Anyone who knows me knows I love to write! I’m the person who adds paragraphs to greeting cards! LOL! As I was jotting down notes in my Advent journal this morning it occurred to me that sometimes I just need to share notes and ideas, not full reflections. Sometimes I feel my notes are better than the actual reflections I write because my reflections are just that, MINE! But wouldn’t it be great if my notes could just be the seed that inspires you – maybe like a journaling prompt.
So I’ll start this page with notes from my Advent Rejoice journal. Maybe you have your own Rejoice! journal, so I’ll share the page:
NOT ON THE FENCE
I recently listened to a homily on YouTube by a priest from New Orleans. His name is Father Mark Beard. Boy was this guy on fire! Unfortunately, he passed away this past August but his last homily was quite convicting. Take a listen here. Are you on the fence?
12/8/23 – Psalm 85
12/9/23 – 2 Peter 3:8-14
12/10/23 – Second Sunday of Advent: Psalm 37:1-7
12/11/23 – Psalm 91
12/12/23 – Isaiah 43:4
Hard to imagine God gazing upon us, in our imperfection, with pure love and admiration, but He does! This verse confirms it! Here’s what it looks like, or at least how I imagine it:
I continued to ponder God’s commitment to me throughout the day and as I did, one question kept popping into my head: How committed to Him am I? Aside from taking time to listen, what else am I doing to be a better disciple. How much does He REALLY mean to me and what more can I do to SHOW Him and the world?
12/13/23 – Psalm 127
So much more could be said about Psalm 127. God ALWAYS provides. There’s no need to worry. That’s not to say that we should “sleep” all day depending on God’s goodness. What it means is we don’t have to work so hard that we lose sight of what’s important – like nurturing relationships with our children and others. Dependence and trust in God FIRST and everything else will fall into it’s rightful place!
12/14/23 – Sunday Readings for 3rd week of Advent
After reflecting on the Sunday readings, I decided to google the word FIAT. It’s often referred to as Mary’s YES! But is “yes” the actual translation/definition? Fiat, according to Merriam Webster, is “a command or act of will that creates something without or as if without further effort! BAM! Drop the mic! I’ll leave you with that to ponder for decades. LOL!
12/15/23: Sunday readings for 3rd week of Advent continued
12/16/23 – Sunday Readings continued
A few more things: first I’d like to share the poem written by Francis Thompson entitled The Hound of Heaven. Second, I’d like to share a prayer which was shared with me several years ago written by Father Glenn Sudano. I’ve been praying it every morning and I dare say it’s been amazing! Maybe your YES to praying it can be the antidote the world needs! We have to start somewhere. Will you pray with me? Thank you D.O. for sharing this so many years ago!
12/17/23 – Litany of Humility
Today we were asked to reflect on the Litany of Humility. This link I share has a beautiful reflection along with the Litany. I’ll share the pages of Rejoice! which include the Litany as well.
12/18/23 – Psalm 1
12/19/23 – Proverbs 17:22
Fr. Mark Toups talked about balance in his reflection today and boy was that a timely topic. I just had a conversation with a friend about how I’m not finding time to be creative because I’m concentrating on other things. I recognized during my conversation that when I focus too much on one thing in my life another thing suffers. Maybe that’s how I should gauge whether I’m in balance or not. There’s really enough time for everything that MATTERS! I challenge you to take inventory of things you claim you don’t have time for and compare it to the list of things you’re making time for. Then decide what really matters to you, to life, to God and get rid of the rest! Leisure shouldn’t be a waste of time, it should be putting free time to good use.
12/20/23 – Deuteronomy 6:5 and Exodus 20:3
I’m reminded of the 10 lepers in Scripture. Only one came back to thank Jesus for healing. Jesus continues to heal to this day. Are we recognizing it? Are we turning back on a daily basis to thank Him for the miracles and healing happening in our lives?
Come to think of it, loving God with all our heart, soul and strength means giving him all of ourselves – not only our love, praise and thanksgiving but our hopes, dreams, wounds and anxieties. He wants it ALL but do we trust him enough to know he will take care of everything?
12/21/23 – Sunday Readings for the 4th Sunday of Advent
One more thing that came to mind when thinking about what God says in 2 Samuel: let’s not deceive ourselves into thinking that our faith, worship and praise has anything to do with our worthiness or the “work” we put into the spiritual life. We are blessed to be called. Some way, somehow God has revealed Himself to us and we can’t help but turn our attention to Him! Praise be to God!
12/22/23 – Sunday readings continued
This one might have to be continued in a separate reflection. I have so many things going through my mind which need to be unpacked. I’ll continue to ponder. God is soooooo good!!!!!
12/23/23 – Matthew 7:7-11
And it continues with the communion antiphon at mass this morning from Revelation 3:20 – “behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door to me, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.” Jesus knocks too! He knocks and hopes we open. We knock and hope He opens, though he promises he will. We’re the missing piece to the puzzle. Let’s us open and let him enter, the King of Glory!
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