The first two readings today focus on the relationships with our family. We are told that honoring and respecting our father is of the highest importance and, if we are faithful to this call, we will be blessed by God. When we read the Gospel, the theme changes from focusing on our earthly family to being faithful to God, our Heavenly Father. If we ought to respect our earthly father and spend so much time and energy making our earthly home virtuous and holy, how much more ought we work to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father? How often do we take the time to talk with God, or honor him by serving him or making sacrifices for him? Let us remember the words of Sirach and St. Paul this week, not just in relation to how we treat our earthly fathers, but, most importantly, in how we relate to God the Father.
When we are asked to entrust our lives to someone, we should consider whom we are entrusting them to very carefully. Many of us entrust our lives to our spouses, but not before careful discernment, time, and prayer. Have you ever considered entrusting your life to God? Have you gotten to know him through scripture, the Church, and prayer in a way that allows you to surrender your life to him? Today we will read about two people who entrusted their lives to God in radical ways—David and Mary. Will we also accept the Lord's invitation to surrender to him this Christmas season?
Today and for Christmas, this is my prayer for all of you: “You were held in the warmth of God’s LOVE; and wherever LOVE is born, it is CHRISTMAS; you are BLESSED, and may you be a BLESSING TO ALL!”
There are many paradoxes in our Christian Faith. For example, there are three Persons in one God; this God made something out of nothing; God's mother is one of his creations, etc. It can be easy to respond by simply ignoring the discrepancies. But these paradoxes are not meant to be ignored. They are mysteries of our Faith, not meant to be kept secret, but to be unveiled by God himself. One of the greatest mysteries of our Faith is that there can be profound joy even in the depths of the worst suffering, and this is the mystery that the Church draws to our attention on Gaudete Sunday. In the midst of a season of penance and waiting, we find ourselves celebrating a day completely devoted to joy!
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT! The countdown continues – only eight days left before Christmas. And some of us are carried by the materialistic preparation for Christmas as we end up responding to the greedy command of consumerism: “satisfy my own needs.” We are easily absorbed by the activities of shopping and partying. We forget who we are. We become busy decorating our homes but not our hearts and of storing food in our refrigerators but not feeding our spirit. We forget the needs of others. At the end, there is a chance that we will lose our being God’s image and likeness. Then, we ask ourselves, “Who am I? What is my mission in life?”
The word conversion comes from the Latin word convertere, meaning "to turn around." When was the last time you were driving somewhere and got lost on the way to your destination? Maybe you were following the directions, but they led to the wrong place. Or maybe you thought you could figure out how to get to your destination on your own, only to realize you didn't quite know the way. We have all experienced needing to turn around, retrace our steps, and start over. This is the crux of the Christian life: being willing to convert, to turn around, the areas of our life that need to be more aligned with God's plan for our eternal happiness.
Second SUNDAY of ADVENT! The week of “preparing and making the Lord’s paths straight” by adhering to John the Baptist’s call, when he appeared in the desert and doing the following: “Proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins... and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.”
The Angel Tree gift program is coming! If you would like to be an angel this Christmas and get involved with this wonderful ministry we are looking for you! We need volunteers for both the weekends leading up to and of course, the big day!
Recall the last time you had company come to your home. Maybe it was family visiting from out of town or a friend you hand't seen in awhile. How did you prepare for them? You likely cleaned the house, planned nice meals, and cleared your schedule to spend time with them—all the while looking forward to their arrival.
ADVENT SEASON is here! It is the festival of waiting! But waiting is not in the vocabulary of today’s business enterprises. Have you notice that, at this time of the year, businesses really make money out of our impatience? They say, “You want it now but you can’t afford it? No problem! Buy one, take one! Buy now, and pay later! No interest until 2020! This offer is for a short time only, so, better buy now and not miss it!”