3rd Sunday of Advent (Gaudete)

Our readings for the 3rd Sunday of Advent are:

1. Isaiah 61: 1-2a, 10-11
   
2. Psalm Luke 1: 46-48, 49-50, 53-54
   
3. 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24
   
4. John 1: 6-8, 19-28
   

• Liberty to the captives
  
• We can be captive to all sorts of things in this life. 
  
• Think of something in your life that you just cannot seem to shake.
• What do you think victory over that resentment, addiction, trauma, co dependency, ... might look like?
• How can Jesus help you get there?
• How can you start that process this Advent?
  

• We are not so different after all
  
• All of us need mercy.  Those who have achieved much, who have fame, fortune, appreciation in abundance may think that they do not need mercy, but they do.  Our common need for God's mercy binds us together as His people, whether we know it or not.
• Where/when has God been there for you when you least expected to find Him?
• How did you get into that position to need His help?
• How did you get outside of yourself enough to seek God's help?
• How did that Divine Intervention change you?
  

• Finding strength in humility
  
• One way to look at the virtue of humility is to see ourselves, the world around us, and most especially God in a light that is certain and true.  Humility brings trust.  Trust brings resilience in the face of change because trust knows that control is an illusion.
• What are some times when you have had to learn humility?
• How has humility made life easier, richer, fuller?
• Why do you think that those lessons in humility were so hard?
• Has it gotten any easier through the years?
• Why?
  

• One you do not recognize
  
• All of us have personal heroes in our lives who have made an impact on us, who were there just when we needed them, who were the presence of God in our lives in some way big or small.
• Think of one of those personal heroes in your life.
• How did they come into your life?
• How were they the Presence of God for you?
• Have you ever thanked them for their influence?
• Do you ever get a chance to tell others about how God touched you through them?
  

• Preparation for Reconciliation
  

1. Where might God be calling me to greater freedom?
   
2. Where is God inviting me to greater mercy?
   
3. Where is God inviting me to deeper humility, deeper walking by His side?
   
4. Where is God incarnating in my life today?

Who Are You?

When we meet new people for the first time -

We try to establish our identity in terms of other things.

 

As though what we do, or did, what we have, establishes who we are -

Establishes how this new person should regard us.

 

But what might happen if instead we introduced ourselves:

I am the spouse of my beloved, parent to our children, son of my parents.

 

I am a member of my parish community -

Finding God in serving God's children with, in, and through that parish family.

 

I am seeking to find God in the ordinary, the every day.

I strive to build virtue with everything that I do and say.

 

In my service to God, I am helping to bring His kingdom to earth.

That justice and wisdom may blossom in just one more heart.

I am a sacrament of God's own Presence on earth.

A beacon to the lost who are seeking their true destiny.

And in the midst of all of that, the thing that I strive for most

Is humility.

 

Give that a try, and tell me how it turns out.

Shalom!