel and he reminds us that the most important thing in this life is our relationship with God.

The psalms urge us to pray to God, to ask God “… incline your ear to me, make haste to deliver me …. Let your face shine upon your servant; save me ….”   

We are encouraged to pray for the Lord’s presence in our lives; assured that God is with us. Advent is a time for us to remember that God is with us even as we prepare to celebrate His birth at Christmas.

Some scripture scholars tell us that in St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans is Paul’s theology at its’ best.  Paul teaches us that the initiative of salvation comes from God and that it is a free gift.

Our response to God’s gift of salvation, either nourishes our faith development or impedes our faith development.  Athletes who don’t regularly workout and compete will soon find their athletic skills deteriorate; the same hold true with the gift of faith.

Jesus tells us that “… only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” will enter the Kingdom of heaven.

Being a disciple/follower of Christ is hard work.  It takes a commitment, a daily decision, followed by decisions made throughout the day to continue that commitment.

Advent is a time for us to think about what kind of spiritual house we are building?  Is it on the rock of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount or on the sands of consumerism and relativism?

May God Be Blessed!

Pope Francis’ Word’s Do you want to fast this Lent?  The Pope’s Words, also, apply to Advent!

Fast from hurting words and say kind words.
Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.
 
Fast from anger and be filled with patience.
Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.
Fast from worries and trust in God.
 
Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.
 

Fast from pressures and be prayerful.
Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy.
Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others.
Fast from grudges and be reconciled.
Fast from words and be silent so you can listen.


Let me add a few specifically for Advent.

Fast from overspending except to help the poor.                                                 
Fast from overeating and help those who hunger.                                                                
Fast from overdrinking and refresh those who thirst.                                                           
Fast from something so you can spend more time in prayer.

May your Advent be blessed, and your Christmas be filled with Christ and His Joy!

May God Be Praised!

              Advent Thought!

Matthew’s version of Jesus’ birth depends on Joseph and Mary saying Yes! Our path to God’s Kingdom in a similar fashion depends upon our Yes.

Saying - Yes and accepting the challenge of living a life based on the Gospel.  Roger Durham asked, “What brings you to Bethlehem?”  Mary and Joseph came because of duty or obligation.  The shepherds upon hearing the good news went to Bethlehem “out of desire”; “They wanted to go.”

“Bethlehem is a different place for everyone … a place of great vulnerability ... a place where we (meet) the truth … (a place) where God breaks through … a place of wonder, (a place) of life, and (a place) of love.”

Our Advent preparation is about wonder, about life, about love and about being vulnerable to allowing God not only into our life but be our life! 

Take a few moments in silence think about what brings you to Bethlehem?  Think about your Yes!

 May God Be Praised!

We know that someday each of us is going to die and we know that Jesus will return some day!  But we don’t know when for either of those events.  During Advent the Church reminds us that Jesus told us to “Stay Awake”, to prepare, to get ready!

St. Paul said we should prepare!  We should PREPARE for the Kingdom of God.  Think about it for a minute, Athletes prepare, musicians prepare, artists prepare, people in business prepare, people prepare for retirement, children and their parents prepare for college, etc, etc.

We live in a world preparing, BUT are we PREPARING for the most IMPORTANT thing?  God’s Heavenly Kingdom!  As we live our Advent this year, let’s pay attention to God in our lives, in the sounds, and in the moments.  To be aware of God in our midst, we need to pray more faithfully, more attentively.

How can we do that?

1.   Spend some time in prayer each day (3 minutes – 3 hours).

2.   During our prayer allow God’s grace to touch our hearts, our minds, and our wills.

3.   Focus each day of Advent doing God’s will!

Advent reminds us to be filled with HOPE because our God will not leave us orphaned; our God will return and take us to Himself.  St. James said, “Draw near to God AND God will draw near to you.”

Advent reminds each of us to draw NEAR to God, to SEEK God, to HOPE in God; and INVITE God in our hearts!

May God Be Praised!

Advent reminds us that over 2,000 years ago Christ – the Word made Flesh – brought HOPE, FORGIVENESS, JOY and PEACE.

Isaiah presents an awesome picture, a marvelous scene, “…the wolf shall be the guest of the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf & the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.”

Think about the conflicts in the world: military, political, economic, social, religious, etc. and how awesome GENUINE LASTING PEACE would be!  Think about the problems you face personally bills, sickness, tuitions to pay, limited job opportunities, unemployed or underemployed, whatever disturbs you!

   

Pause for a moment and reflect on our reading from Isaiah, “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him ….”  The spirit of God rests upon you and me – a gift we received at our Baptism!

At our Baptism the Lord promised that He would never abandon us; He would sustain us with his grace, love and truth.  Why do we have constant struggles in life to find PEACE, CONTENTMENT and JOY?  The promise of the Kingdom of Heaven is not yet fulfilled.

 

Advent calls us, you and me, to repentance.  Often our sinfulness clouds the lenses of our lives, often our sinfulness disturbs our peace, often our sinfulness saps our joy!

As we get ready for the Christmas Season through our Advent preparation, find some time to be with God in prayer.

May God Be Praised!

Excerpts from - Homily December 1, 2019

In the darkness that envelopes our world, ADVENT reminds us that Christ’s light burns brightly to show us the way to Him and to His PEACE.

In Isaiah we heard, “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares & their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another …. let us walk in the light of the Lord.” [Isaiah 2]

What a Magnificent Vision, a beautiful portrait of peace on earth!

Imagine nuclear missile silos changed to grain storage bins, aircraft carriers transformed into hospital ships and armored troop trucks into ambulances!

Reflect on that vision for a few seconds and experience peace flowing through your heart.

“… one of the reasons we read the O.T. during Advent is to listen to what to hope for.  The people of the O.T. had the courage to Hope for big things:

the desert would be turned into fertile land; that their scattered and divided people would be gathered again; that the blind would see, the deaf would hear, the lame would walk; that not only their own people, but all the peoples of the earth, would be united in the blessings of everlasting peace.”  [Ordo, 2020 Advent, Taken from Mark Searle’s “The Spirit of Advent”]

Leo Tolstoy wrote a lovely story “Martin, the Cobbler” about a lonely shoemaker who is promised in a dream that Christ will come to visit his shop.  The next day Martin rises early, gets his shop ready,

prepares a meal and waits.

In the morning an old beggar showed he asked for rest.  Martin gave him a room he had prepared for his divine guest.  In the afternoon came an old lady with a heavy load of wood who was hungry and asked for food.

He gave her the food he had prepared for his divine guest.

As evening came, a lost boy wandered by. Martin took him home, afraid all the while he would miss the Christ.

That night in his prayers he asks the Lord, "Where were You?  I waited all day for You."  The Lord said to Martin: "Three times I came to your friendly door, three times my shadow was on your floor, a beggar with bruised feet, the woman you gave something to eat and the homeless child on the street."  [Sermons.com]

Don’t spend your time looking for Christ, be Christ for those you meet!  

May God Be Praised!