Sunday Reflections
Advent 1 Year B
Today marks the beginning of a new year in the Church Calendar. We beginning with Advent, which is a time of preparation and waiting as we approach the celebration of Christmas. It is also a time of invitation and calling, of seeking God and longing for God’s salvation. Time to take up that call God has give us for fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Cor 1.9) Personally I find myself again yearning within for a life of dedication, prayer and simple mystery.
Last year I also felt this calling, and with my children grown and left home, and being a full year into early retirement I believe I was entering a quieter stage of my life, and that I could take up the more contemplative, monastic-ish life style that I felt called to. Of course, 2023 in reality has turned up a series of incredibly time consuming, stressful, one off, life changing demands and challenges, that have made this year fly past in a serious due dates and appointments. So will this year really be any different? I don’t know. I hope so! All I know is that the call persists, and that whether we are over extended, underwhelmed or calmly contemplative, the journey of our soul’s transformation continues and God can work all things for good in those that love him. (Rom 8.28)
Unaware of what the commitment will entail, I still hear the invitation spoken to me, “God’s promise to put the wrong thing right”, within me and around me, to “bring to earth’s darkness”, and perhaps my own darknesses, “the hope of love and life.” ( John Bell – Advent Ring song, TIS 289)
So today, pray to hear, and listening for, the invitation God has for you this year. What is it that God is inviting you to begin, to continue, to take hold of or be held by, to discover, to let go, to enjoy, to endure, to do, or to become? There is an invitation just for you, listen, accept and let it unfold.
Today marks the beginning of a new year in the Church Calendar. We beginning with Advent, which is a time of preparation and waiting as we approach the celebration of Christmas. It is also a time of invitation and calling, of seeking God and longing for God’s salvation. Time to take up that call God has give us for fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Cor 1.9) Personally I find myself again yearning within for a life of dedication, prayer and simple mystery.
Last year I also felt this calling, and with my children grown and left home, and being a full year into early retirement I believe I was entering a quieter stage of my life, and that I could take up the more contemplative, monastic-ish life style that I felt called to. Of course, 2023 in reality has turned up a series of incredibly time consuming, stressful, one off, life changing demands and challenges, that have made this year fly past in a serious due dates and appointments. So will this year really be any different? I don’t know. I hope so! All I know is that the call persists, and that whether we are over extended, underwhelmed or calmly contemplative, the journey of our soul’s transformation continues and God can work all things for good in those that love him. (Rom 8.28)
Unaware of what the commitment will entail, I still hear the invitation spoken to me, “God’s promise to put the wrong thing right”, within me and around me, to “bring to earth’s darkness”, and perhaps my own darknesses, “the hope of love and life.” ( John Bell – Advent Ring song, TIS 289)
So today, pray to hear, and listening for, the invitation God has for you this year. What is it that God is inviting you to begin, to continue, to take hold of or be held by, to discover, to let go, to enjoy, to endure, to do, or to become? There is an invitation just for you, listen, accept and let it unfold.
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