We're in need of a good and holy example of what it looks like to maintain peace and quiet recollection amid a world full of turmoil - how to trust in God's plan amid deep uncertainty...⠀
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Enter St. Joseph - the quiet, humble leader and protector of the Holy Family of Nazareth. ⠀
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St. Joseph is an example of someone like ourselves who attains great holiness - that radical holiness and sainthood to which we're all called.⠀
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He shows us how it's possible to attain that kind of holiness through the *normal means* of a *normal life:*
being part of a family,
through our daily work,
by living out a simple, quiet life,
daily receiving the Word of God into his heart.⠀
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St. Joseph has been the silent, humble protector of the Church since the beginning, and is a sure guide to bring us to Jesus, the only place where we find true peace and quiet rest for our anxious minds and hearts.⠀
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Second Sunday of Advent
Our Family Faith Formation kits focus on Love, and St. Joseph this 2nd Sunday.
May we choose to lead with love in our families.
It’s also the eve of St. Nicholas. If you have the tradition of putting out shoes, tonight’s the night!
📸Hulburt family Advent wreath
BORDERS AND THEIR LIMITS
129. Complex challenges arise when our neighbour happens to be an immigrant.[109] Ideally, unnecessary migration ought to be avoided; this entails creating in countries of origin the conditions needed for a dignified life and integral development. Yet until substantial progress is made in achieving this goal, we are obliged to respect the right of all individuals to find a place that meets their basic needs and those of their families, and where they can find personal fulfilment. Our response to the arrival of migrating persons can be summarized by four words: welcome, protect, promote and integrate. For “it is not a case of implementing welfare programmes from the top down, but rather of undertaking a journey together, through these four actions, in order to build cities and countries that, while preserving their respective cultural and religious identity, are open to differences and know how to promote them in the spirit of human fraternity”.[110]
Excerpt: FRATELLI TUTTI
Pope Francis Encyclical
On Fraternity and Social Friendship
*Part of a sequential daily series to read and reflect on this new encyclical.
Gospel
Matthew 9:35–10:1, 5-8
Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Then he summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.
Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,
“Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
#dailyingodsword
Thanks Slentz family for sharing your Advent photos and encouraging words!
“Thank you for the huge effort to assemble our Advent kit. It means a lot to our family to be centered by our parish community in faith and love!
St. Nicholas inspired me to sneak him into our Advent calendar! Would love to see other families' faith corners’❤️😊🙏🏼”
(tag us or text yours to 619-977-1692)
A HEART OPEN TO THE WHOLE WORLD
128. If the conviction that all human beings are brothers and sisters is not to remain an abstract idea but to find concrete embodiment, then numerous related issues emerge, forcing us to see things in a new light and to develop new responses.
Excerpt: FRATELLI TUTTI
Pope Francis Encyclical
On Fraternity and Social Friendship
*Part of a sequential daily series to read and reflect on this new encyclical.
