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.
– Isaiah 25:6
If we open our eyes an truly see, we can surely see the abundance of creation. There is enough for all! God has provided for all. The Hebrew Scriptures and the teaching of Jesus tell us to share this abundance that the earth provides so that all may eat and be satisfied.
What are ways that I can share from my abundance during this Season of Advent?
What an auspicious theme as we begin the Season of Advent: Reflection! And what better place to reflect than in the desert? The photo above was taken while I was driving with another sister from Minnesota to California. It is from the part of the journey through the Salt Flats of Utah. A more desolate and eery landscape you could not find! And yet there is such beauty in the midst of it.
Next Sunday, the Second Sunday of Advent, we will be reminded of the words of the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord!”
May we, when we are on our desert journeys take the time to reflect and find the beauty around us and within us. Then, surely, “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
“Advent is not about a sentimental waiting for the Baby Jesus” —Richard Rohr
While the stores are all decked out in their Christmas attire, our churches are holding out and putting out blue or purple and an Advent wreath. And just what is Advent? I like how Richard Rohr, OFM, puts it in his book, Preparing for Christmas.
“[I try] to invite people beyond a merely understanding of Christmas as “waiting for the baby Jesus” to an adult and social appreciation of the message of the Incarnation of God in Christ. We Franciscans have always believed that the Incarnation was already the Redemption, because in Jesus’ birth God was already saying that it was good to be human, and God was on our side.”
Today is the last day of the Church Year, since tomorrow is the First Sunday of Advent. Our Psalm today is Psalm 95, and we read:
For the Lord is a great God, and a great ruler above all gods; In God’s hands are the depths of the earth, and the tops of the mountains. The sea belongs to God, the Creator and the dry land, which God’s hands have formed.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult.
Let the sea and what fills it (and what surrounds it) resound.
OPreach 