Spiritual Connections
November is the time we remember ALL SOULS. Those loved ones that have died and we take time to remember them. Let us pray for members of our families that have died and we ask that they are wrapped in the loving arms of the Lord our God.
“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.” John 6:40
May you return to him who formed you from the dust of the earth.
May holy Mary, the angels, and all the saints come to meet you as you go forth from this life.
May Christ who was crucified for you bring you freedom and peace. May Christ who died for you admit you into his garden of paradise.
May Christ, the true Shepherd, acknowledge you as one of his flock.
May he forgive all your sins, and set you among those he has chosen.
Take time and remember:
Ho Ho Ho! Is it Santa or Jesus we are waiting for?
Now you may be wondering why we are starting the conversation about Advent with Christmas miles away? We are often to ‘sucked into’ the commercialism of the Christmas Season, or in our secular society coined ‘The Holiday Season’. Let’s be honest – it’s not the holiday or even the copious presents, it’s about Christ – yep that’s why we call it Christmas. How can you be Christ like as we celebrate the birth of the Son of God? In what ways can we spread his key message to love one another, feed the hungry, cloth the needy. As we get ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus, that’s what Advent is about, what will you do? At Sacred Heart our Giving Tree appeal will commence shortly. The aim is to provide items of need, ‘gifts’, to donate to the Society of St Vincent de Paul, Vinnies, that will go to the very people that Jesus wanted us to help. Are you ready?
The four weeks of Advent are a time of spiritual preparation that begins with an awareness of our own longing and leads us to a deeper openness to the many gifts God wants to give us. Over the next four issues of our newsletter, we will offer a reflection on a different spiritual gift for each week of Advent. Take time to reflect on the week's theme. If you make time for inner preparation, carrying out all the other demands of the season is bound to be more enjoyable. May you have a blessed Advent.
Originally published in Finding God. Now also available at Loyola Press.
Brisbane Liturgy ©:ADVENT
Week One of Advent: Time to Know Your Deepest Longings
As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, “Where is your God?” Psalm 42:2-4
One day on a winter's walk in the woods I came face to face with a deer. Our town had been in the midst of a stretch of very cold weather, and the stream I was walking along was mostly frozen over. I had stopped at a place where the swift current of the stream broke through to the surface and swirled around in eddies before it disappeared back under the ice.
As I sat for a while watching and listening to the gurgling water, a deer quietly appeared. We stared at one another for a few moments and, sensing I was no threat, the deer moved to the edge of the water and drank deeply. I recalled the words, “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.” I had been experiencing a kind of winter in my soul. There were few signs of life, and the Spirit of God seemed to have become frozen over within me. Somehow, I was drawn to this external image of my internal longing—flowing water finding a way to bubble up from beneath solid ice.
It was Advent and I was longing, even though I was barely aware of my discontent. Like everyone else I had been caught up in the busyness of Christmas preparations. Though we had lit the Advent candles at home and I had tried to pray, I needed more. I needed time to really allow my sense of longing to swirl up and become clear to me as it did on that winter's walk in the woods. I knew then that I needed a closer relationship to God and that I had to stop just going through the motions of my prayer life. My longing, once acknowledged, turned out to be an invitation to live with a deeper awareness of God's presence and care all around me.
What are you longing for? What is your heart trying to tell you? The gift God offers this first week of Advent is the invitation to explore your inner longings. The Church, through our Advent customs, and even the weather of the season itself support such inner work. During the first week of Advent, give yourself time and space to contemplate what you are truly longing for in life. Know that this is the season when your longings will lead you to the Christ Child, in whom the hopes and fears of all the years are known and responded to with generous love.
Our World Longs for God
As individuals and as a community, we are longing for the presence of God. World events shatter our complacency; family difficulties shake our resolve. How can we say God is present when so much seems to be unstable?
Dom Poppa
Dear Lord
We pray for a bright and just shared future for all who call Australia home.
We ask that Your grace of acceptance and compassion will guide us.
Let the Creator Spirit lead our journey with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples of this land.
May we share Your Spirit more deeply; celebrate the gifts You have given us.
Help us appreciate true harmony and peace just as our Old People did;
Keep us strong, make us resilient and remember us in this time.
Now is an opportunity to change our Nation’s history for the better.
Walk with us as we write a new chapter together and may we be one in Your love.
Amen.