FIRST MONDAY OF ADVENT

“God made the dome, and it separated the water below the dome from the water above the dome. And so it happened. God called the dome ‘sky.’ Evening came, and morning followed—the second day.” 

Gen. 1:7-8

Reflection: The Lord shapes the universe one step at a time. He leaves His fingerprints on everything that He makes and His voice echoes throughout creation.
 
Prayer: God our Father, open our ears to hear Your voice in every corner of our lives. Help us to turn down the distracting volume of everything that is not You. Amen.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

“God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness he called ‘night.’ Evening came, and morning followed—the first day.” Gen. 1:5

Reflection: Before anything else is, God was. Before He is “God the Creator,” He is the Eternal Father. This is where it all begins - in the heart and mind of God.

Prayer: God our Father, open the eyes of our hearts to the season we begin this week. Help us to journey with You from the very beginning and to never forget that You have always been there. Amen.

Back to Egypt?

The pattern is always the same. It has been for thousands of years. The Creator whispers, He does not usually shout. He beckons to us, calling us softly in our deepest and most intimate depths. As we trudge along the path, tempted to turn back because we are tired and fearful, He tries to lift up our eyes so we can see a little farther down the road. And if, indeed, we find the courage to look beyond ourselves for even a moment, we stand a good chance of hearing what He says.

"Come. Follow me. Leave Egypt behind you and journey into the place you have never journeyed before. I know you are afraid, but you need not fear, for I am with you always. I know Egypt is the only home you have ever known, but it is no home at all. It is a prison. You were a slave there, my child, and if you turn from me and go back there you will never be anything else. Leave this place with me, and you will be truly free, truly alive forever. Do not be afraid."

Will I keep my eyes fixed on Him and His will? Will I follow Him? Or will I go back into slavery?

My Own "House"

In the Gospel according to St. John (chapter 7), we hear of a certain "division among the people" that occurs over Jesus and the message he brings. The jealous religious leaders send men to arrest Jesus, but when they return empty handed, the following occurs: 

The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Are you led astray, you also? Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, who do not know the law, are accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, said to them, "Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and you will see that no prophet is to rise from Galilee.”

The passage concludes with this telling line: "They went each to his own house." Interesting phrase. We see a rather heated dispute erupting between different factions, each having their own opinion about Jesus. And how does the dispute conclude? It doesn't, really. They each "go home" with their own vision of who Jesus is, what his Gospel means, and whether or not his words even apply to them at all.

We all face the challenge of what to believe about Jesus, and this story makes me ask these questions:

• Where is my "house" when it comes to Jesus?
• Where am I most myself when it comes to him?
• Is this house built on a rock or on shifting sands?

In other words: Who am I going to believe when it comes to Jesus?