Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent

Readings of the Day 

Advent is a time for preparation and for waiting. Mary and Joseph were waiting for the birth of Christ Jesus in Bethlehem. As we await Jesus' Second Coming, what better way to prepare our hearts than to seek forgiveness and reconciliation? 

Today’s first reading lays out a beautiful story of how merciful our God is. “You need not be ashamed of all your deeds, your rebellious acts against me” (Zep 3:11). God is acknowledging that He knows our failures; He knows that sometimes we stumble. But He is there to help pick us back up, if only we ask for help. We must prepare our hearts. Our Father in Heaven is calling us to Him, to let Him cleanse us.

The Gospels have countless accounts of Jesus sitting and dining with sinners, but He did not sin with them. Jesus accompanies us on our journey, leading us out of darkness towards His Father’s call. At Catholic Charities, I cannot help but believe that we do something similar, albeit imperfectly. Jesus was the perfect example of leadership, and while we are sinners, we are still called to journey with our brothers and sisters. We accompany those that are struggling to help them out of poverty and give them the hope they need to continue on. God has given us the strength and the gifts that we need so that we can follow His Son’s example and accompany our brothers and sisters in Him, so that we all might hear the call towards holiness.

Kimberly Phelan is the Parish Relations Associate at Catholic Charities of Central Texas. She graduated from Texas A&M in December of 2018, serves on the young adult leadership team for her home parish, and is a member of her local CRS Chapter.

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