Feast of St. Nicholas

Some put out their shoes on this Feast in the hopes that St. Nicholas will fill them with good things. He is a popular saint who was a Bishop in Turkey at the beginning of the fourth century. The tales of his gift-giving formed the basis for the figure of Santa Claus. May we be as kind and thoughtful as St. Nick and have his spirit of giving as we prepare for Christmas by finding Christ in all and giving of ourselves to help those in need.

"Do you believe that I can do this?"

Matthew's Gospel today has Jesus restoring sight to two blind men who followed him, crying out, "Son of David, have pity on us!" Imagine being blind and hearing that Jesus was near. What desire they must have had to approach Jesus crying out, "Have pity on us!" Jesus hears them. He asks them, "Do you believe that I can do this? They answer, "Yes, Lord" and Jesus touched their eyes and said, "Let it be done for you according to your faith." And their eyes were opened.
To what am I blind that needs the healing touch of Jesus to open my eyes? Have I faith to see? And do I cry out to the Lord with the same intensity of desire?

Here is a great Advent calendar to help prepare for Advent; it is found at
http://www.ewtn.org/devotionals/Advent/index.htm

St. John of Damasus

John of Damasus is the last of the Greek Fathers of the Church. He was a great preacher and scholar. His summary of theology, "Fountain of Wisdom" influenced many in the eighth century. He was named a doctor of the Church in 1890.

In today's Gospel, Jesus reminds us that "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven."
How am I doing the will of God today? The will of God is not something static out there somewhere, but it means that I seek to know what pleases God in the daily living of my life; God wants me to be happy and I need to listen to the way God calls me each day and do my best to respond.
If we listen and act on these words of Jesus in today's Gospel, we will be like the wise man who built his house on rock. Rain, floods, wind - nothing collapsed the house; "it had been set solidly on rock."
Jesus is our Rock! Isaiah tells us: "Trust in the Lord forever! For the Lord is an eternal Rock..."
Doing God's will, moment by moment, in the circumstances of our ordinary daily lives is the way to build our houses on the solid foundation of rock! Advent is a time to examine the foundations of our lives!

Feast of St. Francis Xavier

St. Francis Xavier was one of the first companions of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Francis was one of the seven original members of the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits. He was a great missionary as Ignatius sent him to India where he converted many and then went to Japan. He was preparing to go to China when he died. I think he has inspired many missionaries and he is the patron saint for all missionaries. I used to pray to him when I was in Chile because I admired and needed some of his qualities, especially his ability to adapt and his courage.
Advent continues to call us to be alert, be aware of God's presence in our midst now and to prepare our hearts so that He may truly find a home there.

The Lord is coming!

The Lord is coming! Isaiah tells us, "On that day a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a Spirit of counsel and of strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord."
Here we have the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God, will have the fullness of these gifts but we, too, receive these gifts from the Holy Spirit; the Sacrament of Confirmation confirms what we have received in Baptism. We need to take time during Advent to examine how we are developing these gifts as we prepare for the Lord's coming.
In today's Gospel (Luke 10), Jesus "rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, 'I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.'" Jesus wants us to cultivate the qualities we find in children: their simplicity, their trust, their spirit of joy and wonder.

Come, Lord Jesus, and do not delay!

Today's opening prayer in "Lord our God, help us to prepare for the coming of Christ your Son. May he find us waiting, eager in joyful prayer."
In Advent we are asking God to help us to prepare for the coming of his Son and we ask this in the name of the Son. God is pleased to be asked and wants to help us prepare for the coming of Jesus. Advent celebrates the triple comings of the Lord: his birth, his coming into our hearts, and his final coming. We need to prepare and Isaiah tells us in the first reading of the Liturgy:"The mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the highest mountain...All nations shall stream towards it; many peoples shall come and say:'Come, let us climb the Lord's mountain...'"
Why? So "he may instruct us in his ways and we may walk in his paths." This is what Advent is about--letting God teach us his ways so we can walk in his path, a path of peace.
The Gospel shows us the faith and humility of the centurion who was interceding for his sick servant. He said to Jesus, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed." Jesus was amazed at this faith! We need to say to Jesus, too, "Lord, I am not worthy, but I desire to prepare for your coming into my heart this Advent in a deeper way.

First Sunday of Advent

Today is the first Sunday of Advent and the message of the Gospel is ""Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come." We are called to live each day as if it were our last day on earth.
The alternate prayer sets the tone for the Advent season:
Father in heaven, our hearts desire the warmth of your love and our minds are searching for the light of your Word.
Increase our longing for Christ our Savior and give us the strength to grow in love,
that the dawn of his coming may find us rejoicing in his presence and welcoming the light of his truth.
The first reading from Isaiah 63 is worth reflecting on and ends with "Yet, O Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter:we are the work of your hands. Let us all be alert as we begin these weeks of preparation for the coming of Jesus again! Let us spend the time with Mary and ask her to prepare our hearts to receive her Son! Above all, let us be alert, filled with desire, and remember that we are in the hands of our potter who is molding us!
I want to share this passage from Janet Erskine Stuart on Advent that is taken from our network schools website but quoted for the Virtual Community of Prayer for the Reflection this Sunday:
What kind of spirit is the spirit of preparation? It is alert, expectant, diligent,quiet, patient...Watchfulness for what is coming does not exempt us from present exertion, or allow us to become unsettled, but it impresses upon us all the more deeply the necessity to exert ourselves. Preparation is spoilt by impatience and want of resignation...Few things are so restless, unsatisfactory and useless as impatient waiting-especially following on hurried preparation, and one of the hardest and gravest lessons is to learn to wait with patience and resignation. If Advent adds any of these qualities to our spirit of preparation, it will have been well spent.

Spiritual Wanderings

This is really the last day of the Liturgical Year; I want to take some time today to look back over the year and be accountable for my interior life.
Where have my spiritual wanderings taken me this past year? I remember my days of retreat last Advent and my desire to grow in union with God; my desire and my resolution to make time for prayer each afternoon (a resolution that has not been kept well and therefore I know it was a needed one). I was also going to find time for more spiritual reading. I am glad I have time for prolonged prayer each morning as after that I am caught up in things that are not always essential and do not find quiet time to just be. Centering Prayer on Mondays at the University has been one constant since I started a group there over twenty years ago. It is a great way to begin the week!
My spiritual wanderings have led me to reflect more on the value of relationships and to try to stay in touch with many now scattered all over the world. I have wandered deeper inside my own heart this past year and found much to uproot. Perhaps this Advent will be a time of pulling up interior weeds, casting out clutter, making a lovely garden for the Lord Jesus to come and rest there.
The path is well marked but needs to be cleared, raked smooth, and tended with vigilance as the stones and weeds of selfishness keep appearing in various forms to clog the path. Weeds can choke joy.
Advent is a time of hope and waiting; it is also a time of preparation. What is your hope?

God's Presence

What signs in your life point to God's presence within you? This is a question that makes me reflect that when my soul is at peace, I am more aware of God's presence but he is with me in the puzzled moments of my day, too. The Spirit within helps us to discern, but when I stop and am aware of God being present, then I am also aware of a sense of peace, joy, and gratitude.
In today's Gospel, Jesus says, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." When I stop to listen, I hear Jesus speaking in my heart words such as, "Fear not; I am with you." Sometimes it is "Remain in my love" or "I have chosen you..." What words do you hear?

I have a few quotes that I want to share with you today from my Journal that is now filled: The first is from St. John Vianney, the Cure de Ars, "Prayer is nothing else than union with God. When our hearts are pure and united to God, we feel within ourselves a joy, a sweetness that inebriates, a light that dazzles us. It is a happiness that we cannot understand."

This is from John Maiin: "By stillness in the spirit we move in the ocean of God."
And finally, one that I am sure I have shared with you before from Don Marmion: "Joy is the echo of God's life in you.

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

Thanksgiving is a day set aside to give thanks. It has always been a special holiday. We have so much to be grateful for and it is nice to have a national holiday that reminds us that we are to give thanks for our many gifts.
It is good to make a litany of gratitude beginning with the gift of life; mine would start out:
Thank you, Lord, for the gift of life;
Thank you, Lord, for the gift of family, of friends, of relatives near and far;
Thank you, Lord, for the world around me, for sun and moon, and evening star;
Thank you, Lord, for teachers and mentors, for all who taught and guided me;
Thank you, Lord, for health to serve You, for ears to hear and eyes to see;
Thank you, Lord, for for the gift of water; for the oceans, the lakes, the rivers;
Thank you, Lord, for food and shelter; a loving home and many homes since leaving all; Thank you, Lord, for letting me hear your call.

And so on... I will let each of you do your own litany fo gratitude on this Thanksgiving Day!

More on "Practical Gratitude"

I picked up a book, "50 Ways to Pray" and scanned the contents and saw nothing that indicated a prayer of gratitude. However, as I began to look at some of the many ways to pray, I realized that all ended with a definite way to thank God.
I am going to begin a new Journal on the First Sunday of Advent. I hope it will be mostly a Journal of gratitude and joy. I plan to write what I am most grateful for each day and to be aware of where I have felt joy that day. I want to write about one of the moments of joy each day; I want to relive it with God to see how it was life-giving and thank God for that moment of joy.
One part of my Journal will be for favorite quotations that I find in my readings; one part for monthly reviews of my life that are always helpful in preparing for spiritual direction and the Sacrament of Reconciliation; I suspect I will need to have a place for Creative Thoughts, too. I would add a section for dreams, but seldom remember my dreams so will just have the four sections and I am excited about beginning a new Journal.
For those of my readers who do not keep a Journal, I suggest you begin one. I find my Journal helps me to reflect after prayer and be more attentive to God; when I stop writing, I think I also stop some inner reflection that puts me not only in touch with God but with the ways God comes to me in people, events, and circumstances.

Practical Gratitude

Today is the birthday of my brother, John, and my grand-niece, Theresa. John, the baby of our family, was born on Thanksgiving and will be sixty-five today! We had eaten our Thanksgiving dinner at my grandmother's when my mother told us that she thought she should go to the hospital instead of going home. Two of my aunts took her while my Dad took us home; my grandmother came to take care of us as my brother George was not yet two years old. Birthdays make me feel grateful for the gift of life. I am still pondering this quote from St. Madeleine Sophie: "We must respond to so many benefits by a practical gratitude."
What did she mean by a practical gratitude? I think it means putting our gratitude into practice by thanking, showing in concrete ways that one is truly grateful. We receive so many gifts daily from God and need to live an attitude of gratefulness, thanking for these many gifts and expressing our gratitude by returning his love and loving others as what we do to the least we do to him.
Happy Birthday John! Happy Birthday Theresa! Happy Birthday Joe!