Rector's Reflections - December 2006

. . .the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” Luke 2:15

Our spiritual heritage is one of God calling the people to leave one place and to journey to another where God had prepared for them something new. Our spiritual ancestors were always on a journey of obedience and trust in God. AND when they journeyed with God they always came to a deeper understanding of themselves as a community, as individuals, and their personal relationship with God matured. Our spiritual ancestors learned to journey not with expectations but with hope.

God had been preparing Mary and Joseph and their families for a special birth for nine months. God had been preparing Israel to receive the Messiah for a whole lot longer. God even sent out special invitations through the angels to come and see the miracle birth to and some came to see the baby in the manager. But some did not come and see the baby nor did they come and see Jesus thirty years later.

The Advent season is our time to remember that we too are on a journey with God each and every day. Advent reminds us to prepare a place where we like Mary will gently place the newborn baby in the manager of our hearts. Advent calls us to remember that the “why” of Christmas is the spiritual truth that God loves us unconditionally. Each one of us has been given the greatest of gifts - Jesus Christ. We are invited over and over to enter into a relationship with God by first leaving our homes and going to our stable, our church, and then look into the manger one more time.

This Advent season pause and don't let the commercial season of the year consume you. Make your lists and check them twice and then light the candles one week at a time and let the warmth and the glow of the light of Christ warm your heart and your home with the spirit that comes when we welcome a new baby in our homes. Make this Christmas a homecoming event for the babe of Bethlehem in your home and in your hearts. Light the candles of your heart as you make room in inn for the Holy Family.

This Advent season let us all do less, pray more, and prepare our hearts and souls to once again receive the greatest gift of all –the Jesus Christ.

 

 

Fr. Ken †