Advent, Day 12--The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

After Mary consents to becoming the mother of God she goes to be be of service to her cousin Elizabeth who she has just found out is pregnant with John the Baptist.  Elizabeth says to her::
“Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.” (Lk 1:42-45)

Mary then responds with her Magnificat and the first line is at the top of this page from Luke 1:46-47.  I love Mary's response because her adoration is so pure and joyful.  I love the look on the face of the woman in the picture because it looks like she is adoring God and is so happy and ready to celebrate!  

As I write this there are at least 15 people setting up our Parish Hall for a fiesta this evening after the Mass for Our Lady of Guadalupe.  So many people have such a strong devotion to Our Lady and they are so happy to celebrate her!

Pope Francis said today:
“I ask all the people of the Americas to open wide their arms, like the Virgin, with love and tenderness,” encouraged the pontiff, adding that “I pray for all of you, dear brothers and sisters, and I ask you to pray for me!”

“May the joy of the Gospel always abide in your hearts. May the Lord bless you, and may Our Lady be ever at your side.”

Advent, Day 10

Jesus said to his disciples:  "What is your opinion?  If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?  And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.  In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost."

        I did my first exegetical paper for my Master's degree in Pastoral Studies on this passage from Matthew 18:12-14, which is the Gospel reading for today.  My thesis was that God wants us all to be saved and to enter the Kingdom of Heaven; and Jesus teaches the little ones that we have responsibility to care for each other, to seek out the lost, forgive and receive them back into the community.  This passage is a part of the larger "Community Discourse" found in Matthew's gospel and Jesus was talking to the disciples about how to live together and to preserve their community.  

        Don't we have responsibility for all the little ones that Jesus talks about?  Who are the little ones?  Are they the marginalized?  Are they the lost?  Are they us?  We have all gone astray at some point in our lives.  I believe Jesus is telling us that not only do we have to pay attention to our own salvation but also the salvation of the lost sheep as well.  How do we accomplish this?  I believe that God wants us all to enter the Kingdom and to continue to bring the Reign of God closer to us now by bringing the lost back into the fold.

        Here's an interesting quote from Pope Francis from just before he was installed as a pope:   

"A church that limits itself to just carrying out administrative duties, caring for its tiny flock, is a church that in the long run will get sick. The pastor who isolates himself is not a true pastor of sheep, but a 'hairdresser' for sheep who spends his time putting curlers on them instead of going to look for others."  He said the situation today is the mirror opposite of the biblical parable of the shepherd who leaves his 99 sheep to find the one that is lost. "Today we have one in the pen and 99 we need to go looking for."

        

The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women (Lk 1:28) 

        Today we celebrate The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  On December 8, 1854 Pius IX declared "in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin."  

        I have to confess that Mary and I have not always gotten along well.  I have mostly ignored her and her devotions for most of my life.  Who was this person Mary of Nazareth? She was a young pregnant woman, without sin, who was generally portrayed as meek and mild and conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit.  I did not feel particularly drawn to this young woman.  


        I did not have a devotion to the rosary and did not understand it.  Recently, I have read about the strong devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico by those who have been culturally marginalized.  The care and comfort and love that they feel through their devotion to The Lady is helpful.    I have also read about how women from the Middle Ages through today have had a strong devotion to Mary and to the rosary because it gave them comfort and something to do during a Mass that was entirely said in Latin.  

        Now I realize that Mary can be a liberating figure for women because she provides a mother's care to those who are marginalized.  The other point that I had overlooked is that she is a woman and she was given a choice by God which she said yes to.  This was not the case for women during that time period.  So, for women during that time she was treated with dignity.  
        In recent years I have come to know the peace and comfort that results from reciting the Hail Mary as a kind of silent mantra.  I have found myself saying this prayer during adoration or just to quiet my mind.  I also said several hundred if not thousands of Hail Marys when riding in the passenger side of the car when teaching my children how to drive!

        Dear Lord, in this time of Advent, let us look to Mary for the peace and quiet that we crave during this time of waiting for your coming in a special way at Christmas

Second Sunday in Advent

Welcome one another as Christ welcomed you.  Rom 15:7

        This line in today's reading from Paul's letter to the Romans jumps out at me because of this experience I had a few months ago.  A woman wandered into Mass on a Friday and on this particular Friday, all the catholic school children in the parish attended Mass as well.  The woman that wandered in looked different and acted different from most churchgoers.  And it is not usual for this to happen as the parish sits well within a residential area with no close access to a bus line or other public transportation.  The woman was not well groomed, was carrying a large bag and was talking to no one in particular.  From what I could tell no one welcomed her, on the contrary an alarm went up among the congregation to "find out what was in that large bag" and "get her away from the children".  Are we so caught up in safety issues that we can no longer welcome the stranger among us?  Why do we find this so hard to do?  To finish the story, the woman looked different from the churchgoers, but was not dangerous. 

        I just started reading a book called Rebuilt-Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, Making the Church Matter, by Michael White and Tom Corcoran.  In revitalizing their parish, Tom and Fr. Michael found that their parish welcomed the churchgoers and gave them what they want, but did not attend to the mission of the church which is Go therefore and make disciples of all Nations (Mt 28:19) and You Shall love your neighbor as yourself (Mk 13:31). At this particular parish they were fulfilling every perceived need of what the authors call "Consumer Catholics" in the parish but were not fulfilling the mission of the church and their church was dying.  What can we do to welcome the stranger among us?  Didn't Jesus welcome all to come to him, even the little ones?  

        Dear Lord, please help us to understand the mission of the Church and to reach out to the stranger among us.  Help us to be open to others who are not like us, but who are also hungry for you God.  In the words of the Cursillo Movement "Be a friend, make a friend, bring a friend to Christ."  Isn't that what the New Evangelization of the church is all about?

        

Thoughts on Advent, Day 6

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? Psalm 23

        With the light of every new day we have hope for the future.  Jesus Christ is the light which guides me; he gives me hope and a future.  I receive my salvation from Jesus Christ through his life, death and resurrection! Jesus loved those who society cast out, he ate with sinners and healed the sick.  He died rather than give up what he thought was important and was risen to life to be with us forever. God loves us immeasurably every day, every hour, every minute.    

        But, what am I afraid of?  The first thing that came to mind was that I am afraid that something will hurt one of my four children.  Will they have a car accident?  Will they be hurt in a relationship?  But, deep down, in that place that I don't often go, I am most afraid that in my human brokenness I will hurt them with criticism, judgement, impatience, or unreasonable expectations.  

        Dear Lord, in this Advent season, help me to love like you do with your perfect love, without criticism or judgement.  Help me to love my children as you love me as your daughter, you who created me in your image. "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good" (Gen. 1:31).  

       

Thoughts on Advent, Day 5: 

“Trust in the Lord Forever!  For the Lord is an eternal Rock,” Is 26:4

     How comforting to know that our God is always there and never changes.  God is always available whenever we need to talk something out, lament, cry, laugh, pray, or just rest.  We don't need to worry about making an appointment, choosing the right words or looking a certain way.   We can just be who we are and know that we are loved.  Every Sunday in Advent I look forward to being nourished in my relationship with God during Sunday Mass so that I can live my life with kindness, peace and generosity.  I feel compelled to go out and do good after receiving the Eucharist and being part of the Body of Christ during Liturgy.  

     During Advent this year I want to become more intimate in my relationship with Jesus to prepare for his coming in a special way at Christmas.  I am waiting and hoping for renewal in my faith at Christmas.  I am attempting to read the daily readings of the church every morning (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120513.cfm).  In the last 5 days, I have remembered to do that twice!  I hope that by writing this blog I can hold myself accountable for doing the reading and recording my thoughts. 

     Our family tradition during Advent is to keep an advent wreath on our kitchen table.  This year I didn't remember to buy the special pink and purple candles until December 2 but it doesn't really matter because we are preparing, expecting and waiting.  And we haven't lit them yet, but I hope to be able to do that this week.  Another tradition we have is pushing back the secular celebration of Christmas until December 25.  I have to explain it to the children every year,  because "everyone else in the neighborhood" has put up lights and decorated their Christmas trees.  We like to buy our tree the weekend before Christmas and then by Christmas we have it decorated with lights, family ornaments and most years with a train around the tree.  We also put up a special Advent calendar that was made lovingly by my sister Jill and her family when we got married 23 years ago.  

     What are your family traditions during Advent?  Do you find it difficult to hold back Christmas and prepare during Advent?   I hope that you enjoy this little blog.  Check back in tomorrow.  I hope to have remembered to post my thoughts!