groaning, sunday

Sunday, December 7 (Second Sunday of Advent)

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

         

Opening Prayer: To the God who pursues.  Our world is groaning around me and my heart groans with it.  So many tears and questions, so many stillborn children, so much cancer and divorce, so many orphans and so much poverty.  Closing my eyes doesn’t make the wailing stop; doesn’t turn the grief into joy.  I hear your Spirit groaning with me, taking the cry of my heart to your throne.  Hear our groans.  Have mercy on us. (A Heart Exposed by Steven James)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Romans 8:18-30

Reading for Reflection:

 

     Ultimately the season of Advent is a season of groaning; the groaning of our hearts and the groaning of our God.  It is the groaning that comes from a deep longing for all to be as it was intended.  Thus, it is a season where we fully recognize and embrace our sadness and frustration that all is not as it should be, rather than attempting to escape, avoid, or deny it.  The world has gone terribly wrong, it is filled with decay and death, suffering and sadness, sorrow and pain, and yet, in the midst of it all, God meets us in a beautifully mysterious way.  He meets us in a way that we couldn’t be met otherwise—making this groan both a trust-filled embracing of where he has us, as well as a deep yearning for so much more—for deliverance and restoration; healing and wholeness.   

     Therefore, Advent is a season in which we watch and wait.  It is a time in which we are filled with hope and with longing—hope that our Creator will finally intervene, and longing that he will enter into this world and set everything right once more; restoring all things to their creation intent.

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself    

                      

Closing Prayer: Loving God, the earth moans, in need of your healing.  Help me be a peacemaker today—one who carries your vision and takes the small actions that contribute to healing for the world.  Amen. (The Uncluttered Heart by Beth A. Richardson)

attention, saturday

Saturday, December 6

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

         

Opening Prayer: My God, since You are with me, and since it is Your will that I should apply my mind to these outward things, I pray that You will give me the grace to remain with You and keep company with You.  But so that my work may be better, Lord, work with me; receive my work and possess all my affections. (The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence)

         

Scripture Reading for the Day: Proverbs 4:20-5:2

Reading for Reflection:

 

     Spiritual discernment asks us to pay attention.  We need to attend to both what goes on around us and within us.  Ideally, this attentiveness goes on much of the time, a sort of low level, constant spiritual sifting of the data of our experience.  But there are times when discernment becomes much more focused, when a crossroad is reached or a choice called for.  At times like these the cumulative wisdom of tradition tells us to pay attention on many levels: to consult scripture, to seek the advice of trusted advisors, to heed the sensus fidelium (the collective sense of the faithful), to read widely and deeply the best ancient and contemporary thinking, to pray, to attend to the prick of conscience and to the yearnings and dreamings of our hearts, to watch, to wait, to listen. (Passing Angels: The Arts of Spiritual Discernment by Wendy M. Wright from Weavings November/December 1995)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself    

                      

Closing Prayer: Come!  Give us wisdom, give us light, deliver us, lead us, teach us how to live.  Save us.  Amen. (Advent with Evelyn Underhill)

attention, friday

Friday, December 5

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

          

Opening Prayer: My God, since You are with me, and since it is Your will that I should apply my mind to these outward things, I pray that You will give me the grace to remain with You and keep company with You.  But so that my work may be better, Lord, work with me; receive my work and possess all my affections. (The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence)

         

Scripture Reading for the Day: Mark 13:32-37

Reading for Reflection:

 

     Attentiveness to God’s spirit requires deeply receptive, prayerful listening.  Practicing the art of attending to the Spirit involves us in contemplative listening.  Such listening is quite distinct from the various ways in which we generally listen to another….

     It is holy listening, rooted in silence.  It seeks emptiness in order to be filled with the Spirit.  It is permeated by humility.  Such listening assumes that the Spirit is active among us and works through us.  So it makes space for that movement.  It is primarily receptive, patient, watchful, and waiting.  Yet it does not fear action when action is called for.  Such listening is generously flexible, hospitable, and warm.  It embraces the widest possible spectrum of life’s beauty and pain.  It acknowledges the creation of all people in the image and likeness of God.  It approaches life as a mystery into which we joyously and generously live.  While in one sense a gift, such listening is generally cultivated over the years as we prayerfully attend to the Spirit in our own lives and as others listen to us in the same grace-filled way. (Companions in Christ: Participants Book, Part 5 by Wendy M. Wright)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself    

                      

Closing Prayer: Come, Lord Jesus, and let our hearts be open to receive the life that you alone can give.  Amen. (Advent with Evelyn Underhill)

attention, thursday

Thursday, December 4

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

          

Opening Prayer: My God, since You are with me, and since it is Your will that I should apply my mind to these outward things, I pray that You will give me the grace to remain with You and keep company with You.  But so that my work may be better, Lord, work with me; receive my work and possess all my affections. (The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence)

                                  

Scripture Reading for the Day: Matthew 25:1-13

Reading for Reflection:

 

     Reading these words today, I can’t help but hear God’s voice asking me: “How is your oil level these days?  What is it within you that offers fuel to the flame of My Spirit?  Is there a yearning inside that causes you to burn with holy longing (zeal) for a deep and rich life with me?  It is a life that comes up from your very depths and shines through your eyes and your face and your very being, like a beacon in this dark and desperate world.  It is like Moses when he came down from the mountaintop, aglow with the reflection of my glory and delight.   What is it that burns within you these days?  Does it burn in such a beautiful way that those in this world are automatically drawn to its light, as a moth to a flame?  And how are you nurturing this life of the Spirit within you?  How are you keeping that oil level full?  Do you have enough of it in your heart and soul to shine on indefinitely?  Are you overflowing with My Spirit and My presence and My Love?  How will you keep watch?  How will you pay attention?  How will you make sure that you have enough oil?  Are you nurturing and caring for this life of My Spirit within you?  Take extra special care, my beloved child, to do just that; for then you will live every second of your life in readiness—readiness for my coming.”

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself    

                      

Closing Prayer: Keep us alert, we pray, O Lord our God, as we await the advent of Christ your Son, so that when he comes and knocks he may find us watchful in prayer and exultant in his praise.  Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen. (A Collect for Advent on Creighton University Online Ministries)

attention, wednesday

Wednesday, December 3

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

          

Opening Prayer: My God, since You are with me, and since it is Your will that I should apply my mind to these outward things, I pray that You will give me the grace to remain with You and keep company with You.  But so that my work may be better, Lord, work with me; receive my work and possess all my affections. (The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Isaiah 40:1-5

Reading for Reflection:

 

     It will be up to us to prepare for the Night of the Child, to prepare the way of the Lord, to make straight the paths.  It will be up to us to make a journey of sorts toward Bethlehem, to spend some time listening to the story as it weaves its way through Advent.  We are the ones who must make room in our hearts for the story to speak, who must listen carefully to its twists and its turns, listening for the places where it begins to tell us our own story.

     The season will be full of stories, of family and friends, of Christmases long ago, of memories and hopes and half-forgotten days gone by.  And in the midst of them, we must take care that we do not neglect the telling of the story.  We must be present to its telling, if we hope for it to touch our hearts.  We are the ones who must ponder in our hearts what all of this has to teach us about the Story of us all.

     It will be up to us to leave our flocks unattended for a while.  It will fall to us to manage our time and our energy and our calendars and our schedules.  We are the ones who must make sure that there is a place and the time to be silent and thoughtful, to rest and contemplate.  We are the ones who must seek out the time to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of the Night of the Child. (Night of the Child by Robert Benson)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself    

                      
Closing Prayer: Lord God, our Heavenly Father, during this season of Advent help us to prepare our hearts for your coming.  Come, Lord Jesus!  Come and visit your people.  We eagerly await your coming.  Come, Lord Jesus!  Amen.

attention, tuesday

Tuesday, December 2

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

          

Opening Prayer: My God, since You are with me, and since it is Your will that I should apply my mind to these outward things, I pray that You will give me the grace to remain with You and keep company with You.  But so that my work may be better, Lord, work with me; receive my work and possess all my affections. (The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Ephesians 5:8-21

Reading for Reflection:

 

     At the beginning of her course the Church looks out towards Eternity, and realizes her own poverty and imperfection and her utter dependence on this perpetual coming of God.

     Advent is, of course, first of all a preparation for Christmas; which commemorates God’s saving entrance into history in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.

          Whilst all things were in quiet silence and night 

     was in the midst of her swift course: thine Almighty

     Word leapt down from heaven out of thy royal throne. 

     Alleluia.

     A tremendous spiritual event then took place; something which disclosed the very nature of God and his relation to His universe.  But there was little to show for it on the surface of life.  All men saw was a poor girl unconditionally submitted to God’s Will, and a baby born in difficult circumstances.  And this contrast between the outward appearance and the inner reality is true of all the comings of God to us.  We must be very loving and very alert if we want to recognize them in their earthly disguise.  Again and again He comes and the revelation is not a bit what we expect. (The Fruits of the Spirit by Evelyn Underhill)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself    

                     

Closing Prayer: O Lord, my God, help me to live my life in you.  Wake me up minute-by-minute, day-by-day, to your presence within me and around me.  Wake me up to your love and to your care, to your voice and to your Spirit.  Help me to come all awake within, and when I finally do, help me to find myself in your loving arms.

attention, monday

Monday, December 1

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

          

Opening Prayer: My God, since You are with me, and since it is Your will that I should apply my mind to these outward things, I pray that You will give me the grace to remain with You and keep company with You.  But so that my work may be better, Lord, work with me; receive my work and possess all my affections. (The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Isaiah 35:1-10

Reading for Reflection:

 

Advent is a season of waiting, yes, but it is waiting with a very deep kind of intentionality and openness to receive.  There is something for us to do in our waiting; we are to do those things that prepare our souls to welcome Christ deeper into the recesses of our life and being. (Advent: The Courage to Wait by Ruth Haley Barton)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself    

                      

Closing Prayer: O Majestic One, I tend to ignore the songs of the hills and the praise of the peaks and the plains.  Sky and sun and desert sand, moon, eclipse, and raging sea, join in the never-ending song.  The dancers sway to the silent beat as timeless melodies sweep the canyons and harmonies top the hills.  The music throbs with joy and sorrow, rising into a wondrous and daring shout of your praise.

     How can I so often miss hearing the canticles of the gulls and the worship of the ancient waves when their concert is always in session?  You’ve equipped eagles to soar in praise, stars to wander the night, worms to burrow their love, I want to join their song.

     Open my eyes to see the earth’s uplifted hands and my ears to listen to it calling your name.  Help me to hear the psalms of the galaxies, and the poems of the whispering stars.  Help me to hear the worship all around me, the prayers of the sunlight and the pine and the glistening morning dew right outside my window in my own front yard. (A Heart Exposed by Steven James)