The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
What a wonderful day of ministry Lord
Continued prayers for all who are in need of your healing touch
Continue prayers for all those who walk through the Valley of the Shadows
Thank you Lord for your calling
Thank you Lord for your presence
Thank you Lord for your guidance
Thank you Lord for our dear friends who are family
Thank you for all of your gifts to us
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre..
1 Mc 4:36-37, 52-59
Then Judas and his brothers said, ‘See, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it.’ So all the army assembled and went up to Mount Zion.
Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth year, they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the new altar of burnt-offering that they had built. At the very season and on the very day that the Gentiles had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals. All the people fell on their faces and worshipped and blessed Heaven, who had prospered them.
So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and joyfully offered burnt-offerings; they offered a sacrifice of well-being and a thanksgiving-offering. They decorated the front of the temple with golden crowns and small shields; they restored the gates and the chambers for the priests, and fitted them with doors. There was very great joy among the people, and the disgrace brought by the Gentiles was removed.
Then Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Preparing our own sacred spaces
The Maccabean Revolt by the Hasmoneans, remembered today in the Festival of Hanukkah, was an effort by Jewish patriots to reclaim their independence from the two branches of the former Greek Empire of Alexander the Great. Antiochus IV had more than desecrated the Temple, he had massacred thousands of Jews before being driven out of the land. This war was also a civil war fought between Hellenized Jews and traditionalists. Now in control, the Maccabean’s set out to purify and rededicate their sacred space. They sought to put the horror of war behind them and create a new beginning, celebrating joy and gladness.
Jesus in today’s Gospel (Lk 19: 45-48) confronts the moneychangers and seeks to drive them out of the Temple. At this point in history, it was the Romans who were masters of the Jewish State, and Romanized Jews cheated the people with their financial manipulations. The tensions in the city were high, many seeking to get along in peace with Caesar’s power, while others seeking independence and religious self-determination.
Jesus too set out to purify and rededicated their sacred space – though Jesus’s message was not welcomed by the Jewish traditionalists either. What is the meaning of “clean” and “unclean”? Jesus had very radical ideas on this, even though he too set about cleansing. How can we make ready our own sacred space?
—Fred O’Connor is an alumnus of Loyola Academyand College of the Holy Cross and is a member of the JFAN Advisory Board in Chicago. He works as a financial advisor living in Evanston, IL.
Prayer
Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
—Prayer after the Our Father in Mass
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
A good day of ministry
A time of fellowship and sharing
Time for reflection and preparation
In the midst of the Advent preparation
You called me to simply Be Still, Lord
In the midst of it all you speak to us
Help us to slow down and listen
Guide us through the days and weeks to come
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
Powerful!
From the Hebrew Scriptures I have been reading the Book of Proverbs lately, more so than since my childhood. The Proverbs, credited largely to King Solomon of ancient times, were often assigned as bed-time reading for me and my siblings. Returning to them now, returns me to my youth and some of the basic lessons I was taught.
— Read on ronniemcbrayer.org/2019/12/02/its-never-wrong-to-do-right/
A powerful and sobering reminder…
Jesus and The Billionaires
— Read on achurchforstarvingartists.blog/2019/12/02/jesus-and-the-billionaires/
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
A good Lord’s Day of Worship
On the first Sunday of Advent
To gather around the Lord’s Table
Breaking Bread together
Sharing the Lord’s Cup
This afternoon a time of reflection
A time to remember
A time for some tears to flow
As we decorated the tree
Each decoration holds so many memories
Thank you for this day, Lord
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
The wind was blowing and the snow was flying
Time spent with family and friends
Thank you for these many gifts, Lord
So we have come to the end of November and the eve of Advent
As we prepare for the Advent Pilgrimage
May your light guide us
May your peace strengthen us
May your grace comfort us
May your Spirit sustain us
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
This picture of the trail to Gem Lake was taken on our First New Year’s hike in 2016. As we begin this Advent season, I invite you to join me on an Advent Pilgrimage. I hope that this will be a different take on the typical Advent Scripture Readings and themes. Typically there is a lot of focus on the apocalyptic nature of the Second Coming during Advent. Many people express frustration with this focus because they want to sing Christmas Carols and look at the infant Jesus laying in a manger. While we look back on our memories of what we think the Christmas story is all about, we need to realize that when Jesus comes again it will not be as a baby in a manger.
In the old days of the church, Advent was often called the “Mini Lent.” It was a time of fasting and preparation for the birth of Jesus. Instead of looking at the season from this perspective, I will be considering this time an Advent Pilgrimage through the lens of the readings from the Psalms and the Prophet Isaiah which are in the lectionary readings for Advent. I invite you to join with me on this journey as we consider this season of preparation from another angle.
I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord! (Psalm 122:1) This Psalm as a part of the grouping of Psalm 120 through Psalm 134 are called the Songs of Ascent. These particular Psalms were a part of the liturgy for pilgrims who were approaching Jerusalem for religious festivals. As we journey towards the commemoration of the birth of Christ, we are invited to go up to the House of the Lord in a spiritual sense.
The prophet Isaiah is a bit more specific in his use of this particular Psalm. Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” (Isaiah 2:3a) Teach us God’s ways… God’s ways… what are God’s ways? Verse four reveals a portion of God’s way to the people. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many people’s; they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2:4)
When we think about the setting in life of the writings of Isaiah, we must remember that these were words written to a people who had been conquered and were being sent into Exile. They had seen the military might of their nation cast down in defeat. They had seen their way of life disappear before their very eyes. Isaiah was telling them about something different.
This future House of God would not be built on military might. It would be built upon a pathway of peace. Isaiah will later in his writings talk about the Peaceable Kingdom where the Lion shall lie down with the Lamb, but now we are being introduced to a new way of living, thinking, and believing.
I spent 26 years in the uniform of a USAF Chaplain Candidate and Chaplain. As a part of my obligation in uniform I spent a lot of time with my brother and sister officers studying war. It helped me to understand some of the thinking and philosophy behind what Sun Tzu calls The Art of War. It was also an opportunity for me as a Chaplain to bring another way of thinking to what we were studying and doing. As an advisor to senior leadership, I also brought critical ethical and moral thinking to the equation. At times my advice and guidance was appreciated. At other times I was politely thanked and then essentially told to go back to my job at the chapel.
This Pilgrimage of Advent as we journey towards Christmas is a time to seriously reflect on our own lives and how we are called to serve God. It will take both a new way of thinking and a new way of acting as we seek to share the message of the Prince of Peace. As Isaiah invited the house of Jacob, so I invite each of you to join with me in responding to the invitation extended to the house of Jacob: O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord! (Isaiah 2:5)
