The Ministry Center will be closed Tuesday, January 1st in observance of the New Year.
Where is God’s word to be kept?
Obviously, in the heart, as the prophet says,
“I have hidden your words in my heart,
so that I may not sin against you.”
Keep God’s word in this way.
Let it enter your very being,
let it take possession of your desires
and your whole way of life.
Feed on goodness
and your soul will delight in richness.
Remember to eat your bread
or your heart will wither away.
Fill your soul with richness and strength.
If you keep the word of God in this way,
it will also keep you.
--St Bernard of Clairvaux
Now the Lord saw him go forward to look, and God called to him from the middle of the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’
‘Here I am’ he answered.
- Exodus 3: 4
Where can hear God’s call in my life today?
How can I be present to God?
#practicingpresencetothepresenceofgod
Thursday, Dec 01, 2022
Build on higher ground
Anyone who has followed the news over the past year has seen more images than ever of people coping with floods. Families waiting on rooftops, people stuffed in boats, neighbors wading through murky water. Jesus constantly used images to make his point, including the image of discipleship as a solid house that stands firm during storms and floods. “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies,” Saint Teresa of Calcutta once said. Are you building a strong, flood-proof house in the small things you do each day?
ADVENT WEEKDAY
TODAY'S READINGS: Isaiah 26:1-6; Matthew 7:21, 24-27. “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.”
#takefiveforfaith
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13
FEAST OF ANDREW, APOSTLE Wednesday, Nov 30, 2022
Be first to follow the Lord
It’s no coincidence that Saint Andrew the Apostle is linked to Advent (which traditionally begins on the Sunday closest to his feast day). In Eastern Christianity he is known as protokletos, “first called,” because it was Andrew, who had been a disciple of John the Baptist, who persuaded his brother Simon (whom we know as Peter) to follow Jesus with his words, "We have found the Messiah!” Andrew also has a devotion linked to Advent, known as the Saint Andrew Novena. Try it out and see if it supports and deepens your living out your own call.
TODAY'S READINGS: Romans 10:9-18; Matthew 4:18-22. “At once they left their nets and followed him.”
Joy is a pervasive, abiding gladness, an inner peace that flows from being secure in God’s love. And nothing makes us more joyful and secure than the knowledge that God is with us—Emmanuel!
As a result, joy is capable of withstanding anything that life tosses its way, even suffering. Joy is at the very heart of the Kingdom of God. If we are inviting someone to enter the Kingdom of God, we had better show some joy. Of all people, we should be the most free, alive, interesting.
While joy may not always be expressed in smiles and laughter, it is always characterized by a lack of cynicism and negativity.
Joy leaves no room for despair. In one of his daily homilies, Pope Francis insisted that “long faces cannot proclaim Jesus. Joy alone and praise of God are the only way to advance the Gospel.” (May 31, 2013) This is why there are more feast days than fast days in the Christian calendar—joy trumps sorrow!
This Advent, make sure that when you enter a room or join in a conversation, things brighten up a notch!
—Joe Paprocki
📸A joyous Betty Gallagher (now dancing in heaven, no doubt) and Cary Gould
I love this picture!!
Sweet Betty! The absolute definition of joy ❤️
Betty sure did light up the room with joy when she entered it. I miss that smile and those wonderful hugs. Dance Betty, dance!
What a beautiful picture!
Ms Betty is the best
Wonderful photo Betty had so much joy x
I love and miss Betty also.
What a joy giver she was!
Love this so much!
On that day,
A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:
a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A Spirit of counsel and of strength,
a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.
Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,
as water covers the sea.
On that day,
The root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the nations,
The Gentiles shall seek out,
for his dwelling shall be glorious.
Isaiah 11:1-10
#dailyingodsword
What is God's promise to me at this time?
‘I set by bow in the clouds and it shall be a sign of the Covenant between me and the earth.’
- Genesis 9: 13
Listen with the ear of a child
“Advent is not a time to declare, but to listen, to listen to whatever God may want to tell us through the singing of the stars, the quickening of a baby, the gallantry of a dying man,” wrote Christian writer Madeleine L’Engle, born this day in 1918. L’Engle is especially known for her children’s books, including A Wrinkle in Time, which won the 1963 Newberry Medal. This Advent, consider what it might be like to imitate the Christ Child instead of the adult Jesus. As A Wrinkle in Time tells us: “To love is to be vulnerable;
and it is only in vulnerability and risk—not safety and security—that we overcome darkness.”
TODAY'S READINGS: Isaiah 11:1-10; Luke 10:21-24. “Although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.”
#takefiveforfaith
