ADVENT IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK UP FOR THE SHINING STAR OF HOPE AND JOY
Much as I truly believe that Advent is an opportunity for us to look up for the shining star of hope and joy, many times things happen in our lives that make this difficult to fathom. Instead, we look down, downcast! This was the case with me one morning a few days ago, when I woke up from my sleep in a very horrible mood. For the entire first part of that morning, I felt horrible for no particular reason. Then I began meeting my beloved parishioners who came for spiritual guidance, and I suddenly realized that they were in even more foul mood than myself due to what they were going through. This jolted me to a realization that in order to be able to provide a good spiritual and pastoral guidance, I must address my own situation. As I prayed for this to happen, thankfully, one of my directees indirectly came to my rescue when she shared with me the following article entitled AND GOD SAID, NO! Allow me to share it with you. It reads:
I asked God to take away my pride, And God said “No.”
He said it is not for Him to take away, but for me to give up.
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole, and God said “No.”
He said her spirit is whole, but her body is only temporary.
I asked God to grant me patience, and God said “No.”
He said patience is a by-product of tribulation. It is not granted, it is earned.
I asked God to give me happiness,
And God said “No.”
He said He gives blessings. Happiness is up to me.
I asked God to spare me pain, and God said “No.”
He said suffering draws us apart from worldly cares and
brings us closer to Him.
I asked God to make my spirit grow, and God said “No.”
He said I must grow on my own, but He will prune me to make me fruitful.
I asked God if He love me, and God said “Yes.”
He gave His only son who died for me and I will be in Heaven someday
Because I believe.
I asked God to help me love others as he loves me.
And God said, “Ah, finally you have the idea”
I believe many of you might have experienced what I experienced before. That is why as we prepare for the birth of our savior, we realize that advent is indeed an opportunity for us to look up for the shining star of hope and joy. In order to assist us as a parish in this journey, we have offered you many activities during this advent season to overcome many of the obstacles the evil one throws at us.
For instance, many of you were able to attend one of our Advent preparations as we invited the floriani quartet for a night of beautiful sacred music chant two weeks ago. It was a moving experience as in the dimly lit church the four young men sang some of the ancient hymns and antiphons of old, as well as some other familiar songs which lifted up our spirits and put us in the mood of Advent. They shared some history of the songs and chants which further brought them alive in our hearts and minds. We wanted the emphasis that evening to be on Advent, that time of preparation, expectation and joy and it really was. If you are still interested in supporting the mission of these young men, you can find out more or get their music at: https://www.floriani.org/
A week later, we had the good fortune of having Fr. Peter Mushi, A.J. from New York lead us in our parish Advent Mission this past Sunday and Monday. On Sunday, Fr. Peter, very inspiringly spoke about the Magi and how they prepared for the journey of a lifetime, not knowing what they might find, but letting the star lead them. They looked up! He reminded us also to "look up!" We cannot see all the signs God is giving us when we have our faces down, he emphasized. Do we see where God is leading us? What paths God might be pointing to for us to follow and be amazed and surprised?
Then on Monday evening Fr. Peter spoke on the beauty and gift of the Eucharist. He lamented how despite the clarity with which Christ spoke about his body as true food in John chapter 6, some refused to believe it was possible that Jesus could truly be present in the Eucharist. He pointed out that according to recent research findings, today, 68% of Catholics do not believe that Jesus Christ, the very same Jesus Christ who walked the earth, commands the heavens, and was willing to die for our sins, left us this precious gift of His Body to be received at each Holy Communion is truly present in the Eucharist. True to his word, Jesus said that he would never leave us, and He has not- He is there in every Tabernacle around the world and is there at every Mass. Either we believe He is God and is faithful to His promises or it is all for nothing. We need to pray, examine and ask Jesus to "help our unbelief", he concluded.
If you missed some of these, we still have other opportunities you can participate in such as coming for adoration, morning Masses and our last communal activity, which is Lessons and Carols .
Till then, continue to have a blessed Advent Season!
THIS Sunday, December 19th
after the 7am and 10am Masses
St. Andrew the Apostle will be having an Advent Lessons and Carol service on Tuesday, December 21st at 6:30pm.
A simple service of adapted scripture reading music where the story of the coming of Christ gradually unfolds.
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