My dear friends, welcome to Advent 2019; a time we are called to become fully present and fully awake to the crucial questions about life: “Who am I? “Who is God for me”? “What does life on earth mean”? “Am I happy with where I am in life today”? “Am I happy with where I am with my God”? Am I happy with where I am with others?”
With so many things competing for time in our lives, it is very easy to slide into auto-pilot, where we move on with life by sleep-walking through it, doing what we are doing without much reflection; flowing with the flow on a journey of daily routines without paying attention to who we are, where we are going, and what we are all about. The Gospel readings on the first Sunday of Advent captures this scenario: "As it was in the days of Noah….., they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt 24:37- 41). The remarkable phrase in this statement is: “They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away”—the unconscious and unevaluated way of living everyday life.
The gift of Advent is that it challenges us to wake -up, to stay awake, and to be conscious of the many possibilities that God is giving to us to create moments of grace; to become better versions of ourselves.
This involves a process that I call [L.A.M]
L = Let go of baggage that is taking glory out of my live—regrets, past painful situations, addictions, negativities, behavioral excesses etc.
A = Acquire various virtues that will smoothen rough edges in my life and make me a better reflector of God’s grace in the world.
M = Maintain and service those aspects of my life that I judge to be good and virtuous.
May God grant us the grace for LAM during this Advent Season.
Comments