Tag: Emmanuel

Our God is with us always – He never leaves!

December 25, 2019 / MSFriend / 1 Comment

Our God is with us always – He never leaves! This Christmas day I think about the holy family and their experience that first Christmas day. No room at the inn, Mary in pain after just giving birth, a newborn baby and an exhausted Joseph.

perseverance

What resilience! They were faced with discomfort, exhaustion, lack and uncertainty, yet they managed it all with humility. I meditate on a nativity scene I received as a gift and notice the characters. They are unassuming, accepting, selfless, obedient, trusting, peaceful, joyful, caring, loving and protective.

our mother

I see Mary, attentively looking at Jesus who is wrapped in swaddling clothes. I think of her motherly instincts kicking in. She wrapped him in warmth and comfort. Mary cared for her son and provided for him in the most inconvenient, uncomfortable scenario. As our spiritual mother, she does the same for us. No matter our situation, Mary is there to provide warmth and comfort.

patient strength

I think of Joseph and the journey he just completed. I’m reminded of my walk on the Camino de Santiago this past summer. I remember how exhausted I was each day after walking 15-17 miles. At the time, I was responsible only for myself and most of those days I knew where I was going to lay my head.

I specifically remember my 25 mile day on the Camino. I walked with an awful blister and was coming to the end of my day. There was a very short period of time where I had trouble finding the hotel. Although it was only about 5 minutes, it felt like forever. I was growing frustrated, doubtful and hungry.

I imagine what Joseph had to endure – total exhaustion, possible hunger, a pregnant wife giving birth, the uncertainty of bringing a child into the world (and not just any child) and no place to stay.

When I look at my nativity scene, I notice Joseph looks overwhelmed with love and concern for his family. Unlike my experience on the Camino, his focus is the “other”and not himself. Come to think of it, it was NEVER about himself. Joseph was selfless.

fear not

Lastly, I focus on the shepherds that first Christmas. For me, they represent all disciples of Christ. Initially they fear the angels. However, they remain engaged long enough to hear the angels proclaim, “DO NOT BE AFRAID.” They remain engaged and follow the guidance of these messengers of God. I think this is a message for us to be still, discern God’s will and call on Him for guidance.

So much to glean from these characters. There are reminders and examples. We are reminded that Mary is our spiritual mother who is warm and comforting. As the spouse of the Holy Spirit, we can turn to her in confidence.

We have an example in Joseph to be selfless, patient and strong no matter what. The shepherds provide a reminder AND example. A reminder to call on God for guidance and an example of what it takes to discern God’s will.

not just one day

A few days ago, I reviewed my Advent journal. The task was to review past entries and determine how God spoke to me this season. Here’s what I came up with: Every year on Christmas day we remember the birth of Emmanuel – God with us. Truth is, God is with us always so, in reality, every day is Christmas!

Will you open your heart to feel His Presence within? Can you open your mind to maintain the spirit of Christmas throughout the year? Remember our God is with us always – He never leaves!

Merry Christmas and God bless you!

O Come, O Come Emmanuel!

December 25, 2016 / MSFriend / 0 Comments

The Kneeling Santa

O Come, O Come Emmanuel! Merry Christmas everyone, may you experience the peace and joy that comes with knowing God is with us always. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the Christmas season is not OVER, it’s just begun!

I recently came across this Nativity blessing – the moving words shine a whole new light on how I approach a manger scene. I hope it does the same for you.

Blessing before a Christmas Stable – Father Peter John Cameron, O.P.

Lord Jesus, as I kneel before your manger in adoration, let my first Christmas words be: thank you. Thank you, Gift of the Father, for coming to save me from my sins.

Without you I do not know even how to be human. The characteristics of your human body express the divine Person of God’s Son. And in that wondrous expression, Lord, you reveal me to myself. Thank you for that saving revelation in your sacred humanity. As the Christmas liturgy proclaims, “For through him the holy exchange that restores our life has shone forth today in splendor.” Thank you for coming as one like myself to save me from myself.

You come as a baby because babies are irresistible and adorable. You come as a baby because you want our first impression of God incarnate to be that of one who does not judge. How I long to be united with you in every way. May I never be attracted to the allurements and charms of the world. May I love you always, at every moment, with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. May the tenderness, the dependency, and the mercy that you reveal in your infancy become the hallmarks of my life.

Newborn Savior, the very silence of your incarnation proclaims that the answer to the misery, the strife, and the meaninglessness of life cannot be found within us. You alone are the answer. As I kneel before you, eternal King, I surrender to you all my selfishness, self-indulgence, self-righteousness, and self-exaltation. Even as I adore you on this night of your birth, rid me of the nagging desire to be adored.

Word become flesh, you make your dwelling among us. Yet you do not live your life for yourself, but for us. And you enable us to live in you all that you yourself lived. Help me to embrace this truth with all my mind and heart. Come and live your life in me. Empty me of my willfulness, my petulance, my hardness, my cynicism, my contemptuousness. Fill me with your truth, your strength, your fortitude, your purity, your gentleness, your generosity, your wisdom, your heart, and your grace.

O Emmanuel, may the assurance of your unfailing Presence be for me the source of unending peace. May I never fear my weakness, my inadequacy, or my imperfection. Rather, as I gaze with faith, hope, and love upon your incarnate littleness, may I love my own littleness, for God is with us. Endow my life with the holy wonder that leads me ever more deeply into the Mystery of Redemption and the meaning of my vocation and destiny.

Longed-for Messiah, your servant Saint Leo the Great well wrote that in the very act of reverencing the birth of our Savior, we are also celebrating our own new birth. From this night on may my life be a dedicated life of faith marked by holy reliance, receptivity, and resoluteness. May I make of my life a total gift of self. May my humble worship of your Nativity manifest how much I seek the Father’s kingship and his way of holiness. The beauty of your holy face bears the promise that your Father will provide for us in all things. This Christmas I renew my trust in God’s goodness, compassion and providence. I long for the day when you will teach us to pray “Our Father.”

May your Presence, Prince of Peace, bless the world with peace, the poor with care and prosperity, the despairing with hope and confidence, the grieving with comfort and gladness, the oppressed with freedom and deliverance, the suffering with solace and relief. Loving Jesus, you are the only real joy of every human heart. I place my trust in you.

Oh, divine Fruit of Mary’s womb, may I love you in union with the holy Mother of God. May my life be filled with the obedience of Saint Joseph and the missionary fervor of the shepherds, so that the witness of my life may shine like the star that leads the Magi to your manger. I ask all this with great confidence in your holy name. Amen.