December 7/Second Tuesday of AdventFeast of St. Ambrose 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? ~ Matthew 18.12 Plenty of people I know, and probably plenty of people you know, have wandered away not only from organized religion but…
Category: Keeping Advent
Keeping Advent 9: Obstacle Course
December 6/Second Monday of Advent Just then some men came, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle…
Keeping Advent 8: Our Help is From the Lord
December 5/Second Sunday of Advent I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. ~ Phil 1.6 The market for self-improvement in the United States is a robust one – workshops and seminars, personal coaching, and a proliferation of self-help books that alone…
Keeping Advent 7: Shepherd Me, O God
December 4/First Saturday of Advent When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few, so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” ~ Matt 9.36-38 However you slice…
Keeping Advent 6: Inquiring Minds
December 3/First Friday of Advent One thing I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after:to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. ~ Psalm 27.4 At the end of whatever time I am able to set aside for prayer in…
Keeping Advent 5: Following Through
December 2/First Thursday of Advent “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” ~ Matt 7.21 To those who do not inhabit the pew of a church on a weekly basis, the gap between the profession of the Christian faith and…
Keeping Advent 4: Abbondanza!
December 1/First Wednesday of Advent On this mountain the LORD of hosts will provide for all peoples A feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines. ~ Isa 25.6 At this season of the year, with Thanksgiving dinner in the rearview mirror (barely!) and the Christmas meal looming, we may find ourselves spending a lot of…
Keeping Advent 3: Being A Brownie
November 30/First Tuesday of AdventFeast of Saint Andrew As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ~ Matt 4.18 As a sister and a mother, I have both participated in and witnessed my fair share of…
Keeping Advent 2: Dialing In
November 29/First Monday of Advent Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. ~ Matt 8.8 The Roman centurion, for all his authority and accomplishment, was not part of the community of Jesus’s followers or of the larger Jewish community in which Jesus lived and moved. He was…
Keeping Advent 1: Stand and Deliver
November 28/First Sunday of Advent But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand. ~ Luke 21.28 It could have been lifted right out of the daily papers and social media sites, this passage from Luke. In the cosmos, disturbance and dismay. On earth, nations in anguish. All of us perplexed by the roaring…