Dear Parishioners:
As we begin this very holy season of Advent, we should take a few minutes to think ahead about our preparations for Christmas. Advent is not the shopping season before Christmas. It is the time we use to prepare for the arrival of the King.
The word advent means the "arrival" especially of someone of royal blood. The ancients would level roads, fix the pot holes, make ready their homes for the coming of the king. Of course, we already have a King, who has come into the world. We already have seen His arrival. So why continue to prepare for an event which already is?
Of course we can never be completely prepared. We still have the pot holes in our hearts and souls. We still live with the wrong kind of fear, the wrong kind of guilt, the wrong kind of ambition, the wrong desires, wants, etc.
Advent is a time to address these false expectations and desires. We can make a special time each day to reflect on how we are making our hearts ready for Jesus' coming. For most of us this will not entail a complete overhaul, but a fine tuning here are there. It is the fine tuning that makes the biggest difference.
Most of the time it is the very small things that cause some of the biggest irritations. Let us make a very special effort this year to be true disciples of the Lord and prepare for Christmas by getting our hearts and souls ready to receive Him Who is already present.
The most beautiful decorations for the soul are the good deeds of charity, love, patience, courage, justice, temperance, understanding, etc. Let our Christmas lights be these deeds. Then the "Light will shine and the darkness will not overcome it."
On another humorous note, here are some actual definitions from kindergartners when asked for meanings of the following:
FAITH: Knowing something even when you don't know it.
FALSE DOCTRINE: Giving people the wrong medicine.
FAST DAYS: Days when you have to eat in a hurry.
HEAVENLY HOST: Saint Peter.
REDEMPTION: Something that comes with grocery coupons.
God bless,
Fr. Bill
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