Blog Post 12/16/2022 Advent Sojourn - The Meaning of the Advent Candles & Final Preparations

 

 

 

 

 

1.     Hope

2.     Peace and Preparation 

3.     Joy

4.     Love

Here we are with the fourth Sunday of Advent arriving this weekend, we still have time to prepare ourselves for the real reason for the season, remembering & celebrating our Savior’s birth.  He came over 2,000 years ago, and He will come again, Are you ready?

What “final” preparations are you undertaking for the Lord’s return?

He will come, and we pray that He will come, maybe He will come today?

Advent Prayer: "Lord, may we praise You with our words, share You with our actions, and embrace You with our hearts & souls.  Give us the grace to look forward to Your return & be ready for it."  

May God Be Praised.

 

Blog Post 12/15/2022 Advent Sojourn - “In the bleak midwinter”

 

 

“In the bleak midwinter”

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE0aIQp9V4s

 

 

Reflect on these words from “In the bleak midwinter”

“In the bleak mid-winter
… only His Mother
In her maiden bliss
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am? —
If I were a Shepherd
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part, —
Yet what I can I give Him, —
Give my heart.”

When you receive the Eucharist may the Beloved’s Kiss envelop and permeate your heart and may your Advent preparations become a holy stable for the Word made Flesh.

Advent Prayer: "Lord, may we praise You with our words, share You with our actions, and embrace You with our hearts & souls.  Give us the grace to look forward to Your return & be ready for it."  

Blog Post 12/14/2022 – Advent Sojourn - Life is Like a Cup of Coffee

 

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor.  Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.  Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

 

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups have been taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.  While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.  Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee.  In most cases it is just more expensive and, in some cases, even hides what we drink.

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.  Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups.  They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. Savor the coffee, not the cups! The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything. [Author Unknown]

"Lord, may we praise You with our words, share You with our actions, and embrace You with our hearts & souls.  Give us the grace to look forward to Your return & be ready for it."  

 

*The image is available at the Salesian Shop https://www.salesianshop.com/the-sacred-artwork-of-bro-mickey-mcgrath/

 

 

Blog Post 12/13/2022 Advent Sojourn – “I’ve Almost Forgotten”

 

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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said, "Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope."

Maybe this story can move our thoughts to a deeper Advent preparation.  I want to share this story, about a 3-year girl whose parents just brought her newborn baby brother home from the hospital.  She excitedly asked if she could be alone with her brother for a few minutes?

 

Her parents hesitated but said o.k. since they had a baby monitor in his room, and it was on.  She went in, and stood next to his crib & whispered, “Tell me about God. I’ve almost forgotten.”  [Celebrations 1/18/15]

We forget about God too, today take some time to remember God and to listen to God.  Humility is Truth – the Truth of our lives is following Jesus by our Actions and with our Attitudes.  The Truth is -- loving God with all of our heart, with all our will and with all our mind.

Today acknowledge God’s goodness and the fact that any goodness we have comes from God.

Advent Prayer: "Lord, may we praise You with our words, share You with our actions, and embrace You with our hearts & souls.  Give us the grace to look forward to Your return & be ready for it."  

May God Be Praised

*The image is available at the Salesian Shop https://www.salesianshop.com/the-sacred-artwork-of-bro-mickey-mcgrath/

 

Blog Post 12/12/2022 Advent Sojourn – Holy Mother

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Take some time to listen to this powerful song, a prayer from someone [Eric Clapton] in need.

Eric Clapton and Luciano Pavarotti and the East London Gospel Choir

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9uYu4R2nk8

 

 

 

Reflect on a few of the words from “Holy Mother”

 

Holy Mother, where are you?

 

Oh, I need your help this time

Holy Mother, hear my prayer

Holy Mother, hear my cry

Holy mother, then I'll be
Lying in, safe within your arms

 

"Lord, may we praise You with our words, share You with our actions, and embrace You with our hearts and souls.  Give us the grace to look forward to Your return and be ready for it."  

 

May God Be Praised.

*The image is available at the Salesian Shop https://www.salesianshop.com/the-sacred-artwork-of-bro-mickey-mcgrath/

 

Blog Post 12/11/2022 Advent Sojourn - Heartbeat

The reason we read the Old Testament during Advent is to learn how to Hope.  “The human heart despite the centuries has not changed, its fundamental rhythm is still the heartbeat of God.” [Wendy Wright on de Sales]

 

Mary is the great example of loving waiting for something to happen, something good because she trusted God.  In his Treatise on the Love of God, de Sales wrote about the Blessed Mother, “She crowned us by her own Son, who is the supreme object of love, since children are the crown of their fathers & mothers.”   [Sermon in a Sentence, p.124; from the Treatise]

Mary is the great example of loving waiting for something to happen.  Trust in God’s Promise: Jesus came, Jesus is present, and Jesus will return.

Advent Prayer: "Lord, may we praise You with our words, share You with our actions, and embrace You with our hearts & souls.  Give us the grace to look forward to Your return & be ready for it."  

 

May God Be Praised.

 

*The image is available at the Salesian Shop https://www.salesianshop.com/the-sacred-artwork-of-bro-mickey-mcgrath/

 

 

 

Blog Post 12/10/2022 Advent Sojourn Darkness & Light

“Lord Jesus,

Master of both the light and the darkness,

send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.

We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.

We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.

We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.

We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.

We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.

To you we say, “Come Lord Jesus!”  Amen.  [Henri Nouwen]

“My heart is ready, O God,
my heart is ready.
I will sing, I will sing your praise.
Awake, my soul,
awake, lyre and harp, I will awake the dawn.” [Psalm 57]

 

Christ is our dawn, Christ is our Light, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

 

Advent Prayer: "Lord, may we praise You with our words, share You with our actions, and embrace You with our hearts & souls.  Give us the grace to look forward to Your return & be ready for it."

 

May God Be Praised.