4th Sunday in Advent

Our readings for the 4th Sunday in Advent are:

1. Isaiah 7: 10-14
2. Psalms 24: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6
3. Romans 1: 1-7
4. Matthew 1: 18-24

• What would make you happy?
• Ignatian spirituality encourages us to get in touch with our deepest desires.  One of the deepest desires that many of us harbor is to know that someone else cares what happens to us, and cares enough to take action on our behalf.  We want to believe in someone.
• What makes you believe in God?  Is it just that you cannot imagine not believing in Him, is it because God has proved Himself faithful, compassionate, honest to you enough times that you trust Him, is it a bio that you read of him lately ...?
• If God really wanted you to trust Him, what would He have to do to prove Himself?
• Would it be wrong to take that up with Him in prayer?

• Seeking what we cannot see
• Many from my parent's generation cherish memories of growing up in a supportive culture that fostered righteous living, where faith was part of the fabric of the community's life.  Much has changed.
• What good would come of creating a community, a neighborhood, a family where decisions were made in love, where compassion guided actions, where words were always meant to heal and where children could grow into adulthood firm in the sure knowledge that they are cherished and important?
• Where would you start to build such a community?
• Would that journey be a transformation of where you live now, or would you have to start over somewhere new?
• What are the odds of making that happen?
• Is it worth a shot?

• Looking forward
• The Gospel writers tell us over and over that Jesus' coming has been promised.
• God could have sent His son as a complete surprise, without the prophetic utterances down through the centuries.  Why do you think that He told us Jesus was coming?
• What good can come of waiting for God to come in our lives?
• What can we do to prepare better?
• What does it really mean to be ready for God?

• Discernment 101
• Joseph got through all of that without a spiritual director, but it was a near thing.  You have to wonder how accustomed he was to getting God's word in dreams.
• When you have tough decisions, where the consequences are large, do you have a process that you go through, or do you just "wing it"?
• Where does prayer factor into that process?
• Joseph sounds as though he had made up his mind, yet he took a different path?  What does that tell you about his character?
• Would you be as willing to change your mind on something so important?

• Preparation for Reconciliation:

1. Am I honest with God about my desires, my fears, my failings?
2. How am I renewing those closest to me?
3. What am I waiting for from God?
4. Am I willing to change my mind with God's guidance?

It's for you

Separating the sacred from the day to day seems like a worthy goal.

Keeping each to its corner of our lives helps keep the sacred pure.

But maybe there's another way to look at it.

Cell phones at church remind us all that we are there to worship

And yet, the rest of our lives are only barely held at bay

Demands on our time, our attention, our hearts lie in wait at the door.

The prayer of the faithful gives us a place to put all of that

On the alter, along with everyone else's "all of that"

And find connection with one another in each other's need.

Those needs are offered, accepted, transformed, and returned anew

An exchange of gifts between us, through us, with God

That we might learn compassion, and compassion lead to a helping hand.

So the next time I hear someone's cell phone go off during Eucharist,

I'll try to remember that we all are bound together in a fabric of need.

Need that Christ is looking to transform and then meet, maybe even in me.

Merry Advent!