Advent

ADVENT REFLECTION: Bearing The Word by Enuma Okoro

December 24, 2018

From Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shined in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighted every man that comes into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world [...]

PRAYER: Christmas Eve by Mitch Finley

December 24, 2018

From Season of Promises Marriage, which seems to us to be such a wonderful consummation of love, is only a faint shadow, a kind of symbol, of the wedding of the Spirit of God to humanity; and it is from that wedding that Christ is born into the world. (Caryll Houselander, The Reed of God) Christmas Eve, the day before the deep and holy Feast of the Incarnation. The day before. Can it be? Is Advent over already? “Time went by so quickly,” wrote singer/songwriter John Stewart, “that I didn’t see it go. / But I never saw it coming so how was I to know?” That’s life, and that’s Advent. Over so quickly. Time, sacred time. Weeks gone so soon, and now we verge on Christmas. It’s such a great mystery that we find [...]

ADVENT REFLECTION: Seeing Those Who Dream by Enuma Okoro

December 23, 2018

From Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent Part Three: Trusting and Receiving God’s Word Trusting God is a daily discipline that cannot be dependent on how we feel. There will be countless times when we do not feel like trusting because circumstances seem insurmountable. Yet, we will ourselves to claim the truth of God’s trustworthiness because we claim the truth of God’s unchanging character. Scripture and community are indispensable to our waiting seasons. Scripture holds countless testimonies of God’s enduring faithfulness throughout the history of God’s people. It holds countless stories of people just like us who received God’s word and struggled to trust God’s word and often tried to take matters [...]

POETRY: Advent by Suzanne Underwood Rhodes

December 23, 2018

Through the needle’s eye the rich man came squeezing through stars of razor light that pared his body down to thread. Gravity crushed his heart’s chime and his breath that breathed out worlds now flattened as fire between walls. The impossible slit stripped him, admitting him to stitch the human [...]

PRAYER: Fourth Sunday Of Advent by Mitch Finley

December 23, 2018

From Season of Promises In winter silence is visible: the snow is silence become visible. The space between Heaven and Earth is occupied by silence; Heaven and Earth are merely the edge of the snowy silence. Snowflakes meet in the air and fall together on to the Earth, which is already white in the silence. Silence meeting silence. People stand silent on the side of the street. Human language is covered by the snow of silence. What remains of man is his body standing in the snow like a milestone of silence. People stand still and silence moves between them. (Max Picard, The World of Silence) Do you live in a snowy land? Or do you remember living in a snowy land at an earlier time in your life, waking up to find the world under [...]

ADVENT REFLECTION: Advent Day 21 Personal Reflection by Enuma Okoro

December 22, 2018

From Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent When God calls us, God equips us with holy strength and human support. No one bears God’s word alone, and yet, nothing can make us available to God but the state of our hearts and spirits. The refiner’s fire can have many manifestations. It is a call to repentance, introspection, and communal engagement. During Advent there is a need to be called apart from and called into a journey with the community of God. No amount or configuration of words can do justice to the experience of the Annunciation. How does one describe the descent of a message-laden angel to the home of a seemingly average teenage girl to tell her that the Spirit of God will soon inhabit her youthful [...]

POETRY: Heaven by Thomas Ken

December 22, 2018

Nor eye, ear, thought, can take the height To which my song is taking flight, Yet raised an humble wing, My guess of Heaven I’ll sing; ‘Tis love’s reward, and love is fired By guessing at the bliss desired. Guess then at saints’ eternal lot, By due considering what ‘tis not, No misery, want, or care, No death, no darkness there, No troubles, storms, sighs, groans, or tears, No injury, pains, sickness, fears. They dwell in pure ecstatic light, Of God Triune have blissful sight, Of fontal love who gave God filial man to save, Of Jesus’s love, who death sustained, By which the saints their glory [...]

PRAYER: Third Saturday Of Advent by Mitch Finley

December 22, 2018

From Season of Promises As truly as God is our father, so just as truly is he our mother. In our father, God Almighty, we have our being; in our merciful mother we are remade and restored. Our fragmented lives are knit together and made perfect man. And by giving and yielding ourselves, through grace, to the Holy Spirit we are made whole. (Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love) One of the images of Advent: the Christmas manger scene in the church or in our home, all the figures arranged, Mary here, Joseph there, the shepherds thus, the animals just so, maybe the magi over there. But during Advent, the season of patient waiting, the crib is empty, waiting, ready to be the resting place of the Child. What does this image of [...]

ADVENT REFLECTION: What Are You Waiting For? by Enuma Okoro

December 21, 2018

From Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. (Luke 1:53) We assume the time John the Baptist spends waiting and preparing in the wilderness is in order to steep his identity in God. From before John’s conception, God has claimed his life. John’s primary identity will always be in relation to Jesus and in how John lived out his call to ministry. Someone like John is always bound to make people, including us, uncomfortable because his existence points us away from ourselves and toward the Kingdom of God. We do not naturally and without some inner resistance make the shift from self to God. John’s life and ministry compels us to [...]

POETRY: Hell by Thomas Ken

December 21, 2018

When, go ye, cursed, God proclaims, And sinners plunge in endless flames, Think, O my soul, what mighty pain, The damned sustain. Self-rage for breach of gracious laws, The worm of conscience which still gnaws, Confusion, terror, trembling, shame, And fierce self-blame. Heaven lost, the choice of torments sure, Souls tempered tortures to endure, Gnashing of teeth, outrageous fire, And darkness dire. How long have I ‘gainst God rebelled? How many gracious calls repelled? More hardships ran to work my bane Than Heaven would gain. My pestilence I oft diffused, Great God’s long suffering I abused, And damned to these eternal woes, Have what I chose. All praise to God who spares me time, To search and mourn for every crime; Souls armed with [...]

PRAYER: Third Friday Of Advent by Mitch Finley

December 21, 2018

From Season of Promises If we are not humble, we tend to demand that faith must also bring with it good health, peace of mind, good luck, success in business, popularity, world peace, and every other good thing we can imagine. And it is true that God can give us all these good things if he wants to. But they are of no importance compared with faith, which is essential. If we insist on other things as the price of our believing, we tend by that very fact to undermine our own belief. I do not think it would be an act of mercy on God’s part simply to let us get away with this! (Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation) The messages and meanings of Advent are many. Advent, oh Advent, what do you have to say to us? Come. Hold [...]

ADVENT REFLECTION: John The Baptist by Enuma Okoro

December 20, 2018

From Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of [...]

POETRY: Death by John Donne

December 20, 2018

Death be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow Die not poor death, nor yet can’st thou kill me; From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow; And soonest our best men to thee do go, Rest of their bones and soul’s delivery; Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell; And poison and charms can make us sleep as well, And better than they stroke; why swell’st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally And death shall be no more. Death, thou shalt [...]

PRAYER: Third Thursday Of Advent by Mitch Finley

December 20, 2018

From Season of Promises The time of action does not differ from that of prayer. I possess God as peacefully in the bustle of my kitchen, where sometimes several people are asking me for different things at the same time, as I do upon my knees before the Holy Sacrament. (Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God) A brief meditation upon Advent leads us to ask a question: Where do we find God? In the months prior to the birth of the Christ child, what did Mary do? According to the Gospel of Luke, Mary does not sit around contemplating the mystery of what is happening to her. Instead, she dashes off to visit her cousin Elizabeth for three months. No doubt she helped Elizabeth prepare for the birth of her own child. We [...]

ADVENT REFLECTION: A Holy Friendship by Enuma Okoro

December 19, 2018

From Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house. (Luke 1:56) Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draws nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge stands before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. (James 5:7-10) The narrative leaves out so much information concerning the [...]

POETRY: Moorland by R. S. Thomas

December 19, 2018

It is beautiful and still; the air rarefied as the interior of a cathedral expecting a presence. It is where, also, the harrier occurs, materializing from nothing, snow- soft, but with claws of fire, quartering the bare earth for the prey that escapes it; hovering over the incipient scream, here a moment, then not here, like my belief in [...]

PRAYER: Third Wednesday Of Advent by Mitch Finley

December 19, 2018

From Season of Promises You have given your holy body to strengthen my weak mind and body, and you have given your word for a lamp to my feet. Without these two things I cannot live as I ought, for the word of God is the light of my soul, and your sacrament the bread that gives me life. (Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ) Advent is a time of quiet hope and expectation. But it is also a time to recall that we cannot live as we ought as long as we simply “go with the flow.” The secular world bombards us daily with secular values, beliefs, and assumptions that know nothing of God’s love or a spiritual life. Advent is a special time that reminds us that our values, beliefs, and assumptions are different. We look forward [...]

ADVENT REFLECTION: Mary And Elizabeth by Enuma Okoro

December 18, 2018

From Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: and she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were [...]

POETRY: The Poem Waits At Its Own Core by John Fox

December 18, 2018

The poem at its core Is snow or egg, The new moon or grass In spring. All these pause at the edge Of change. There is a deep Stillness you must pass through To get close to what waits. At this edge, you leave Everything behind Except what the poem needs: Warmth, rain, silence, Gravity— Make it something you know Only for the first time: A river, heartbeat, Cradle, field of play. The place where all things Begin [...]

PRAYER: Third Tuesday Of Advent by Mitch Finley

December 18, 2018

From Season of Promises There are people who cannot keep the first commandment because in their heart or hearts they are afraid to keep the second. They look upon human love as something which competes with the love of God, not as it is – something which completes it. This in spite of the words of Christ, who said that it is IMPOSSIBLE to love God and not to love one another, and who implored his followers with his dying breath to love one another. (Caryll Houselander, The Reed of God) Advent is not completely overwhelmed by the Great Shopping Binge. Not completely. In most cities and towns we also hear about activities geared to nothing more than giving to those who have less. Food banks. Toys for Tots. Winter coat [...]

ADVENT REFLECTION: The Refiner’s Fire by Enuma Okoro

December 17, 2018

From Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former [...]

POETRY: Bethlehem, Indiana by Susanna Childress

December 17, 2018

Which glacier faltered in silencing your hills, Bethlehem? Which Shawnee woman foraged your wild gooseberries? Where but a knell of spruce and flowering dogwood, the smallest of starlings crossing the Ohio River to a province once known as Ken-tah-ten, could we find cascading-haired Mary, whose fingers hover the unquestionable beauty of her new son’s thighs, their tender fat rolling, their slight spoonful of tendons kicking with the certainty of impulse, unknown to him yet as the body’s subtlest joy. No heifer lows against her bale, for this is the Midwest, and our cows are happy cows. But Mother & child are not in the barn, its rafters housing a dozen fidgeting pigeons, nor are they in the east shed where the combine neighbors the [...]

PRAYER: Third Monday Of Advent by Mitch Finley

December 17, 2018

From Season of Promises Radio is a machine producing absolute verbal noise. The content hardly matters any longer; the production of noise is the main concern. It is as though words were being ground down by radio, transformed into an amorphous mass. (Max Picard, The World of Silence) Listen. Do you want to know a secret? Doo-dah-doo. Closer. Let me whisper in your ear. Here it is. Advent is a quiet season, but everywhere we go we are surrounded by noises, music, words flying through the air, pummeling our ears constantly. Often, we become dependent on the noises, music, and words produced by electronic devices. We get jumpy and nervous if we don’t have them. We get so we can’t cope with quiet. Put the average [...]

ADVENT REFLECTION: Wait And Prepare by Enuma Okoro

December 16, 2018

From Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent Part Two: Preparation and Laboring With God’s Promises The psalmist pleads with God, “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long,” (Psalms 25:4-5). In the earnestness of this prayer we get some sense of what waiting means for this psalmist. It is not a passive waiting on God but a waiting that anticipates growth, development, and guidance. Even when the waiting period is painful the psalmist can pray for openness to what God desires him to learn within this space. When the circumstances of our lives suggest that God is calling us to a season of waiting, we [...]

POETRY: For Advent by Christina Rossetti

December 16, 2018

Sweet sweet sound of distant waters, falling On a parched and thirsty plain; Sweet sweet song of soaring skylark, calling On the sun to shine again; Perfume of the rose, only the fresher For past fertilizing rain; Pearls amid the sea, a hidden treasure For some daring hand to gain; — Better, dearer than all these Is the earth beneath the trees: Of a much more priceless worth Is the old, brown, common earth. Little snow-white lamb, piteously bleating For thy mother far away; Saddest sweetest nightingale, retreating With thy sorrow from the day; Weary fawn whom night has overtaken, From the herd gone quite astray; Dove whose nest was rifled and forsaken In the budding month of May; — Roost upon the leafy trees; Lie on earth and take your [...]

PRAYER: Third Sunday Of Advent by Mitch Finley

December 16, 2018

From Season of Promises God says, “Do not blame yourself too much, thinking that your trouble and distress is all your fault. For it is not my will that you should be unduly sad and despondent.” (Julia of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love) You got trouble and distress, I got trouble and distress, all God’s children got trouble and distress. So don’t feel like the Lone Ranger. Thing is, it is not God’s will that we should feel bummed out all the time. Someone said, “A sad Christian is a sad Christian.” Why do we think that if we have “trouble and distress” it must be all our fault? Why are we so inclined to beat up on ourselves for the slightest reason? Advent is the season of hope and expectation, hope and [...]

ADVENT REFLECTION: Advent Day 14 Personal Reflection by Enuma Okoro

December 15, 2018

From Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent Waiting is difficult business. Sometimes the hardest work is staying still and trusting that God works even in silence. We want the confirmation of burning bushes, pillars of fire, and visiting angels. That is not the stuff of ordinary life, but it does not mean that miracles are outdated or that we cannot expect God to speak new and even unbelievable possibility into our individual and collective lives. There is something to be said for conditioning ourselves to anticipate these possibilities. Most of us do not wake up ready and able to receive or understand God’s words. We have to train ourselves to become the type of Earthly vessels that can endure the challenging joy [...]

POETRY: The Winter Is Cold, Is Cold by Madeleine L’Engle

December 15, 2018

The winter is cold, is cold. All’s spent in keeping warm. Has joy been frozen, too? I blow upon my hands Stiff from the biting wind. My heart beats slow, beats slow. What has become of joy? If joy’s gone from my heart Then it is closed to You Who made it, gave it life. If I protect myself I’m hiding, Lord, from you. How we defend ourselves In ancient suits of mail! Protected from the sword, Shrinking from the wound, We look for happiness, Small, safety-seeking, dulled, Selfish, exclusive, in-turned. Elusive, evasive, peace comes Only when it’s not sought. Help me forget the cold That grips the grasping world. Let me stretch out my hands To purifying fire, Clutching fingers uncurled. Look! Here is the melting joy. My heart beats [...]

PRAYER: Second Saturday Of Advent by Mitch Finley

December 15, 2018

From Season of Promises Place no hope in the feeling of assurance, in spiritual comfort. You may well have to get along without this. Place no hope in the inspirational preachers of Christian sunshine, who are able to pick you up and set you back on your feet and make you feel good for three or four days – until you fold up and collapse into despair. (Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation) Feelings, feely-feely feelings. We hear so much about feelings. It’s the triumph of the therapeutic. The self-help gurus proclaim the gospel of getting in touch with your feelings. Thus do they rake in the dough, the bucks, the greenbacks, the moolah. Thus do they rake it in. But genuine spiritual guides, to a one, over the [...]

ADVENT REFLECTION: Holy Retreat by Enuma Okoro

December 14, 2018

From Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of Heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of [...]