So I invite you to simply take a few deeper breaths.
Receive the gift of stillness,
Of peace,
Receiving the grace to be present here and now.
Remembering that Jesus,
Holy Spirit,
The Father are fully present to us with love,
With kindness,
With acceptance.
So this is Mark 13,
24 to 37.
But in those days,
After that suffering,
The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.
And the stars will be falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
Then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds,
From the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
From the fig tree,
Learn its lesson.
As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves,
You know that summer is near.
So also when you see these things taking place,
You know that he is near at the very gates.
Truly I tell you,
This generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
But my words will not pass away.
But about that day or hour,
No one knows,
Neither the angels in heaven nor the Son,
But only the Father.
Beware,
Keep alert,
For you do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man going on a journey when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge,
Each with his work,
And commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.
Therefore,
Keep awake,
For you do not know when the master of the house will come,
In the evening or at midnight or at cock crow or at dawn,
Or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.
And what I say to you,
I say to all,
Keep awake.
So on this second reading,
I invite you to notice any words or phrases that stand out to you,
That grab your attention.
But in those days,
After that suffering,
The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.
And the stars will be falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
Then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds,
From the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
From the fig tree,
Learn its lesson.
As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves,
You know that summer is near.
So also,
When you see these things taking place,
You know that he is near at the very gates.
Truly,
I tell you,
This generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
But my words will not pass away.
But about that day or hour,
No one knows,
Neither the angels in heaven nor the Son,
But only the Father.
Beware,
Keep alert,
For you do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man going on a journey,
When he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge,
Each with his work and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.
Therefore,
Keep awake,
For you do not know when the master of the house will come,
In the evening or at midnight or at cock crow or at dawn,
Or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.
And what I say to you,
I say to all,
Keep awake.
And on this third and final reading,
Welcome the words or phrases that stood out to you to go deeper and to bring you the gift that they're offering.
But in those days,
After that suffering,
The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.
And the stars will be falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
Then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds,
From the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
From the fig tree,
Learn its lesson.
As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves,
You know that summer is near.
So also,
When you see these things taking place,
You know that he is near at the very gates.
Truly,
I tell you,
This generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
But my words will not pass away.
But about that day or hour,
No one knows,
Neither the angels in heaven nor the Son,
But only the Father.
Beware,
Keep alert,
For you do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man going on a journey,
When he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge,
Each with his work and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.
Therefore,
Keep awake,
For you do not know when the master of the house will come,
In the evening or at midnight or at cock crow or at dawn,
Or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.
And what I say to you,
I say to all,
Keep awake.
So I'm going to offer a very brief reflection that connects with that reading.
There is a law of the cosmos,
Which is also the law of the Christ.
The cosmos is formed in the truth of the Christ,
As it has come forth from that same truth.
The truth of the Christ is this,
Life,
Death,
Life.
Light,
Dark,
Light,
Everywhere,
In us,
In all of nature,
Built into every cell of the cosmos,
Cycling through our days and seasons.
Death,
Life,
Death.
Dark,
Light,
Dark.
For us in the northern hemisphere,
We're in the darkness of winter and we see death everywhere.
Bare trees,
Dead leaves,
Short days,
Long nights.
It's a time of darkness,
Stillness,
Silence.
The place where we are held in the dark of the womb,
In the dark of winter.
A place where we pray to stay awake and not miss the coming birth or the coming light.
We walk the path of death that leads to new life and new birth.
We journey through darkness towards light.
A quote by Meg Casey,
December is a holy month.
Maybe it is the dark silky silence that descends so early that speaks to me of reverence.
Maybe it's the promise that December holds that no matter how dark,
How cold,
How empty it can get,
The light is coming back.
Something always shifts in me when December arrives.
I embrace the darkness and I'm eager for the coming solstice when the whole world is still and holds its breath,
Waiting to be reborn again.
Everything about Advent teaches us that this darkness,
Like unto death,
Is not the place where God isn't,
But the place where God is and where we are held in God's womb.
As the child in the womb doesn't know when the birth pains will start,
Neither do we,
But we do know that the birth of new life will come.
As we wait,
We wait with hope.
Advent invites us for us a time to connect with our deep desire and longing,
To connect intentionally with what we're waiting for.
And as we go into a time of silence for your own reflection,
I offer some questions that may or may not be helpful.
Where am I being invited to stay awake whilst I wait for new birth?
What longings do I discover as I wait in the stillness of night?
Where in my life do I sense things dying?
Where in my life do I feel the edges of something new?
