Search Results for: advent – Page 41

As you watch the little ones in your immediate or extended families, you know that there’s little to equal the wonder and joy in their eyes as they celebrate the lights, the decorations, the gifts and the festivities. But sometimes we get so frazzled by the preparations that we become impatient with the very ones for whom we’re expending so much time, energy, and money. Remember that children need our loving attention far more than they need another new toy under the tree.

“O Key of David, O Royal power of Israel, controlling at your will the gate of heaven: Come break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.”

Pope Francis writes, “In our personal history too, there are both bright and dark moments, lights and shadows.” As you watch the light of Christmas—twinkling tree lights, the soft glow of candlelight, the tasteful (or garish!) house displays—let your heart recall the lights and shadows of your life and the ways in which God’s love and mercy have been present in both light and darkness.

We might find it easier to imagine the first coming of Jesus as an infant at Nazareth than his coming to us each and every day. We know through faith his presence in the Eucharist. We may have glimmers of awareness of a divine presence with us as we move through our daily routines. As we recall the event of his birth, we might pray for the grace to see his face more frequently. The Gospels give us some clues where to look: in the poor, the homeless, the naked, the hungry, the imprisoned, the oppressed. And once we see him there, how can we not do whatever we can to serve him there?

In Matthew’s version of the annunciation story, in this case telling Joseph that the events in his life are part of God’s plan, we can imagine what Joseph has been going through. We’ve had similar difficulties in our own lives. At the time, we may have longed for a sign as clear as the one Matthew describes.

Pope Francis reminds us that at times such as these, we need to have a kind of desperate faith that says yes in the midst of darkness. What helps more than anything is to be immersed in the stories of the Bible, the stories of God’s presence with his people.

Advent remind us that Jesus was born into a human family. It was important that he took on our flesh and blood, but it was equally important that he took on the social relationships that both complete and complicate our lives. We can sometimes think that it would be easier to be holy apart from the people with whom we live and work. But the incarnation reminds us that God calls us to be holy in the midst of those very relationships.  What we learn from Mary and Joseph is that as long as we say yes to God, he will guide us through the darkness with a sure hand. 

The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is familiar to most Christians. We can imagine what it must be like to wander away from the flock, to be lost and cold and out of reach of all that’s familiar. Few of us have a direct experience of God caring for us as the Good Shepherd. For most of us, that loving presence comes from the flesh-and-blood people in our lives. God reaches out to others through us just as he reached out to us through others.

The prophet Isaiah wrote at a time when violence and war were the order of the day. The people of Israel had been conquered by the Assyrians and would later be taken into exile. And yet Isaiah could speak of a hope rooted in the Lord’s call for justice and for peace. Our own world seems to be increasingly violent. We might think that Isaiah’s vision is further away than ever before.