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Happy St. Nicholas Day!
Remember this sing-along from our Women’s Advent Dinner on St. Nicholas a few years past? It makes a good prayer for his Feast day today.
Looking forward to celebrating with you all again at tonight’s Women’s Advent Dinner.
🎄🎶
Jolly old St. Nicholas, Lean your ear this way!
Don't you tell a single soul, what I'm going to say;
Christmas Eve is coming soon, Now, you dear old man,
Listen very carefully, help me if you can.
Mary had a baby boy born on Christmas day
in a manger she gave birth and laid him in the hay
Thus the son of God came down, this I know is true
Bringing love to everyone, yes, to me and you
That he grew in holiness, and was a godly man
who suffered died and rose for us, this I understand
He taught us all the way of peace, and mercy from above
but I am learning slowly still just what it means to love
We celebrate his birth each year glad to do our part
but Jesus asks for life anew in each and every heart
Help me see the Christ in need in my neighbor too
Help me welcome Gods own joy each day the whole year through
I will be compassionate and lend a helping hand
I’m grateful for the life I have and help where e’r I can
Let me speak words kind and true, when they’re needed most
Fill me with the light of Christ, a glad and welcome host
Let my joy in giving be, childlike and true
Help me trust when times are hard, or I don’t know what to do
and slow me down to see the grace and savor goodness too
Keeping Christmas in my heart all the new year through
Thank you good St Nicholas, for your faith was true
May I cultivate your gifts in what I say and do
And kneel before the prince of peace on this Christmas morn
and celebrate the feast of feasts, Christ the Lord is born!
A lovely way to celebrate in song this morning. Happy St. Nicholas Day! 🎅❤️🎵🍊
Our first retreat session: A Long Way To Go - mailchi.mp/3f073eba7275/a-long-way-to-go-588592
thank you so much for this. It is a precious gift. I have shared it with others in ministry at my parish here in Florida.
“It is no use to say that we are born 2000 years too late to give room to Christ. Nor will those who live at the end of the world have been born too late. Christ is always with us, always asking for room in our hearts."
~Dorothy Day
Icon: “Dorothy Day and the Holy Family of the Streets”
kellylatimoreicons.com
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who lived
in a land of deep darkness
-- on them light has shined."
Isaiah 9:2
Isaiah could see the light coming-long before it *did* come—when the people of Israel felt only steeped in darkness.
Consider lighting a candle today, letting it dance and flicker its light into the dark places in you, in your world, this Advent. There is bright sunlight at this hour, and yet there are spaces in us, in our homes and offices and hearts that continue to be dark, unlit, waiting. Spend some time in one of those spaces with a candle today. See what the light of that small flame invites you to see—or to anticipate seeing— alongside the voices and visions of the prophets, this first week of Advent.
-Anam Cara Ministries
Looking Forward by Looking Back
The expectation of Advent is anchored in the event of God’s incarnation. The more I come in touch with what happened in the past, the more I come in touch with what is to come. The Gospel not only reminds me of what took place but also of what will take place. In the contemplation of Christ’s first coming, I can discover the signs of his second coming.
By looking back in meditation, I can look forward in expectation.
By reflection, I can project;
by conserving the memory of Christ’s birth, I can progress to the fulfillment of his kingdom. I am struck by the fact that the prophets speaking about the future of Israel always kept reminding their people of God’s great works in the past. They could look forward with confidence because they could look backward with awe to Yahweh’s great deeds.
-Henri Nouwen
Open our hearts wider, Lord.
This first week of Advent, fill us with hope. With Your help, we will become a Church that looks to the future with trust and expectation.
St. Joseph, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and St. Francis of Assisi — pray for us to be instruments of hope in the world.
Jesus, Good Shepherd, be the source of our hope, now + forever.
-Via Blessed is She
Be a light in the darkness
As Advent days grow ever darker, Isaiah offers hope: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Isa. 9:1). We Christians seek the Son’s light, but we also take the Savior at his word when he describes us as the “light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). ’Tis the season, to celebrate those who shared their light. To quote Saint Isidore of Seville (who opened the Fourth Council of Toledo on this day in 633): “Just as we must love God in contemplation, so we must love our neighbor with action.”
Luke 10:21-24. "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 wickedness will perish.
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."
A beautiful quote to reflect on this First week of Advent:
"The liturgy of Advent...helps us to understand fully the value and meaning of the mystery of Christmas. It is not just about commemorating the historical event, which occurred some 2,000 years ago in a little village of Judea. Instead, it is necessary to understand that the whole of our life must be an 'advent,' a vigilant awaiting of the final coming of Christ. To predispose our mind to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, one day will come to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize him as present in the events of daily life. Therefore, Advent is, so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward him who already came, who will come, and who comes continuously."
St. John Paul I|
