Clear The Roads

And make sure your insurance is up to date. I've just signed The Boy--who I was quite sure was just in Kindergarten!--up for this.

Third Sunday in Advent Reflection

from the ark-ives

Advent and Perseverance

Another mile on the bumpy back of a barnyard donkey.

Another knock on the door of an occupied inn, followed by further rejection.

Another cry into the darkness--My Lord, my God, where are you? This can't be Your plan--or can it?

How different would the story of salvation be if the Holy Family decided to pack it up 10 miles shy of their holy destiny? Faced with obstacles, uncertainties and disappointments could you honestly blame them? Certainly not by today's standards, which say--Don't wait...Have it all...Hey, why not have two...right now.

Fear and doubt may be the Devil's two best known tools, but he's got another trick up his sleeve that requires less perspiration on his part and gets the job done just as well. The Devil's not stupid. Why do something to us that we could ultimately do ourselves? Using our human tendency to need instant gratification, he has but only sit back and wait for us to give up and throw in the towel admitting defeat. Saves him time and effort and the end result is the same--a change in God's holy will for us.

This week in Advent, take a moment to think about those things that aren't going as smoothly as possible, that might be taking a little longer than previously planned or that might be requiring some extra effort. Then, think about what the implications might be if you abandon it because it isn't happening just as you had thought. It may be something small or it, like the actions of the Holy Family on their journey to Bethlehem, may have eternal consequences far beyond your wildest dreams. We need only to look to the example of the Holy Family's journey to help us stay the course.

Bonum certamen certavi, cursum consummavi, fidem servavi.
I have fought the good fight. I have completed the course. I have preserved the faith.

2 Timothy 4:7

What a Show for Gaudete Sunday!

Make hot cocoa. Bundle up. Tell your friends. The best meteor shower of 2009 is about to fall over North America on a long, cold December night.(Read more here...)

Advent Plan--Part III

Join me and grab a steaming hot mug of peppermint mocha coffee to learn more about the O Antiphons and a clever, old idea for an O Antiphon House.

Not so much interested in that, set the timer and give yourself a few minutes to peruse the wealth of information collected at O Night Divine.

Second Sunday in Advent Reflection

From the ark-ives:

If there was ever an Advent when hope was first on my wish list, this one would be it. Hoping for a miracle end to Baby Girl's sickness, hoping for a doctor hand chosen by God to greet us tomorrow at the doctor's office, and all the while holding myself up on the hope that God will provide and see us through this.


Advent and Hope

On the first Sunday in Advent, my husband and I were treated to an impromptu nativity play, performed by the Ark's own junior thespians. At showtime, we were escorted to a quiet corner of the playroom, where two seats had been reserved specifically for us. We sat front and center while the narrator/director/producer cranked up the Christmas Cat Chat CD kicking off a rousing rendition of O Come, O Come Emmanuel.

CB dressed as an all-purpose angel took her stage direction well. Suffice to say that N and Baby T performing the roles of Mary and Joseph might have benefited from an additional dress rehearsal or two. As the music morphed into an uptempo version of Gloria In Excelsis Deo, we-in the audience-noticed that Mary had taken off her serene covering revealing (big surprise here) her much worn cheerleading dress. Joseph, meanwhile, was alternately trying to turn a bright blue bowling pin into a Louisville slugger and getting down with his bad self to the new song. The angel persevered, but it wasn't enough to keep the play's creator from having an artistic "moment" before calling the troupe back together for a retake.

After a few false starts, Mary re-cloaked. Joseph stopped dancing. And the narrator was able to lead the audience through the final words of St. Luke's version of the first Christmas to the ebullient shouts of the whole cast as Joy to the World played on. At that very moment, watching my children dance and sing around the tiny baby in the makeshift manger, under the computer desk serving as a stable, I smiled.

For with all its flaws and errors, with all its imperfections and miscues, the show went on and the Savior arrived. It was the essence of the Incarnation played out in my basement. Regardless of our sins, despite our weaknesses, our failings and foibles; He came anyway.

Hallelujah! Today we can rejoice---He comes anyway.

What's the Big Deal With Cohabitation?

"Cohabitation is bad for men, worse for women, and horrible for children. It is a deadly toxin to marriage, family, and culture..."(read more)


An interesting article discussed by Fr. Rocky on his wonderful show--Go Ask Your Father!

The Advent Plan--Part II

Finding a balance between "doing" Advent and "living" Advent is tricky business. Inspired by the Church calendar, we're seeking to live out the liturgy each day during this season, which means the opportunities for prayer, reflection and growth are endless. Sounds great, right?

It's all ready prepared. People have followed this rhythm for thousands of years. And secular it is not. It doesn't even call for a single present bought or wrapped. There's no party invitation to send or appetizer to prepare. You don't even have to mix a drink. (Although, a nice hot mug of gluhwein sounds pretty good right now.) It just couldn't get any easier.

Then why--oh, why--do the most well-meaning, faith-filled and God-fearing people find themselves stressed out during Advent? Our intentions (yes, "our"--I may well be leading this brigade of Advent do-gooders) are so pure, our hearts so humble, where could we have gone wrong?

The answer is so simple, and it's repeated over and over again (now available on 300 HD channels 7 days a week beginning the week before Thanksgiving) in our treasured Christmas programing.

The Grinch knew it, "Maybe Christmas", he thought, "doesn't come from a store."
"Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!"

Charlie Brown knew it, ""Aaaaaugh! Even my dog's gone commercial!", he hollers after seeing Snoopy's prize-winning light display

and again when he announces, "“Linus is right. I won’t let all this commercialism ruin my Christmas..."

We watch year after year, with our eyes misting up at the pure truth behind the sentimentality of it all and then we develop a sudden and acute short-term memory loss:

"If you're to be "doing" Advent," our mind hisses, "you'd better get to doing it soon. You only have four weeks--aka 28 days--better still 672 hours--or more precisely..." You shake your head to rid it of all the small talk and decide to get to "doing" Advent right away--before it's gone.

And in the rush to do so we buy into the commercialism, the consumerism, the need to fill our every day with more. Only this time, it's with something good and deserving of our want--it's Advent. But looking for one more Advent song to sing, buying one more Advent calendar or craft, searching for that perfect prayer or story to read in order to "do" Advent simply misses the point.

In our society, one of rampant consumerism, we aren't only avid consumers of material goods. We're consumers by nature of information, of ideas and of goals. In the rush to be the one with the most, or the best, we may find ourselves so busy trying to consume Advent that we don't allow it to consume us. Against the tide of the culture, we need to step aside while the frenzy of clever thoughts and activities pass us by and we do nothing more than watch and wait.

It is in those moments of waiting, for which this Church season is specifically designed, that allow us the opportunity to step away from the rush of the secular season and into the beauty and the freedom of the One who is to come.