"The ideal is to live in loving, attentive expectancy." (John of the Cross) The Advent season is a time of stirring up our expectancy. For what? The second coming of Jesus and attentiveness to his coming in the present moment of each day. If we are living in the later expectancy we will be prepared for the former. How attentive am I to the coming of the Lord Jesus into my life in the present moment? How attentive am I to the grace he desires to give me to live in the present moment in relation to him? This is why Advent is important each year, to remind us of the need to remain expectant in hope and joy. The Lord is near.

"Man and God are at the center of Advent: man awaiting the coming of God and God who seeks the ways to meet man." (St. John Paul II)We will begin the season of Advent this Sunday. He has come and he will come again. But in between is also a coming. He comes in the present moment. In a sense, how we receive him in the present moment will determine how he will receive us in his final coming. This Sunday's second reading from Paul gives us a road map of receiving him in the present moment. Look for that road map and follow it as it leads you to Jesus.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (Advent Wreath)

The First Candle is purple...it is the candle of prophesy: it symbolizes hope and expectation.

It reminds us of the 400 years of silence that Israel endured while awaiting all that the prophets proclaimed...and we wait also.

As our nights grow longer and our days grow shorter, we look on these earthly signs–light and green branches–we remember God’s promises to our world: Christ, our light and our hope will come!

Hear the words of the prophet Isaiah:

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing, as they rejoice before you as at the harvest." Is 9:1-2

(Light the Candle)

Let us pray: Oh God, rejoicing, we remember the promises of your Son! Shine your blessings upon us. May Christ shine one us and brighten our way by guiding us in his truth. Amen.

As we begin this Advent season, we remember the hope we have in Jesus. The prophets of Israel all spoke of the coming of the Christ...of how a Savior would be born...that he would be king of the line of David. They spoke of how he would rule the world wisely and bless all nations. As the followers of Jesus we await his return. We light this candle to remember that as he came to us humbly in a manger at Bethlehem and gave light to the world...so he is coming again in power to deliver his people. We light this candle to remind us to be alert and watch for his return.

Let us pray: Lord, thank you for coming. As we wait for you...as we celebrate this Holy Season, let us not lose our focus. Help us to keep our eyes on you. Help us to see you in your present coming. Amen.

"There is no one who, if he just thinks about it a little cannot find very good reasons to express his gratitude to God." (St. Bernard, Sermon on the sixth Sunday after Pentecost, 2.1) Here is an exercise to do. Write down on a sheet of paper all the things you are grateful to God for. Then on Thanksgiving Day during a time of prayer, offer these thoughts of gratitude to God. Then every night afterwards, before going to bed, express your gratitude to God for his many blessings that day.

Leader:            In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.




                        people, for God has been generous to us. As we ask God’s blessing upon the                           food  we will share with our families, may we be mindful of those in need.

Reader:            1 Corinthians 1:3-9



                        For you have heard the words of my mouth;
                        In the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
                        I will worship at your holy temple and give thanks to your name.


                        for you have made great above all things your name and your promise.
                        When I called, you answered me; you built up strength within me.


                        when they hear the words of your mouth;
                        and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord:
                       “Great is the glory of the Lord.”

"God gave you this day to do just as you would.
You can throw it away--or do some good.
You can make someone happy, or make someone sad,
What have you done with the day that you had?
God gave it to you to do just as you would,
You could do what is wicked, or do what is good.
You can hand out a smile, or just give 'em a frown,
You can lift someone up, or push someone down.
You can lighten some load, or some progress impede,
You can look for a rose, or just gather some weed.
What did you do with your beautiful day?
God gave it to you, did you throw it away?" (Author unknown) This thought-provoking poem can give us a positive focus for each day of our lives. Each day is a gift from God. What we do with it is our response to that gift, showing whether we are grateful or not.

"We thank you, God, for the care that did not come to try us, the burden that we did not bear, the trouble that passed by us, the task we did not fail to do, the hurts we did not cherish, the friend who did not prove untrue, the joy that did not perish. We thank you for the blinding storm that did not lose its swelling, and for the sudden blight of harm that came not nigh our dwelling. We thank you for the dart unsped, the bitter word unspoken, the grave unmade, the tear unshed, the heart-tie still unbroken." (Author Unknown) This is an interesting perspective to add to our prayer of gratitude to God. We will probably only know in heaven the many ways God spared us from these many unknown harms. But what if we anticipate that moment by thanking God daily for the unknown ways he has shown his mercy, love and protection to us and our loved ones? Thank you, God!

"Only he who gives thanks for little things receives the big things." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) Gratitude opens our hearts to the more God desires to give us. What would happen if we intentionally each day take time to express our thanks to God (and to others) of the little things that touch our lives in a positive way? Would that give us clearer vision to see the many little things that we would take for granted and not fully appreciate? Each day is Thanksgiving for those who embrace this reality.

Pilate said to Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?" 
The religious leaders had already informed Pilate that Jesus has been talking about establishing a new kingdom. Pilate could not ignore this information, so he questioned Jesus about his intentions. If Jesus was attempting to set up a kingdom in opposition to the Roman Empire this would be treason and sufficient grounds for execution. Jesus answered, "Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?" 
Jesus refuses to be caught up in the trap, so he responds by asking a question. Jesus knows the source of this question is his accusers. Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?"
Pilate was seeking the hidden agenda of the religious leaders. Pilate suspects that the leaders are trying to use him to do their dirty deed. Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here." 
Jesus makes the distinction that he is not a political king in opposition to Roman authority. He has come to establish a spiritual kingdom. Thus, he doesn’t deny that he is a king but he clarifies that he is not a king in the sense that Pilate understands.
Jesus came to establish a kingdom in which God would rule over the hearts and minds of human beings. So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." Jesus came to testify to the truth of God’s revelation, his divine plan for us. This is the truth that gives life and sets us free to be who we are meant to be.
The point of our reflection must be the last statement of Jesus: "Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." How do we see ourselves responding to this statement of Jesus? What area of his message do we struggle the most?                    To what is extent is Jesus the Lord and King of our lives? To what extent is he not? What
                  will we do to make the necessary change?

“We cultivate a very small field for Christ, but we love it, knowing that God does not require great achievements but a heart that holds back nothing for self…. The truest crosses are those we do not choose ourselves…. He who has Jesus has everything.” (St. Rose Philippine Duchesne) If we choose our crosses, then we would be motivated by self not by God's will. But if we learn how to embrace the cross of the moment, trusting that God is allowing this and is giving us the grace to carry it, then we will be more like Christ, the obedient servant.

Today, I read an article about giving thanks to God for his many graces. The person was challenged to identify one thousand graces God gave. I took the challenge and started recalling the many graces God has blessed me with in his love and mercy. It is amazing what one remembers. I challenge each of you to do the same. If you want to move from worry to joy, from self-focus to other focus, then be a person of gratitude. Be attentive just today and see how many ways God touches our lives, especially in little things.

As we come to the end of the Liturgical Year, the Church begins to reflect on the end-times statements of Jesus in the Gospel, of which this is one. Jesus said: "But in those days after that tribulation Before this Jesus mentioned things pertaining to earthly events such as wars, earthquakes, famines. Now he mentions cosmic events. the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Much of what Jesus is referring to is found referenced in the Old Testament in the writings of the prophets: Is 13:10;34:4; Joel 2:10, 31; 3:15. And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds' with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather (his) elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky. What is your feeling when you read this? Humanly, it may be of fear. But what do you think Jesus’ intention is for us when we hear this and other similar statements?
The real key is whether we will be among the elect or not? "Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates.
What is the message Jesus wants us to hear and act on? Live in the present moment as if it was your last. Always be ready, not in fear, but in true relationship with God. Is this your attitude? Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. "But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
This last statement is very key. No matter how often people try to read the "signs" of the time and predict the future, especially the end of the world, only the Father, Son, and Spirit know as God. Jesus is saying that in his humanity he does not have this knowledge. At the moment he is speaking from his humanity, not out of his divinity.
How should this whole passage impact your life today?

“No one, however weak, is denied a share in the victory of the cross.  No one is beyond the help of the prayer of Christ.” (Pope St. Leo the Great) Salvation is a gift that God gives to everyone, even though not all are saved. We have been saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus. But we must ask for this grace, no matter how weak and sinful we may see ourselves. Once we experience this grace we need to respond to it by our choices in life. Salvation is a precious treasure given to us, but if we don't guard it, we can lose it, as many have. How will you respond to this grace today?

What does it mean for us to be Temples of the Holy Spirit? A Temple is a sacred place in which the worship of God takes place. For the Israelites, the Temple was the place of God's presence among them. In Baptism we became the Temple of the Holy Spirit: God shares his life with us and resides within us. Given this reality of grace, how conscious are we of my body being a Temple of God? How do I treat my body? How do I treat others, who share in the same mystery of grace? The more conscious I am, then I would better appreciate and respond to the command of God: Be holy, as I am Holy. Let the presence of God within your Temple be manifested to others!

"Forgiving means to pardon that which is unpardonable, or it is no virtue at all. (G. K. Chesterton) Is this not what Jesus has done and does for us? From one point of view our sins are unpardonable because the person offended is God. But out of mercy and love God chooses to forgive us and not to remember any longer our sins. In this he gives us the example. Nothing that another has done against us to offend us is unpardonable, because it can never compare to my sin against God. If Jesus could cry out from the cross: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do", can we not do the same, especially since we are not innocent of sin and we are not on the cross.

"The Scriptures give four names to Christians: Believers--for their faith, Saints--for their holiness, Brethren--for their love, Disciples--for their zeal." (Anon) How Christian are we? Is our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ bringing us into a deeper relationship with him? Are we seeking to grow in holiness? Do we live out the call of Jesus: "They will know that you are my disciples by the love that you have for one another"? Are we on fire with that love? These are some of the criteria we are to measure whether we are truly Christian in fact or only in name.

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus,
they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. The fact that they came from Jerusalem meant that they were an official delegation sent to observe this new Rabbi and his disciples to see if they were strictly following the Law. They were checking his orthodoxy. For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands,
keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed,
the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds. The Pharisees and observant Jews were keen on ritual purity, that is, to do nothing that would make one unworthy to enter into the temple or to offer sacrifice. There were many laws regulating ritual purity. The Pharisees pride themselves on their strict observances of all these laws. They expected, and seemingly demanded others to do the same. So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him,"Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?" This tradition was at the heart of their understanding of righteousness, based on works. This offended their sense of righteousness before God.
Here we have another point of contention between the Pharisees and Jesus over his disciples’ behavior.
The issue is Jesus’ interpretation of the Law and their interpretation and between the commandments of the Law and human traditions of their elders.
This was another attempt to discredit Jesus before the people who flocked to him.
They were not so much concerned about hygiene but ritual impurity. He responded, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition." Jesus was aware that they had come to undermine his ministry.
What is the distinction Jesus makes in his response? Jesus knows that there is nothing in the commandments demanding this ritual of washing but was added later by human tradition.
What upsets Jesus is that these leaders were laying more emphasis on their own ritual requirements than on what was far more important, such as obedience to God’s word.
In quoting Isaiah Jesus indicates the degree of their hypocrisy. They placed more emphasis on human interpretation than on the actual word of God.
The question Jesus raises is this: Is the interpretation of the Law, made by the teachers down through the centuries, which at times reinterpret the Word of God even to the point of altering it somewhat, equal to the Law itself? He summoned the crowd again and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. "From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile." When we reflect on this passage do we see an application in our lives?
Do we sometimes focus on the external trappings rather than the interior transformation that God desires?
How conscious are we of the roots of sin within us? What are we doing about them?

"If we wish to make any progress in the service of God we must begin every day of our life with new eagerness. We must keep ourselves in the presence of God as much as possible and have no other view or end in all our actions but the divine honor." (Saint Charles Borromeo )  This is another way of saying that we must live in the present moment, not in the past and not in the future. Only in this moment is the grace of God actualized for us. Only in every moment of the day will we experience the presence and love of our merciful God. It is hard to so live and yet it is the only way to really live.

DEEP SPRINGS IN DESERT PLACES: PRAYER


Life is a journey. At times our journey seem to go through arid periods. We feel alone and abandoned, even by God. We don't understand what is going on or what has brought us to this point. Is God displeased with us? Is God punishing us? Is this part of our purification? Day in and day out we seem to be trudging alone with a sense of aimlessness and hopelessness. We have no direction. At times it feels that we are going in circles; things look de-ja-vu-familiar, as if we have been at this point before.

Like the Israelites, we remember the times in our own Egypt of bondage, when we had it better, even if we were slaves to sin. At least then we knew what to expect. But here in the desert we are totally dependent and vulnerable. There is no one but ourselves alone. Yes, there are people all around us; there is activity going on; we are going through the motions of daily life, but the spiritual emptiness will not go away. The holy things which use to mean something, use to satisfy us, no longer do.

We cry out and our words seem to drift into space. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me, far from my prayer, from the words of my cry? O my God, I cry out by day, and you answer not; by night, and there is no relief for me" (Ps 22:2-3). There is no response. Our fear is that no one is listening and no one cares. Not even God. We cry even louder and with more fervor and desperation: "But you, O Lord, be not far from me; O my help, hasten to aid me. Rescue my soul from the sword, my loneliness from the grip of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth; from the horns of the wild bulls, my wretched life" (Ps 22:20-22). There is only silence after the echo of my plea fades into the desert night.

While the feeling of aloneness and abandonment seem to grow stronger, faith continues to reassure us that God never abandons us. Faith tells us that somehow all of this is part of God's mysterious plan for us. But how long and to what purpose? At times it is hard to focus on faith and not feelings for the latter seem to be backed up by clear, experienced facts. I have no consolations in prayer only desolations. There is no visible light, only darkness. Even going through the motions of prayer seem pointless and wasted. Nothing seems to matter.

Welcome to the Exodus journey of every person from the Egypt of sin to the Promised Land of life eternal! What the Israelites experienced physically and what they learned spiritually in their forty year-desert sojourn, we will have to experience in our spiritual journey to greater intimacy with the Lord.

For the spiritual desert is not a hell-hole on earth, but a grace-event on the way to heaven.

Like the Israelites, we have experienced personally some salvific moment in which God revealed his power, his mercy, his love, his freedom, his life to us. Whether the signs and wonders were as dramatic in our lives as they were in the Israelites in Egypt is not important. What is important is that God saved us from a life of tragic consequences. If God had not intervened either dramatically or quietly, we would have continued on a path leading to nowhere and nothingness, a life of eternal separation from God, and a future full of woe.

Like the Israelites the spiritual honeymoon didn't last long, the reality that our past will not leave us so easily became clear very soon after we began our new journey. Our task masters of the past--the sinful desires and pleasures, the negative attitudinal bondage, the fears, the seemingly inescapable needs, our former way of life with its so-called friends--all seem to converge on us once again. If we give in or give up at this point, we fail the first test of the journey. Is God capable of deleivering us or not? Can God make a way when our enemies are on one side and our backs are up against a vast sea?

What did Moses tell the Israelites and what does God say to us? "Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the Lord will win for you today....The Lord himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still" (Ex. 14:13-14). To believe that this journey has a purpose, to trust that the Lord's plan will be revealed, to be still and wait upon the Lord is to discover the first of many springs in the spiritual desert.

But even though God revealed once more his power over their enemies, the Israelites soon forgot these signs and continued to complain and grumble, to long for their past way of life, to test the Lord, to be disobedient, to give in to fear. Basically, their hearts were hardened.

This basic mind set was captured in Psalm 95 as the psalmist centuries later addressed the people of his day, speaking in the name of God. He could as well be speaking to us in our desert experience: "Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert, where your fathers tempted me; they tested me though they had seen my works. Forty years I loathed that generation, and I said: They are a people of erring heart, and they know not my ways. Therefore I swore in my anger: They shall not enter into my rest"(Ps 95: 8-11).

What is the purpose of the spiritual desert? To get in touch with sin within us. Sin is what hardens our heart against God. Not just any sin, but the root or dominant sin of our life, the habitual sin which controls our life, the sin which is our god, the skeleton-sin in the closet of our heart which we are afraid to confront, the security blanket sin which we have clung to for years, the sin we fall back into when we no longer can trust that God can provide for our needs, the convenient sin which is ready to satisfy us, even for a fleeting moment.

As a way of helping us confront sin, God leads us to a number of oases during our journey, places where we find deep springs. These are not meant to be final resting places, but aids on the journey. What are these oases? God feeds us, not with manna which lasts for one day, but the Bread of Life, the Eucharist, our life-giving food for the spiritual journey. How often have we taken this gift for granted or treated it as something mundane and ordinary? How often have we failed to recall the words of Jesus in the Gospel? "I myself am the living bread come down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread he shall live forever; the bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world....Let me solemnly assure you, he who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:51-54). If we understood the gift, we will yearn and hunger for this gift daily. Even if we feel nothing during the moments following the reception of Eucharist, being grateful and consciously present to the sacramental presence of God within us in faith will be like a source of energy and strength working unseen within us. Without this Bread of Life we will surely die in the desert.

The Israelites experienced the gift of water from the rock when they complained that they were dying of thirst in the desert. We experience many graces on our journey, graces which we seem unaware of because they seem so ordinary or so expected. Because they are graces for and of the moment and not the once-in-the -lifetime, extraordinary graces we take very little notice. But again without these graces--unmerited favors from God--we would not be able to survive the journey ahead.

For the Israelites the Mount of Sinai was another oasis. Here God called the people to enter into a new covenant with him, a covenant-life based on the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. These commandments were the basis of their relationship with God and with neighbor, a relationship of love.

Instead the people chose to make a god that they could fashion and control: their golden calf. They chose a no-god over the only God. They bowed down before a god who would not chastise them or correct them, a god who would be blind and deaf to their debauchery. But in fact, they sold themselves back into slavery and bondage to Satan, the pseudo-god who would exact everything from them, including life itself.

The Word of God serves as another place of rest and refurbishing. Recall the words of Paul to Timothy: "You have known the sacred Scriptures, the source of the wisdom which through faith in Jesus Christ leads to salvation. All Scripture is inspired of God and is useful for teaching--for reproof, correction, and training in holiness, so that the man of God may be fully competent and equipped for every good work"(2 Tim 3:15-17).

Even though the words found in the scripture also seem to have no meaning for us at the time we are in the spiritual desert, by faithfully immersing ourselves in the Word, we will fortify ourselves for the journey ahead. The scriptures help us keep our eyes and heart fixed upon the Lord who we still see only in faith. With Paul we can attest: "We do not fix our gaze on what is seen but on what is unseen. What is seen is transitory; what is unseen lasts forever....We walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 4:17-18; 5:7).

One of the oasis which seems the strangest in our journey is the one where God reminds us that we must learn to live in the present moment and not in the past or the future. For it is only in the present moment that we are can respond to the call to serve the other. It is in this present moment we are invited by God not to focus on our own struggle and need but on the need of the other, to die to self and to be life-giving to another. Like the other oases, we do not understand God's ways. Helping another, reaching out unconditionally, loving when we feel unloved and incapable of loving anyone, seem to be not what is needed at the moment in our life. And yet Jesus insists that this is indeed important. "I solemnly assure you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. The man who loves his life loses it, while the man who hates his life in this world preserves it to life eternal. If anyone would serve me, let him follow me, where I am, there will my servant be. If anyone serves me, him the Father will honor" (John 12:24-27).

The purpose of each of these oases of deep spiritual springs in the desert journey is to enable us to confront sin in our lives. It is only when we are ready to let go control of this area of our life, to allow God through his power to crush the hardness of our heart, to yield to the Lord's timing and process, that a break through can take place and we can be transported to new spiritual heights. Only then can the desert journey end for the time being until God calls us once more to grow into greater holiness.

It is God who leads us into the desert. Listen to the words of the prophet Hosea concerning the infidelity of Israel: "So I will allure her, I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart" (Hosea 2:16). And when we are ready to respond to the Lord again with our whole heart, it is God who leads us out of the desert. Again, listen to the joyful words of God through the mouth of the same prophet: "I will espouse you to me forever; I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the Lord....I will say...'You are my people,' and (you) shall say, 'My God.'" (Hosea 2: 21-22, 25)

“Everything, even sweeping, scraping vegetables, weeding a garden and waiting on the sick could be a prayer, if it were offered to God.”   (St. Martin de Porres) The way to sanctity can be as simple as this. It is the custom of transforming even the ordinary things of daily life into an intimate moment with God through prayer. This was the little way of St. Therese of Liseux. Whatever she did, even the most ordinary, she did it in love and offered it to Jesus in prayer. This becomes pleasing to God because we are keeping our eyes on him throughout the day.

"Lord God, you are the glory of believers and the life of the just. Your son redeemed us by dying and rising to life again. Since our departed brothers and sisters believed in the mystery of our resurrection, let them share the joys and blessings of the life to come." (Anonymous) How providential is the Church to remind us about the many people who have gone before us in death, but not yet in full glory with God. They are in the state of purgation by the purifying fire of love. With their eyes on the prize (seeing God face to face) they happily endure this purification with expectant hope. Our love and prayers support them in this final stage of their journey, as we remember that we too may be in that process in the future.