Advent 2

Comfort, O comfort my people… (Isaiah 40,1)

As we begin this second week of Advent the words of Isaiah seem to be written for our times.  We look around the world today and everyone is suffering pain or loss along with uncertainty, and fear.   Is there some wisdom for us in this season of Advent?  How is God speaking to us at this time? 

The word that emerges during this time Advent is longing.  I hear myself or others express that we long to return to normal, we long to gather with family and friends, we long to travel again, we long to gather as faith communities and many other longings felt day by day. And wait…

These longings although not always pleasant, help us recognize what is important in our lives, and waiting for them is itself a manifestation that is God is with us.  We can ask that we recognize God’s spirit of Hope and Light and ease our anxiety and fear during these dark days of this global pandemic.  Strangely our longing comes from wanting more and understanding that we have enough.  We see how the mystery of God works within us and around us.

The Celebration of Christmas recalls the birth of Jesus.  However, it draws not to the past but invites us to see how God is present with us now.  The gift of the Incarnation once again invites us to welcome Love who brings true dignity and security by embracing all and enriching all.  This season calls us to share justly and celebrate joyfully. Blessings these Advent days!

-Sister Joan Atkinson, csj

ADVENT 1

How do you experience hope? Did you enjoy the warmth of the sun in the first week of November? We had snowfall a few days earlier and yet nature teased us once again to take in the healing rays of the sun. Meteorologists and scientists will give us a logical explanation. Poets and musicians express it in other words. Perhaps you even began singing the Beatles song, “Here Comes the Sun”, or maybe that memory is before your time!

It strikes me that in the midst of COVID challenges these gifts of nature are bursting with hope, and sheer abundant blessing.

On the first Sunday of Advent we will pray the psalm antiphon: Restore us, O God, let your face shine, that we may be saved. These words too are full of hope. Listen: Let your face shine, “Here comes the sun”! Our Advent hearts seek the Son – the One who has come, and who will forever be present. We have such longings this year. We yearn for a healed world, reconciliation of divisions, laying down of weapons, deep conversations that help us understand each other better, creative responses to ecological disasters, a permanent shelter for our tent neighbours, a living wage for all, resources and caregivers to tend to our elderly loved ones, and on and on. . .  And we well know that longing must move us to intentional caring and if possible action.

Let’s carry these thoughts with us throughout the season, nestled within a vessel of advent hope. Scripture assures us of God’s promise - fullness of life. The Son did come. Christ did indeed take on flesh and blood, experienced pain, expressed frustration, even anger. What he also did was offer a deep knowing of another conscious reality – the mystery of divine love. That love was generously poured out in his life and continues to be poured out day after day by caring human beings and by nature revealing its cyclic pattern of dying and rising. The earth pulses with the rhythms of ebb and flow, like a heart-beat. Microcosms enrich the earth so that new life may grow. Water warriors strive to promote clean water for all people. Volunteers gather up plastics from our lakes and oceans. Advocates write letters and petitions to effect systemic change. Women of wisdom pray, sending loving, healing energy.

Our civic environment will become festive with trees alight and wreaths on doors, and we will hold onto the hope known other years in family visits and meals shared. Seasonal music will fill the air, and darker nights will draw us into comfy chairs where our hearts may just focus on the hope that is dearest to us. Let your face shine on us O God.  HERE COMES THE SON!

- Sister Loretta Manzara, csj

Blessings of Peace from all of the Sisters

May we be in this world

a ray of that light

which shone forth

from Bethlehem, bringing

joy and peace

to the hearts of all.

- Pope Francis

Advent & the season of Winter

I consider, the spiritual time of Advent corresponds well to the season of winter.

“ … Winter is the perfect time for stillness. We have time to deepen into the season with our questions, our dreams and visions, and take time for our small hibernations.

Winter is like the womb of the year – It is a space that holds all potential, as well as great mystery. The dark has its purpose…it is the rich nourishing earth where the roots grow. The seeds are sheltered here before they sprout.

Winter is the most “feminine” time of year, with its ability to transform and heal in the depths, beneath our conscious awareness… Winter invites us to rest our mind and body and cultivate our imagination with some quiet time. We need to remember that rest is regenerative and essential to the success of everything else we do! Rest is not “doing nothing!” Rest is when our bodies build and cleanse. It’s when our brain puts things together in new and innovative ways, sorting and sifting our experiences for meaning and connection.  Restful or non-focused times are when we are most likely to have those “aha” moments that can change everything!

So, winter gives some time to let things loosen, to dream your dreams, to be nourished and comforted.  We gain strength, wisdom and perspective when we allow ourselves to deepen into these dark places.”

Sourced from Barbara Hannelore in https://www.motheringarts.com/winter-blessings/   

Contributed by Sister Nancy Wales, csj

IMAGE: Winter, by Karen Davis

Third Week of Advent:Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday

Let fearful hearts rejoice!

May trembling hands and weak knees be strengthened.

Let the singing begin.

God comes with healing and purpose, with gladness and light, to set aside our doubts, to free us from the binding shackles of fear. God invites us to believe again in the promise of new life. We are called to acceptance of our present uncertainties. In these days, when many are faced with the need to move, we are reminded that God is present and there is no need to fear. There will be food; there will be warmth; there will be the compassionate ear and the voice of solace. The generous heart will care for the lonely one; the shut-in will be visited. As we respond to the needs of our world and our congregation, we know that God is faithful and we are faithful. We are faithful with God’s faithfulness. We say “Yes” in the ways that Mary and Juan Diego said Yes, knowing that we may not understand the how, but God’s faithful compassion will shine through. God watches over the stranger and God watches over us; God upholds the widow and the orphan and we uphold each other. Let us rejoice in the Spirit that is our strength. May we recall that desert flowers bloom and that Jesus came as the Light for our lives and our world. May we live in compassioate care with each other and with our universe.

Sr Helen Russell, csj