The Hustle and Bustle of Christmas

You know as we are strolling though this season of Advent preparing for the arrival of Jesus in the past and present I am struck by the words the Angel said to Mary, “Hail, full of grace the lord is with you”. Sometimes I wonder what an Angel would say to me if I encountered one. It would probably depend on the day I suppose. One day I might be greeted with a smile. Another I may be greeted with the Angel preforming a face-plant and sighing. 

Last night I went to my 7yr. old’s Holiday program. It was lots of fun and I had a blast watching the children sing. My 4 month old was getting wiggly and because my wife was ill I decided to take him into the hall and go for a walk. From the hall I could hear and see the program. Pacing back and forth we talked and listened. He would coo I would respond and we would look out the door and watch.  At 4 months he hates sitting still. In the Hall I noticed 2 things. One tons of prep go into a program that seems so small and simple. Two, there is always something going on. As the program was unveiling the Kindergarten class that had already preformed was sitting off to the side. The 2 teachers were constantly running back and forth. It seemed like every child had to have a potty break. I could sense the challenge the teachers were facing but they stayed calm and ushered them back and forth keep them safe. 

Advent is sort of like that. Christmas, wether you are a Christian or not tends to be a big production with lots of distractions. Everyone rushes around and does the best they can to complete all their tasks on time. The nice thing about Christmas though is that many are in good spirits and when it would be easy to snap so many stay calm. For Christians Advent is a time to prepare to invite Jesus into our hearts. Hopefully he never left but it is a season of remembrance and renewal. For us Catholics it’s the beginning of the Liturgical Year, so in a way Advent is like New Years and we get the sense to make resolutions and start over fresh. 

Wether you are Christian or not, Catholic or not, I invite you to open your heart to Jesus. He loves you and wants to hang out with you. He wants to share his good teachings and help you through your worst days. Jesus is the wing man you always want and who is dying to be on the first string squad in the game that is your life. This life is fleeting, temporary. One day your body will retire and your soul will need a retirement home. God is inviting you to spend eternity with him, but it is your choice. Just as Mary had a choice, so do you. I encourage you to invite him into your life. 

Luke 1:26-38

26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!"29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. 30And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." 34And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?" 35And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 36And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37For with God nothing will be impossible." 38And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Michael

Whisper Behind the Light

obbo_91@yahoo.com

I WANT! I WANT!

It’s funny when I get home from work anymore. Right now we are fully in the season of Advent and Christmas. My wife has amazing patience, she has to see, she runs a daycare out of our home. Everyday now when I come home it is T.V. time and the children are gathered around. They gaze at the show at hand, but now we have a new fun game to play. As the show fades to commercials ads of all sorts for toys and whatnot come on. “Oh oh, I want, I want”, I hear so many young voice exclaim. As one commercial rolls to another I hear sometimes piercing screams of joy over what they hope Santa puts under the Christmas tree. 

I often hear the same out of adults, but it is not said with the joy and adulation of young children. “I wish, my wife would do what I wanted” or “Why can’t my son just do his homework on time”, some groan about conflicts with parents or friends, but they all seem to desire the same thing, peace. You could give me a million dollars, a brand new fancy car and a magic pill to miraculously make me look like a super stud, but I would trade it all away for peace, love and serenity. For far too many hours in my past I have walked this world and with the desires of a child would see things and think, “I WANT! I WANT!”, and do the least to attain them, yes the least. I wanted things easy. I didn’t want to work at it. I didn’t want to know the real answers in life. 

I have an old house that I have fixed up a bit, a rusty car in the driveway, a yard that has grass growing in most of it but I have what I desire the most of all. I have peace, serenity and love. My world can flip upside down and I am okay. My youngest after his birth had health issues, I was okay. As Christmas rolls closer and closer I know that the tree will not have all the gifts my children desire under it and I am okay. I have peace, love and serenity. I have a job where people steal my food out of the fridge and I am okay. I have sometimes literally mountains of work to conquer that make me sweat and soar, but I am okay. Each day I am overwhelmed with the amount of tasks I am supposed to get done and I am okay. Why, because I have peace, love and serenity. 

What changed for me was that I found God, actually I found Jesus. I had always know God and that Jesus guy, yeah he seemed cool, I had never really spent time with Jesus and listened. Fed up with my life I started to read his teachings. Why not, nothing else seemed to satisfy. Slowly God’s wisdom was unveiled to me. Slowly I began to change. Slowly I went from a mindset of “I WANT I WANT” to “Thank you dear God I can't even count how many blessings you have given me each day”. Do I deserve these gifts from God? No, but God loves me so he gives them to me. God gives me my peace, serenity and love. God is my anchor. God is the rock I build my life upon. When I follow his ways all is well. When I do not, I fall. I am no perfect man. I am no hero. I have no amazing talent of myself. I am a sinner trying to be the best I can with God's help. I am a mere man but I have chosen to follow Jesus. I have chosen a life of study. I read his word and I try and understand. I pray to God for help and then most importantly, I work hard to listen. 

God has gifts to share with you that would put any array of gifts under the most beautiful Christmas tree to shame, and all you have to do is ask. All you have to do is let Jesus into your heart, and let him become you lord and savior. All you have to do is become baptized in the Holy Spirit. I urge you to come to Church and let go. Take the reins of your life and throw them up to God. You will be amazed with what he can do. The choice is yours. This is the season. This is great time for renewal. We are celebrating the arrival of Jesus to the world and hopefully your heart, so if you ever find yourself saying, “I WANT! I WANT!”, please pause and say a prayer cause God is there waiting to give you all you need. 

Isaiah 11:1-10

1There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 3And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. 5Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins. 6The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. 9They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; him shall the nations seek, and his dwellings shall be glorious.

Psalms 72:1, 7-8, 12-13, 17

0A Psalm of Solomon. 6May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth! 7In his days may righteousness flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more! 11May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him! 12For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. 16May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may men blossom forth from the cities like the grass of the field!

Luke 10:21-24

21In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. 22All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." 23Then turning to the disciples he said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see what you see! 24For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."