OPreach
Dominican Preaching through Word and Image
Category: Advent
Mary Oliver’s Wisdom
Making the House Ready for the Lord By Mary Oliver Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed but still nothing is as shining as it should be for you. Under the sink, for example, is an uproar of mice –it is the… Continue Reading “Mary Oliver’s Wisdom”
Weekly Photo Challenge: Grand
Can there be anything more grand than the magnificent mountains?! And we are fortunate in California to have one of the grandest mountain ranges, the Sierra Nevadas. Its grandest and tallest peak is the tallest in the contiguous 48 states, Mt. Whitney, and it… Continue Reading “Weekly Photo Challenge: Grand”
Advent Calendar
I remember the Advent Calendar of my childhood. Mother would pull it out of the box of decorations every year, and every day I would open a new window or door and see the delightful picture behind it. I don’t recall that it felt… Continue Reading “Advent Calendar”
How Do We Prepare?
Advent 1955 By John Betjeman The Advent wind begins to stir With sea-like sounds in our Scotch fir, It’s dark at breakfast, dark at tea, And in between we only see Clouds hurrying across the sky And rain-wet roads the wind blows dry And… Continue Reading “How Do We Prepare?”
I Await
“Expectans Expectavi”, by Anne Ridler The candid freezing season again: Candle and cracker, needles of fir and frost; Carols that through the night air pass, piercing The glassy husk of heart and heaven; Children’s faces white in the pane, bright in the tree-light. And… Continue Reading “I Await”
Advent in the Air
This is but an excerpt from the Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem entitled, “The Blessed Virgin compared to the Air We Breathe”, found on the Education for Justice website. WILD air, world-mothering air, Nestling me everywhere, That each eyelash or hair Girdles; goes home betwixt… Continue Reading “Advent in the Air”
Advent by Stephen Leake
Somewhere your star-struck choir sings As the evening unpeels our histories. The world is here again! I feel the breathing of yuletide fires, The ribboned refrains of seasoned candles And bars of voices beyond St. Stephen’s Wall. The robin appears in a globe of… Continue Reading “Advent by Stephen Leake”
The Angel and The Girl Are Met
Today’s Advent poem from Education for Justice is by Edwin Muir. The angel and the girl are met Earth was the only meeting place. For the embodied never yet Travelled beyond the shore of space. The eternal spirits in freedom go. See, they have… Continue Reading “The Angel and The Girl Are Met”
What Kinds of Annuniciations Have You Experienced?
This is an excerpt from the poem “Annunciation” by Denise Levertov. I read this poem last advent when on a wonderful Advent Retreat with Michael Fish, OSB Cam, at Santa Sabina Center in San Rafael, CA. The poem can be found on the Education… Continue Reading “What Kinds of Annuniciations Have You Experienced?”
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