Fr John’s Reflection – 3rd Sunday of Advent

Do Not Lose Heart

There can be impatience that builds into our activity, making us want Christmas to happen too quickly. Yet this is a time when we can take even a few moments each day to notice how the regular events of the day can refresh and renew us. This waiting helps us treasure the moment we are in and the way God speaks to our hearts.

How do we translate the messages that we hear every day? There can be an emphasis on bad news and how people can be so allured by money, power and success. Yet John the Baptist seeks to discover whether Jesus is the one we are waiting for. Jesus answers that the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, lepers are cleansed, the lame walk and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor. This is what we hope for: that God will meet us in our most profound need.

As we approach Christmas, may we return to the source of all life and accompany each other along the way. May we hear the words, Courage, be not afraid. That we discover the joy that is not counterfeit but restores the soul to life.

 

Fr. John Armstrong

“The intellectual quest is exquisite, like pearls and coral. But it is not the same as the spiritual quest. The spiritual quest is on another level altogether. Spiritual wine has a subtler taste. The intellect and the senses investigate cause and effect. The spiritual seeker surrenders to wonder.” (Rumi Wisdom; trans. Timothy Freke)