Advent Daily Reflections Header

 



Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent

Readings of the Day 
[link removed]

 

"It's almost here, it's almost here!" A
childlike joy sprung from my heart as I flipped my 2020 calendar and
saw we were finally in December. Christmas is my most favorite of all
holidays. As a child, every day that passed was one day closer to the
joys that only Christmas and the arrival of baby Jesus could bring. So
here we are now, the day before. If we think back to ourselves as
children, laser-focused on Christmas morning, it could have seemed
that on Christmas Eve, time stood still. It wasn't Christmas
yet! But almost! Even now as an adult, I still feel that anticipation,
that time-standing-still-ness, as I look forward to the promised
beauty, holiness, and peacefulness of Christmas.

But we're not there yet. We have one more night of sleep until
the bright dawn of Christmas morning peeks over the horizon. We sit
together in that space between, the day before, the time of "not
yet, but soon." That time of closest anticipation before the
gift we were promised is given to us. 

What do you feel?

Today's readings are full of promises by God. Each of us, just
like David and Zechariah, have been promised things by God. As sure as
we may be about God, being sure about the path He's asking of us
may be more difficult. We are each called in different ways to journey
with Him through "becoming" to "being."
Regardless of how much we want to be what God wants us to be, it can
be difficult to step forward in faith when we are unsure of where
those next steps will take us. Yet, we see in the Gospel that God
blesses us in our unknown, on our journey, in the "not
yet," and through the pains that we endure to get where we are
going: "In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on
high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and
the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace (Luke
1: 78-79)."

What a beautiful way to see that we are called to trust, to radically
trust, that God is present in our anticipation, that He is journeying
with us in our in-between, and is waiting for us at the end. Christmas
Eve is only one of many "in-betweens" we'll
experience in our lives. Yet like all others, it is a part of that
journey from becoming to being. How beautiful that journey can be when
we allow God to join us on the way, and what sweet joys are promised
when we reach our destination with Him! Merry (almost) Christmas!

Lacy de la Garza currently serves as Director of Parish &
Community Relations at Catholic Charities Dallas.

 

 




View this message in your browser. 
[link removed]

Forward this message.
Update your email preferences.
[link removed]
[link removed]