Sunday-Ps.146:5-10 is part of the series that closes the psalter with praise. We are opening the church year but closing the calendar year, so it is an appropriate reading, I suppose. It also fits this time of year where we are anxious to try to help make Christmas brighter for the downtrodden. I am struck by the link of creation to those in need. Why does the psalmist make the linkage do you think?
Monday-The theologian Paul Tillich once preached that "our time is a time of waiting...waiting for the breaking in of eternity. All time runs forward. All time, both history and in personal life, is expectation." Advent is a season of longing, waiting expectantly for eternity—for the fullness of the reign of God to break in. And so we pray, "Come, Lord Jesus!" Laura Thelande. When have you notice the inbreaking of eternity? How do you scan the spirutal skies for it?
Tuesday-"The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak." Pope Francis in one of the many striking passages from his 48,000 word text Evangelii Gaudium ("The Joy of the Gospel")
Wednesday-"Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back—in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you."
Frederick Buechner from his book "Beyond Words"
thursday“To see clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion all in one.”
John Ruskin (1819-1900)Good poets illumine reality and allow us to see the world and ourselves—even God—in new ways. In this season of Advent, we hear the rich and expressive images from the poet Isaiah whose prophetic words and vision help us see with new eyes: What are we being invited to see anew in this season? What surprises does God have in store for us? What will cause our souls to sing out in praise? Ken Kovacs
Friday-In our search for the holy, there are times when our restless preparations smother the very truth for which are searching. We decorate our rooms and make elaborate preparations for our prayer, when a single flower and a moment of waiting are all we need to meed the One Who Comes.MACRINA WIEDERKEHR, Seasons of Your Heart
Saturday“When the pain of leaving behind what we know outweighs the pain of embracing it, or when the power we face is overwhelming and neither flight nor fight will save us, there may be salvation in sitting still. And if salvation is impossible, then at least before perishing we may gain a clearer vision of where we are. By sitting still I do not mean the paralysis of dread, like that of a rabbit frozen beneath the dive of a hawk. I mean something like reverence, a respectful waiting, a deep attentiveness to forces much greater than our own.”
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