December 2, 2011: Do You Believe?!

Read It:

As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out,
"Son of David, have pity on us!"
When he entered the house,
the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them,
"Do you believe that I can do this?"
"Yes, Lord," they said to him.
Then he touched their eyes and said,
"Let it be done for you according to your faith."
And their eyes were opened.
Jesus warned them sternly,
"See that no one knows about this."
But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.

Reflect on It:

In today's gospel, we see that Jesus asks the blind men if they believe that they can be healed. I think we often struggle with this question...Do we REALLY believe that Jesus can heal us? Really and truly. I know there are things in the depths of my heart that I wonder if the Lord can truly heal. Can he truly heal the ugliness of my sin, of the darkness that sometimes resides in the depths of my being? These men were healed because they believed. Jesus is quick to say, let it be done for you according to your faith. Would we be able to be healed based on our faith? Advent is about allowing the Lord in, preparing for him and making sure that we TRULY believe that the savior of the world is coming on December 25th and that he can and will give us everything we need to be with him in eternity. He desires to heal the darkness of sin and give us newness of life. This should wreck us with delight. In a few weeks, the Lord of healing, in the form of a child is going to grace us with his presence and all can be healed. May our faith save us.

Pray about It: God Our Father, we long to be healed by your son. Today, help us to be men and women who truly believe that he can do it and to look forward to the coming of our King.

Live It! Challenge: Read through the Announcement and Birth of Christ in the Gospel of Luke (Chapters 1 and 2)

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December 1, 2011: The Rain WILL Fall

Read It:

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

Reflect on It: What is interesting about today's gospel is not that it says if the rain comes, it says, "The rain fell, the floods came and the winds blew". Here is some breaking news: There will be rain. There will be floods and there will be wind! The Lord promises us all of these, but the important part is how you respond to them. One man, the wise man, built his house on rock (the rock...Jesus...it's all coming together now!) and the fool, built his on sand (things of this world). The goal is not for us to be completely ruined when the rain and wind and floods come. Christ, our king is coming in three weeks. Are we built on Him? Will this rock our world? It should. Work to build your life on the rock.

Pray about It: Sweet Jesus, help us to be wise men and women who build our lives on you. Let us be strong enough to not have our lives be completely ruined when the rain, floods and wind comes. Thank you for being who I build my life upon.

Live It! Challenge: Eliminate something in your life that makes you be built on the sand.

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November 30, 2011: I Will Make YOU fishers of men

Read It:

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,
casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.
He said to them,
"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."
At once they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along from there and saw two other brothers,
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.
He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father
and followed him.

Reflect on It: Today is the Feast of St. Andrew. Andrew is Peter's brother and Christ called both of them to follow him and he will make them not fishers of things in the water, but instead, fishers of men, fishers of souls for the Lord. What I think is remarkable is that BOTH Peter and Andrew left their nets, their very livelihood without a second thought and followed Him. There was not this hestiation, but instead, a total surrender to our Lord. The Lord calls us to a life where we RUN to him without hesitation. As we journey towards Christmas, are we running towards the Christ child? Are we willing to leave everything in order to be like the magi who seek Him? Are we willing to be fishers of men and to bring our friends to Him? What about our family as well. This Advent, let us be men and women who run to him without hesitation and leave behind anything that hinders us from our relationship with Him.

Pray about It: Lord, as we prepare for the coming of your Son, help our lives to be different. Help us to be men and women who choose you daily and who are fishers of men for you and your Son. You made St. Andrew a guide for us, help us to walk in his example this day.

Live It! Challenge: Share about advent with a friend today at work or at school.

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Another Great one about Advent.

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Watch this...it's good for your soul!

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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Read It:
Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,
"I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."

Turning to the disciples in private he said,
"Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."


Reflect on It: Blessed are the eyes that see what you see...People desire to know Christ, to see him at work in their lives. So often, we see Christ and disregard him. Through the gracious will of the Father, we are able to have his son in the form of a human. A man who comes to redeem the world. Are you ready for that blessed day?

Pray about it: Father, help me to see you with the eyes of Faith. Help me to see Advent as a time of preparation.

Live It! Challenge: Today, in order to prepare your heart for the coming of the Lord, do something kind for another person

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Advent is Here November 28, 2011

I thought it would be good for us to journey together through Advent, something that I know I just kind of move through, but wonder if I ever really pray through....In light of that, I figured, we would do the same format for every day of Advent. Enjoy!

Read It:
When Jesus entered Capernaum,
a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,
"Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully."
He said to him, "I will come and cure him."
The centurion said in reply,
"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, "Go," and he goes;
and to another, "Come here," and he comes;
and to my slave, "Do this," and he does it."
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
"Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,
and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.

Reflect on it: In this gospel, we see the words that we say in the Eucharistic prayer as our response: Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof, only say the word and my soul shall be healed. On this first Monday of Advent, we see that we are HARDLY worthy to have the Lord enter our hearts and our lives this Christmas, which leads to the question of if you have prepared a place in your heart for him? As we Christmas approaches, is there space? Are we preparing for him the way we would prepare for any other guest? I hope so.

Pray about it: Sweet Jesus, as Advent starts, help me to realize how truly good you are to want to enter under my roof and it means to have you as an active part of my life. Help me to be ready and to watch for you this Advent.

Live It! Challenge: Today, pray about what the Lord is asking you to do to prepare for his coming.

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