Our readings for 3rd Sunday of Advent are:
- Isaiah 61: 1-2a, 10-11
- Luke 1: 46-48, 49-15, 53-54
- 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24
- John 1: 6-8, 19-29
- What breaks your heart?
- Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:4 that those who mourn are blessed. Normally we associate mourning with mourning the dead. But Jesus has a different type of mourning in mind.
- What brings you sorrow?
- What have you received from God in prayer about those things?
- Are they the same things that made you mourn five years ago?
- Why is that?
- How much mercy do you need?
- All of us try really hard to be good, and we probably feel as though we are at least modestly successful. But before we are able to really receive the mercy of God, we have to first see how much we need it.
- When has God been merciful to you in the past?
- Did you ever find the time to thank Him for it?
- How/when have you been able to show mercy to others?
- Was that mercy extended to them generously, or reluctantly?
- Praying or being in prayer
- Do you ever pray without words?
- Some get to that place with God out of desperation. Life seems so overwhelming that words seem inadequate, or worse, pointless. Others get there as the fruit of long hours spent in prayer, finally leading them to contemplation.
- Is it possible to pray at the same time that you are doing something else as well?
- Is that a good thing?
- Jesus among us
- John told his followers that Jesus was among them, anonymous, unheralded. That might have been because Jesus was trying to "lay low" until He was ready to "make His move". Or it could have been that He simply vanished in plain sight.
- Why do you think that Jesus was so unnoticed?
- What does that say about our attitude when our good deeds go unnoticed?
- Preparation for Reconciliation:
- Out of all that is going on around me, what should be breaking my heart?
- How ought I to live, given the mercy that God has shown me?
- How is my prayer life deepening lately?
- How much attention should my accomplishments be getting?
Shalom!
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