OPreach

Weekly Photo Challenge: Surprise

Posted on December 21, 2012 by opreach

I love today’s Advent reading from The Song of Songs – Song of Songs 2:18-14. And certainly the sight of a young stag peering through the window would evoke delight and surprise.

May your Christmas days – all twelve of them – be filled with delightful surprise.

Hark! My lover – here he comes
springing across the mountains,
leaping across the hills.

My lover is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Here he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattices.

My lover speaks: he says to me
“Arise, my beloved, my dove,
my beautiful one, and come!
For see, the winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of pruning the vines has come,
and the song of the dove is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth its figs,
and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance.
Arise by beloved, by beautiful one,
and come!

O my dove in the clefts of the rock,
in the secret recesses of the cliff,
Let me see you,
let me hear your voice,
For your voice is sweet,
and you are lovely.

O Key of David, Come!

Posted on December 20, 2012 by opreach

We Chose to Look Toward the Light

Posted on December 19, 2012 by opreach

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In our Advent, we choose to look toward the Light

I found the following Advent Prayer on the Education for Justice website.

The Winter Journey of Advent

In this time of darkness,
We choose to look toward the Light.
In this time when so many suffer,
We choose faith, not despair:
We choose the work of compassionate justice.

As we move through Advent together,
Hungry for transformation, for hope,
Our steps themselves
Transform us, nourish us.
We are on constant pilgrimage,
Moving to the heart of things,
Reaching beyond what any one of us
Can reach alone.

The brightness of the incarnation
Guides us as we continue,
With the promise of the Prince of Peace
As the bright star in these dark nights.

-Jane Deren

As Christmas Approaches, Let Us Be Attentive and Aware

Posted on December 18, 2012 by opreach

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I have enjoyed the writings of Edward Hays for many years. For today’s Advent reflection I have chosen a quote of his from A Pilgrim’s Almanac.

Take time to be aware that in the very midst of or busy preparations for the celebration of Christ’s birth in ancient Bethlehem, Christ is reborn in the Bethlehems of our homes and daily lives. Take time, slow down, be still, be awake to the Divine Mystery that looks so common and so ordinary yet is wondrously present.

And old abbot was fond of say, “The devil is always the most active on the highest feast days.”

The supreme trick of Old Scratch is to have us so busy decorating, preparing food, practicing music, and cleaning in preparation for the feast of Christmas that we actually miss the coming of Christ. Hurt feelings, anger, impatience, injured egos – the list of clouds that busyness creates to blind us to the birth can be long, but it is familiar to us all.

God Didn’t Chose Just “Good” People; God Chose You and Me

Posted on December 17, 2012 by opreach

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The Advent Gospel Reading on December 17th is always Matthew 1:1-17 – the Genealogy of Jesus. And what a motley crew! Murders, thieves, liars, harlots . . . Looks a little like us, I’d say. And these are the people – and we are the people – that God loves. I invite you to read the stories in the Hebrew Scriptures that tell about these ancestors’ lives. If they were are ancestors (and they are most definitely our spiritual ancestors), we would find things about their lives that would make us proud, and things that would shame us.

Isn’t it comforting that God hasn’t chosen just the “good” people? If God had only chosen “good” people, then I would be out in the cold!

I came across a quote in an Advent reflection booklet from 1991 – no author listed – in a booklet called Advent Journey.

Just because God is for us and with us.
God is not against others.
If God has made a “covenant” with God’s people,
it is not to erect walls
which separate and oppose
believers and non-believers,the good and the evil,
the just and the guilty.

God’s salvation has no limits;
it is offered to all who are open to
God’s love.
To be open to others and
to witness to
God’s greatness
is to be ready to listen to God’s Word:
“I will make all things new.”

Yes, Advent is the Season of Hope!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Delicate

Posted on December 16, 2012 by opreach

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Today’s Advent reading is from the Prophet Zephaniah.

God Rejoices Over You!!

This good news tells us how great is God’s rejoicing over each one of us! Sometimes we may feel like an insignificant weed, but truly we are creations of great and delicate beauty!

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
God has removed the judgment against you,
and has turned away your enemies;
the Ruler of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst,
you have no further misfortune to fear.
On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!
The Lord, your God is in your midst,
a mighty savior;
God will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in God’s love,
God will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.

May the Light of Dawn Illuminate Our Hearts

Posted on December 15, 2012 by opreach

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The “Collect” is a prayer that is said at the beginning of a Eucharistic Liturgy (Mass), and is meant to be a gathering prayer. The following is the Collect in today’s Advent liturgy.

May the splendor of your glory dawn in our hearts, we pray, Almighty God, that all shadows of the night may be scattered and we may be shown to be children of light by the advent of your Only Begotten Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever.