Category: Advent

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Learning gentleness.

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Rest can be in very short supply as we try to juggle the realities of complex and challenging, lives. That’s especially true at this time of year with all its commitments, expectations and anxieties. So these words from today’s gospel really resonated with me:

“Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

It’s one of those passages I can never hear enough. With the best will the world, however much I reflect on it, I will invariably forget it again as I rush from pillar to post with my mind full of all the tasks I have to complete. So today I’m especially grateful for Psalm 102 which reinforced the gospel message:

“The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy.”

Its words point me back to the gospel where Jesus offers me a different way of being, inviting me to allow him to show me his gentleness. He offers to teach me to be as gentle towards myself as he is. His offer of rest from my burdens stands regardless of whether or not the burdens I carry are trivial or essential, self-imposed or passed on by others.

It seems to me that in these challenging times we need this message of gentleness and compassion more than ever. The harder times are, the heavier our burdens the more we need a safe place to rest, a place where burdens can be acknowledged and handed over, a place where we can be held and loved.

Where are you aware of Christ offering you a safe place to rest today?

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Making space.

The Annunciation by Henry Ossawa Tanner 1896

Today I’m reflecting on the Annunciation. Luke tells the story beautifully, depicting the encounter as a moment of calm, serenity and stillness.

Beautiful, moving and inspiring as these portrayals are, I sometimes think that in some way they miss the mark, their beauty and serenity can make it seem like Mary’s response was a foregone conclusion, the outcome already settled before the question is even posed. It’s easy to see how hindsight would lead us to think that. I suspect that the reality was somewhat different. St Bernard of Clairvaux writes of the Annunciation:

“The angel is waiting for your answer, it is time for him to return to the God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady…If you consent straightaway shall we be saved…by one little word of yours in answer shall we all be made alive.”

His words convey a sense of uncertainty and waiting make the whole encounter seem more realistic. Henry Ossawa Tanner’s “Annunciation” portrays this sense for me. It encompasses both the divine and the human as Mary’s room, slightly messy with unmade bed and rumpled rug, is illuminated by the Gabriel’s light.

The look on Mary’s face has such a questioning, uncertain quality that it’s very clear that she struggling to make sense of this strange occurrence I can almost hear the “but how can this be?…” echoing through her mind as she tries to make sense of the strange occurrence. When Mary’s answer came it was the result of a completely free choice so she could respond with her whole heart:

‘Let what you have said be done to me.’

We too are called to welcome the Word into the depths of our hearts, discovering God’s will for us and allowing it to shape our lives. Like Mary, we are free to accept or reject that invitation.

Where do you find space for God’s Word in your heart this Advent?

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Finding Direction.

Photo by Raul Petri on unsplash.com

John the Baptist is one of the main figures of Advent. He is both an uncomfortable and challenging figure. Like so many of the other prophets, he is clearly an outsider, living on the fringes of his society.

Yet his message is clear and central. The Messiah is on his way, and we, like John’s first listeners, are called to prepare ourselves for that coming:

“A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.”

We hear these words every year, read, sung, performed. They are so familiar that it’s easy for us to dismiss their impact for us today. As we rush from pillar to post, busy with Christmas preparations, they can become part of the general background noise of this time of year, words we hear but don’t really listen to.

If, however, we are able to pause and allow them to sink into our hearts they have the potential to be life changing. They carry the question of how we are to prepare for this coming. John also has the answer to that, as he goes through the district calling people to repentance.

He calls us to prepare for the coming of Messiah by looking at where our lives might have to change. Repentance calls us to pause, look at the direction of our lives taking, and to ask ourselves if we need to change direction so that we can be orientated once again towards Christ change direction so that we are re-orientated towards Christ.

What helps you to reflect on the direction your life is taking this Advent?


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A place of consolation

Photo by Nijwam Swargiary on Unsplash

Life can be difficult and challenging, we all carry burdens that sometimes feel too heavy to bear. We can easily feel overwhelmed by sadness, grief, anxiety or a myriad of other painful emotions that can leave us feeling isolated and hopeless.

It can feel worse as we move through Advent towards Christmas with all it’s expectations, memories, hopes and disappointments. It can be especially hard to acknowledge these feelings when society expects us to be upbeat, positive and in control of every aspect of life. Today’s first reading, from the prophet Isaiah, offers a hopeful alternative to what can feel like a double bind. He writes:

“God will be gracious to you when he hears your cry; when he hears he will answer.”

We often think we have to be on our best behaviour in God’s presence. We bring God what we think are the “nice” parts of ourselves, and push the other parts aside. Isaiah suggests a different approach. He promises that if bring our pain and our challenges to Gods’ presence we will receive consolation and healing.

Isaiah reassures us that God will be there, waiting to listen to whatever we need to share. He tells us that God will not only hear our cry, but will respond with love. Isaiah tells us God will stay with us, healing our hurt, wiping away our tears and offering us the promise of new life.

Where is God inviting you to bring your burdens into Gods’ presence this Advent?

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Advent Benedictine Spirituality Christ Gospel Lectio Divina Scripture

People of Joy

Photo by Denys Nevozhai on unsplash.com

Advent calls us to be people of joy. We’re called to rejoice in the knowledge that is always with us. We can rejoice because we know that that we are surrounded by the love of God, a love that seeks to fulfil our hopes and our desires. This beautiful and consoling thought is taken up again today by the prophet Isaiah as he describes how God will transform the lives of his people, welcoming them home to a new place of safety. He writes:

“The lowly will rejoice in the Lord even more and the poorest exult in the Holy One of Israel; for tyrants shall be no more, and scoffers vanish…and all be destroyed who are disposed to do evil…”

It’s a promise to put those most in need in the forefront, to protect them and bring them to a place where their dignity will be respected and they will be truly valued. As I look around our world it’s tempting to see this as at best a beautiful fantasy, a dream that has no place in the harsh reality of a modern life that leaves no place for dreamers.

Yet Advent is the season for dreamers. It calls us to risk dreaming, even when it seems foolish. This is not an escapist fantasy. In the darkest time of the year Advent invites us to look into the darkness and dream of the light that it cannot overcome. It encourages us to imagine the very best we can be in these dark times, so that we have a vision to work towards, something to aim for. We won’t achieve the perfection we dream of, but we can move towards it, inching towards a world that is kinder, more hopeful and more joyful.

Where is Christ inviting you rejoice and dream this Advent?

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Trust in the Lord

Image by Ri Butov from pixabay.com

At the darkest and coldest time of year Advent offers us hope. It carries a clear message that however unlikely it might feel we will pass through this dark time into the light of new life that the Incarnation promises us.

In today’s first reading Isaiah calls the people to keep trusting, regardless of appearances, in spite of all they have lost and suffered:

“Trust in the Lord for ever, for the Lord is the everlasting Rock…”

He knows that it is not easy for people who have suffered and lost everything to trust, yet he carries on with his message of hope. He carries on believing that the promises God has made to the people will be fulfilled. Even in the darkest of times Isaiah’s message to the people is to wait in hope for the light to return.

As we sit in our own dark times it’s a valuable message for us too. In the gospel Jesus shows us how we can keep on trusting in such times. He tells the story of the wise person who built their house on rock to remind us that it is the rock of his word and his teaching that will sustain us whatever storms we face.

Where are you being called to trust that Christ will bring his light into the heart of your dark times?


You can find a short reflection on light in darkness on Follow the Star.

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Discovering blessing.

Image by Наталья Коллегова from Pixabay

Listening to follow the star this morning it struck me that However small and faltering our faith might seem we can discover God’s blessing in our lives. Today’s readings paint a beautiful picture of the blessings God showers on us. Isaiah shows the people of God being welcomed home to a place of safety, plenty and consolation:

“On this mountain he will remove the mourning veil covering all peoples, and the shroud enwrapping all nations, he will destroy Death for ever. The Lord will wipe away the tears from every cheek…”

In the gospel, Matthew’s version of the feeding of the 5000, Jesus makes that vision a reality for the crowds who follow him. Both readings offer us a glimpse of the Kingdom in our midst, of the blessings a loving God showers on us.

It’s easy to believe in such blessings when our lives are relatively easy, when our societies feel stable and secure. But we live in times of great uncertainty, suffering and fear. That makes it harder to discover and acknowledge the blessings that God is still showering on us.

Advent calls us to be open to the possibility of blessing even in times when all our instinct tells us to be wary. This is not a new situation, all through their challenging and difficult history the people of Israel believed in and sought God’s blessing even when it seemed very far from them.

Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah and Joseph stayed open to the possibility of blessing even in hard and dangerous circumstances. They were able to journey on trusting that if they lived with integrity they would receive the blessings God promised.

Where are you discovering God’s blessing in these challenging times?

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The promise of peace

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Today I’m focussing on the promise of peace that Advent brings us. This promise is laid out in the vision Isaiah shares in the 1st reading:

“He will wield authority over the nations and adjudicate between many peoples; these will hammer their swords into ploughshares, their spears into sickles. Nation will not lift sword against nation, there will be no more training for war.”

Although we always long for peace these words have particular resonance today when the threat and horror of war is both real and close.

Peace comes as a gift and a grace, but that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing we can do to prepare for it and nurture it. Anyone involved in conflict resolution will testify that peace requires work and is hard won.

If we long for the peace Isaiah speaks of we have to be prepared to have a hard look at ourselves. We need to acknowledge our fears and prejudices. We need to be prepared to put ourselves aside, to let go of some dearly held understandings. We need to be prepared to trust people who may have given us good reason to be suspicious. We need to be willing to compromise, to listen and to allow ourselves to be changed by what we hear.

Follow the Star suggests that Advent calls us to seek peace through service and humility. It calls us to look at how we shape our lives and our interactions in ways that help to build and share peace with others. It brings to mind St Benedict’s instruction to organise things in the community so that “no one is disturbed in the house of God.”

Where is Christ calling you to seek and nurture peace in your life this Advent?

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Advent Benedictine Spirituality Christ Divine Office Gospel Lectio Divina Liturgy Scripture

On the threshold.

Photo by Ales Krivec on Unsplash

The first Sunday of Advent is a threshold moment, beginning of a new season and a new liturgical year. It’s a time to embrace the hope and promise that Christ brings in the midst of the many darknesses and challenges of life.

The gospel for the day acknowledges the challenges and the effect they can have on us:

“There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in agony, bewildered by the clamour of the ocean and its waves; people dying of fear as they await what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.”

It’s a bleak picture that has much resonance with what we see going on around us today. In the face of it it’s tempting to give into hopelessness and despair. But Jesus calls us in a different direction:

“When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.”

Instead of despair he calls us to hope, to hang on through the challenges, knowing that they are a sign that the freedom he promises is on it’s way. If I’m honest that feels like a very tall order in today’s troubled world. Yet the gospel offers a way make that a reality. Jesus says:

“Stay awake, praying at all times…”

At the darkest and busiest time of the year Advent invites us to pause. Jesus invites us to stand firm, to keep focussed on him and to allow our anxieties to be stilled as we wait in hope for his coming.

As we start our Advent journey how are you being called to wait in hope?