Second Sunday of ADVENT

And this is what he [John the Baptist] proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit.” (Mk 1:7-8)

"The Spirit blows where it wills, but one of the most common temptations of those who have faith is to bar its path and drive it in one direction or another." (Pope Francis December 7)

What wonderful things would be in store for us if only we can open our arms to the Holy Spirit and accept her guidance!  I think Pope Francis has it right - we try to direct the Holy Spirit instead of accepting her path for us. 

We have many friends in the Christian Charismatic Community called The People of Praise. Some of our children also attended High School at Trinity School at Meadow View, which is an outreach of this charismatic community. Our third child, Tony, was baptized in the Holy Spirit at a Summer Camp sponsored by The People of Praise and described a calm peaceful feeling that descended on him as he was being baptized. I think he still draws on this calmness when anxiety threatens his peaceful spirit.

The Holy Spirit sometimes seems as fleeting as the wind and other times can be very real if only we pay attention to what she is saying to us and ask for her guidance.  Last year our Small Community of Faith was discussing the Holy Spirit and realized that many of us did not feel like we had much of a relationship to her.  We decided as a group to be more mindful of asking for her direction through prayer.  Wonderful things resulted from this experience and for some of us pathways were made clear.  

Holy Spirit, come to us now and help us make straight the pathway to the Lord at CHRISTMAS. Help us quiet ourselves so that we can listen to you during the busyness of ADVENT and hear your quiet voice.  

ADVENT 2014 Day 6

Then he touched their eyes and said, "Let it be done for you according to your faith" (Mt 9:29)

This verse from the Gospel of Matthew is included in the readings for today. This leads me to reflect on my own faith and if I believe that Jesus can heal me of my blindness.  What types of blindness do I have?  When does these moments of blindness occur?  In meditating on this verse while looking at this picture I envision Jesus placing his hands on my head and covering my eyes. I feel a sense of calmness and healing of sin. It's similar to going to confession. That wiping clean and feeling of starting again.  During December many people return to confession to prepare for CHRISTMAS. At my church we gather as community every year on the Sunday evening prior to CHRISTMAS Day.  I am already thinking about participating in this communal Penance Service and then going to an individual confession with a priest. We will have 15 priests available that night hearing confessions and forgiving us our sins. 

I still have three weeks or so before our Parish Penance Service but I find myself already examining my conscience to decide what I will talk about.  It will be a lot of the same personal sins that I have confessed before but this time I find myself thinking of social sins that I am blind to.  How have I responded to the suffering of others? What can I do to help the oppressed?  How do my actions affect the environment and possibly add to the pollution and lack of care for our planet?  These new thoughts and examination of conscience has something to do with taking a Moral Theology class this past summer, but also from the direction and attention given to these things from Pope Francis. 

Lord Jesus, as we await your coming at CHRISTMAS help us to have the faith to believe that our sins will be forgiven and that we will be healed of our own blindness.  Amen.

Links to organizations that help the marginalized and oppressed in the DC area:

1. Social Action Linking Together (SALT)

2. The Lamb Center

3. Hope House

ADVENT 2014 Day 3

Peaceable Kingdom Passage from Isaiah

When I read the First Reading for today the song On That Holy Mountain started playing in my mind. It is one that we sing during ADVENT at our church. It is a song of Praise that is appropriate anytime during the year, but it is especially relevant today as we read from the Peaceable Kingdom Passage from Isaiah 11:1-10. The "Messianic Kingdom" referred to in this passage is a time when all of God's creatures will live together in peace. In the Kingdom of God we establish a world where "the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; The calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them".  In recent years it has also been the basis for a new theology of the environment. One example of this is Sr. Elizabeth Johnson's new book Ask the Beasts (this would be a wonderful Christmas gift). 

But, getting back to music, my Small Community of Faith has been discussing how to focus more on ADVENT during this Liturgical Season, instead of on the celebration of CHRISTMAS. One way is to listen to ADVENT music instead of CHRISTMAS music.  Below are some ADVENT songs that we have come up with (click on the song title to listen).  If you have any others please share.

Lord Jesus Christ, as we await your coming again at CHRISTMAS fill us with your love and help us to keep our focus on you. 

ADVENT SONGS:

On That Holy Mountain

Mary Did You Know

O Come O Come Emmanuel

Advent 2014 Day 1

Watching and waiting during ADVENT: 

"Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come" (Mark 13:33).

I have a big front porch on the front of my house. Sometimes I sit there to wait for company to come or to wait until the children come home from college. 

Have you ever sat on the front porch waiting for someone to come home? This may be the kind of watching and waiting that the writer of the Gospel of Mark calls us to during ADVENT. Can you think of a time when you did this? Was there anticipation and excitement? Is this how we eagerly await the coming of the Lord at CHRISTMAS?  Fr. James Martin, S.J., mentions three ways that Jesus comes into our lives: 


"First, he comes in history. God chose to live with us in a particular place and a particular time, that is, in first century Palestine. So Jesus comes in history. Second, Jesus comes in our daily lives. Every moment of our day is an invitation to meet Jesus. Jesus, through the Spirit, is always entering in their lives, calling to us, coming to us. Third, Jesus comes at the end of time. We believe in the "Second Coming," a mysterious moment when time will end. Advent is way to prepare for all three of those times. Of course God has already come in history, so it's not as if we're preparing for that event again. But we are preparing to commemorate, to remember and to celebrate that day, Christmas. Advent is also a way of preparing ourselves for God coming into our lives each day. We do some spiritual housecleaning to make room for God, to make it easier for us to invite God into our daily lives. And of course Advent is a way of reminding us that our time on this earth, and the time for the earth, will end."  (Fr. James Martin, First Sunday of Advent Vigil homily 11/29/14)