Month: December 2021

It has been so fun doing “girly things” with the new baby. Family and friends love to give her cute outfits, bows for her hair and pink toys. One of her newest additions is a soft little dolly that she likes to hold and chew on. My coworker gave it to her and said, “Hmm, what should we call her? How about Lucy!” I thought that was a perfect name.

When I saw that today was the Feast of St. Lucy, it made me smile. Not only is the little dolly a light and a joy to my infant daughter, but St. Lucy is a light to us by her example as a Christian martyr. 

In today’s Psalm, we ask the Lord to be our light and our guide: “Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths, Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior. Remember that your compassion, O LORD, and your kindness are from of old. In your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O LORD. Good and upright is the LORD; thus he shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, he teaches the humble his way. 

A week or so ago we lost power at our house. It was already evening and quite dark. So we got out the flashlights and the boys had a blast playing flashlight tag in the basement. The next day they said they wished the power would go out again! All the while, I was worried about them freezing in their beds and the two weeks worth of groceries I had just bought going bad. 

My boys were not frightened by the darkness simply because they had light and could see the way. We cannot see the way without light. When we cannot see the way, we become frightened. The Lord is our light and He guides us in truth and goodness and love. 

May this halfway point in Advent find us continually searching for the brightness of God’s guidance. May we repeat with the Psalmist, “Teach me your ways, O Lord.”

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In today’s Gospel, the crowds ask John the Baptist, “What then should we do?” In reply, he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise” (Luke 3:10-11).  John also tells the tax collectors to “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you” (Luke 3: 13). Interesting to see this reading at the time of year when many people amass more than probably needed. However, it is also a time of donating our extra clothes and food, both to make room in preparation for incoming gifts and the spirit of giving.

Regular decluttering is an excellent habit of keeping our homes in order; I have learned it is simply impossible to organize clutter. The more belongings I try to contain or control, the greater chaos I seem to create. This phenomenon can be said of the state of my soul as well. During an Advent reflection, the young transitional deacon at my parish encouraged us to declutter our souls to make room for Jesus this Christmas. Finding time during Advent for a good Sacramental Confession among the card writing, decorating, present buying, and cookie-baking is a wonderful gift to give ourselves. For it is important to remember, we are body and soul, and we are baptized “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). The baptism we receive, instituted by Christ, involves the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit and the divine capacity to forgive sin (CCC 696).

Today, the Church celebrates the apparition of the Blessed Mother to Juan Diego with the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Juan’s faithfulness to the Catholic faith opened his heart to the miracle of the rose-covered tilma and the subsequent conversion of millions of people. Contemplate what God could do with our fidelity in living out the grace of our baptismal promises? 

We are not making this journey of faith alone; Mary is our mother, guide, intercessor, and model of a life filled with grace. We too can take comfort in the words Mary spoke to Juan Diego, “Listen and understand well, my son, smallest of all, that you have no cause to be frightened and worried, let your heart be troubled no longer, have no fear of that sickness, nor of any other sickness or sorrow. Is this not your mother here next to you?”

Here on the Third Sunday of Advent, as St. Paul reminds us to have no anxiety in anything but pray about everything, and we will have reason to rejoice! Let us declutter our souls, unburden our hearts, draw near to God, who will draw all the nearer to us! To come to seek His mercy in the confessional, so to make room in our hearts for Him to come, not only on Christmas day but every day.

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One way to discover where God is working in your heart is to notice themes happening around you. Often, we think of these as coincidences. This has been happening to me recently. God keeps bringing up the topic of expectation into my life. I wrote a blog post about the attitudes we adopt when it comes to gift-giving, highlighting the problems with giving with expectations attached to the gift (you can find it here). Then, at Bible Study, our leader accidentally played the wrong video for the week. We ended up having a lively conversation about the joys and sorrows that come into our marriages due to realistic and unrealistic expectations that we weren’t supposed to have until mid-January.

When I began preparing to write this reflection, I was at a loss. I did not feel inspired and was not sure what the Holy Spirit was asking of me. I read it to my husband to get his take. You’ll never guess what he pulled out if it – the blindness of the Jewish leaders due to strongly held expectations about the Messiah and His forerunner.

Jesus says that Elijah had already come, as the prophecies had foretold. But the people “did not recognize him.” The prophet Malachi foretold that Elijah would return before the day of the Lord (Mal 3:23). Knowing the Scriptures well, the people of God knew that God keeps His promises. However, by the time of Jesus, many of the leaders were more concerned with establishing and maintaining their positions of power and authority. They believed they were to be praised for how well they were performing their religious duties. They expected to be brought front and center as exemplars for all the people when Elijah came.

What did they get? To be called out for hypocrisy and compared to a brood of vipers. Their expectations of praise and honor clouded their hearts. They were not able to see John for who he was in his mission as Elijah. Then, when Jesus came, they were unprepared to receive Him as the Messiah.

Have you noticed how expectations can be troublesome? Especially when they are intended to be fulfilled by others. We get let down, hurt, and have all sorts of unwelcome feelings. Sometimes, the other person doesn’t even know what they did wrong, especially when our expectation of them was unrealistic.

We might have unrealistic expectations of who Jesus is, like the Jewish elders did. Jesus is in your neighbor who rakes your leaves when you can’t get to them, yes. But Jesus is also in the person who cuts you off on the highway. Jesus is in the generous donor to the homeless shelter. But Jesus is also in each and every person who walks through its doors. We are called to see the face of Jesus in every person we encounter, not just those who meet our expectations.

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