BLESSED ADVENT

A GIFT OF HOPE
An Advent Prayer by Joyce Rupp

God of all those who yearn for a glimmer 
of assurance on the long journey to you, come!
Come with the vast storehouse of renewed dreams, 
hopes and peacefulness!

GOD OF HOPE,
Enter into my memory and remind me often 
of the yearning of the people of history. 
Stir up stories of how the ancestors 
hung on your promises, 
how they stole hope from tiny glimmers
about you, passed on from age to age. 
Help me to hear the loud, crying voices of the prophets who proclaimed that a new age would dawn.

GOD OF HOPE,
Enter into this heart of mine 
which often loses itself in self, 
missing the message of your encouragement 
because I am so entangled in the web of my own whirl of life.
 Enable me to not lose sight of the power of your presence or the truth of your consolation.

GOD OF HOPE,
Enter into the lives of all those I hold dear, 
the ones whose lives are marked with pain,
 struggle, and deep anxiety, 
those whose lives bear ongoing heartaches, 
those whose difficulties threaten to overwhelm 
them with helplessness and despair. 
Come and gift them with a deep belief about you 
and your never-ending faithfulness and companionship.

GOD OF HOPE,
Come into every human heart 
that cries out for a glimpse of your love, 
for a sign of your welcoming presence, 
for a taste of happiness. 
Be the one who calms the restless 
and gentles the ache of the human journey.

GOD OF HOPE,
Enter into this Advent Season 
with the grace of joy and laughter. 
Fill faces with smiles of delight and voices 
with sounds of pleasure.  
Let this gift come from deep within. 
Replenish all with the joyful blessings that only your peace can bring.

GOD OF HOPE,
Be the Morning Star in our Midst, 
the Light that can never go out, 
the Beacon of Hope guiding our way to you. 
Come into our midst and make of our lives a home,
 where your everlasting goodness resonates with assuring love and vigorous hope.

May the Light of Christ 

that has come into our world

fill all of our hearts with Joy and Peace!

Join me in fathoming the depths of this liturgical season of the year by immersing ourselves in a profound spiritual prayer that I have found so powerful to enter into 

during this Advent Season. 

A BLESSED ADVENT TO EVERYONE!

Zechariah and our Christmas Prayers

As Christmas approaches, I thought that it is good to highlight Zechariah and the role he plays during this advent season.  We are all familiar with his canticle as we recite or sing in our Lauds proclamation "the Dawn from on high will break upon us to shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death!"  

Zechariah both knew about light and darkness. He prophesied the coming of God and God's revelation to the people of Israel. But because of his doubt, specifically, about how God's power can become a reality in his life and for his barren wife Sarah, for nine months, he was prevented to speak.

As we anticipate the coming of Jesus, Zechariah can teach us to look closely at ourselves and examine how we experience God in our world.  Just like Zechariah, we can always speak of light and goodness, but like him, we too have strong doubts about so many uncertainties in our lives.  Sometimes, our darkness always seems too strong to loom against our world and our own life's horizons.  This darkness seems to overshadow the light, especially during this winter seasons in our lives and in the lives of the people today. 

Sister Joyce Rupp in her recent article in NCR, reminds us that even though we find some darkness in our lives and in our world, this darkness is not pure darkness. This darkness is always interspersed with light. She points out that  "it is to these dark corners that the Savior comes, bringing light by the tender mercy of God." She reminds us that, "to the darkness of our hurrying, our self-centeredness, our weakness, our frustration, our half-lived lives, our Savior comes. To the darkness of our world of war and torture, alienation and deceit, greed and corruption, our Savior comes."  We just have to believe that " the God's Light YEARNS to dawn upon us;"  All we need to do is "to open our hearts to receive this gift of loving presence."

Easier said than done. But like Zechariah, during this advent season, we are invited to believe in God's awesome greatness.  God is ever-revealing its Godself to us - in our lives and in the lives of the people around us. There is nothing dark in the presence of God's light.  May we experience these glimmers of light in the midst of our darkness.  Let us all join Sister Joyce Rupp in her hope-filled Advent prayers! 

"EMMANUEL, OUR GOD-WHO-IS-WITH-US 

may your Light 

be perceived by all who sit in darkness.

Be a Beacon of Hope 

for all whose lives are troubled this Christmas."