1st Sunday of Advent

Our readings for the First Sunday of Advent are:

1. Jeremiah 33: 14-16
2. Psalms 25: 4-5, 8-9, 10, 14
3. 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2
4. Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36

• Waiting for justice can be so hard
• One school of thought says that the 2nd coming is just around the corner, so there is no real point to making things much better this side of eternity.
• What are you waiting for at this season in your life?
• How are you preparing for the coming of Jesus this Christmas, today in that person at the office that you cannot stand, your family, your Church?
• We always assume that Jesus will come with a lot of fanfare, so He will be hard to miss.  What should we be doing to be sure that we do not miss Him when He comes?

• Teach me your ways
• Think of a time when you had to learn something new, something "out of your wheelhouse".
• Did you learn that new skill by studying someone else while they did the work, or were there manuals that you read, or ...?
• How can we learn God's ways in our lives?
• Who might you be teaching, without even knowing it?

• Pleasing God
• A couple truly in love tries to find what will please the other, because each of them finds fulfillment in making the other happy.
• Have you ever felt in your life that you succeeded in pleasing God?
• Does that say more about God, you, or your image of God?
• What do you think that it would take in you to please God consistently?

• Driven to distraction
• "Situational awareness" describes a quality about someone who is aware of the bigger picture.  Someone with situational awareness understands and appreciates the details of what might be in front of them at the moment, but they don't lose the bigger picture.
• How big is your picture?  Do you have any awareness of what's going on outside of your parish, your country?
• Do you care?
• How might a broader situational awareness be a benefit?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Who do I want to become through this Advent season?
2. What is God trying to teach me through what I'm going through right now?
3. How important to me is God's opinion of me?
4. Where am I letting myself get distracted/distraught by the small stuff?

Shalom!