As Advent Unfolds

One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: To dwell in the Lord’s house all the days of my life. (Psalm 27:4)

As Advent unfolds, we long for the Savior who will bring forth a new creation and present a kingdom of justice, mercy, and peace to the eternal Father. The Lord revealed His coming presence over time. When on earth, He revealed himself in various ways. Some, like these blind men, called out to Him as Messiah, the Son of David; others, like the woman who touched His cloak, had their quietly-held belief; Nicodemus came at night and the Centurion professed his faith at the foot of the cross.

Advent is about waiting, longing, searching for the Lord of my life, to have Him come anew, to grant me healing mercy and deeper faith. It is about needing a savior, my life's refuge, and the need of all people for a Savior: “Prepare ye, the way of the Lord.” The Lord reveals Himself in various ways, as presently now in the Eucharist, the Word, in prayer and in the communion of believers.

Cultivate patient waiting. What are the Lord's ways in your life? What message should we take to others?

“I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13)

Dear God, I Believe!

Dear God, 

I know that the first step in all spiritual healing is to believe. I believe! I open my mind and heart believing in your infinite power and possibility. I believe that healing is a dynamic and reachable experience, a reality that can be experienced right now. I maintain a patient and loving attitude, for I believe that your healing activity is now at work in my mind and body. I look forward, with joyful expectation, to the perfect wholeness that you are now bringing into manifestation through me. I believe in your constant expression of perfect good in and through me. I rest in the certainty of your healing power. I know that with you all things are possible.

In Your Holy Name, 

Amen

Advent is Near

As I look out the window I see the trees. Their trunks, limbs and branches are bare. They look really beautiful against the clear sky, so different from when they are hidden by all the leaves.

At the end of November, we remember our dead, particularly those who died in the past year. And I think that one day I will appear before the Lord with all my leaves gone, all those things that hide me from myself and from others. Just the bare me. I hope the Lord will see some beauty in me also.

This thought reminds me to repent and prepare for that meeting.

That's one of the things Advent is for. The Holy Season of Advent is very near and Advent ends with our commemoration of the birth of our beloved Savior. That's where my hope is, in his coming. I trust that's where your hope is also.​

1st Sunday of Advent

Today we begin the season of Advent; the beginning of a new liturgical year. Advent means coming and the early Christians used the term to refer to the Second Coming of Christ. Advent is a time for us to reflect on the actual birth of Christ more than 2000 years ago and to prepare ourselves for the time when our Lord will come again in glory. For most of us, Advent is a time of preparedness but not in the manner our early Christian ancestors envisioned. Many of us see Advent as the four weeks we have to pull everything together for our Christmas celebrations. It is the time for shopping, baking, decorating, partying, sending cards and working ourselves into a total frenzy. It is easy to get so caught up in the hustle and bustle that we loose sight of the sacred significance of this time. Don't worry about the parties, the cards, the presents or Christmas dinner. Rather, focus on what is important, getting ourselves ready for that time when "the Son of Man will come” (Matt. 24: 44).

All three of our readings today provide us with suggestions about how we can prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord. In a vision, Isaiah sees people streaming to “the mountain of the Lord’s house” so that God can instruct them in His ways and they can “walk in the light of the Lord”! St. Paul reminds the Christians of Rome and us that we are to “throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light,” and that we must “conduct ourselves properly as in the day.” And in our Gospel from Matthew 24: 37-44, Jesus, himself, tells us to “stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.”

Lord, mighty God, once, long ago, 

your Son Jesus Christ came as God with a human face. 

And yet, we are still waiting in hope for his full coming today. 

Make us more aware that you too are waiting for us 

to create with you the peace and the freedom, 

the love, justice, and light 

that bear witness before all that your Son is here and is alive 

and that one day he will take us into the lasting light 

of your home for ever and ever.

Amen.

We Thank Thee!

For flowers that bloom about our feet,

Father, we thank Thee.

For tender grass so fresh, so sweet,

Father, we thank Thee.

For the song of bird and hum of bee,

For all things fair we hear or see,

Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

For blue of stream and blue of sky,

Father, we thank Thee.

For pleasant shade of branches high,

Father, we thank Thee.

For fragrant air and cooling breeze,

For beauty of the blooming trees,

Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

For this new morning with its light,

Father, we thank Thee.

For rest and shelter of the night,

Father, we thank Thee

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends,

Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God."

(1 Thessalonians 5:18)

May God Bless You on This Thanksgiving Day!

Pie

A Jesuit and a Franciscan sat down to dinner, and pie was served for dessert. There were two pieces of pie, one cut smaller than the other. The Jesuit reached over and took the larger piece for himself. The Franciscan remonstrated, "St. Francis always taught us to take the smaller piece." So the Jesuit replied, "And so you have it!"

Bill

A man suffered a serious heart attack and had open heart bypass surgery. He awakened from the surgery to find himself in the care of nuns at a Catholic Hospital .

As he was recovering, a nun asked him questions regarding how he was going to pay for his treatment. She asked, “Do you have health insurance?”

He replied in a raspy voice, “No health insurance.”

The nun asked, “Do you have money in the bank?”

He replied, “No money in the bank.”

The nun asked, “Do you have a relative who could help you?”

He said, “I only have a spinster sister, who is a nun.”

The nun became agitated and announced loudly, “Nuns are not spinsters! Nuns are married to God.”

The patient replied, “Send the bill to my brother-in-law.”