RBWords - Volume 30 - Number 11: November 2017
Something to Think About
r. b. words – volume 30 – number 11 – November 2018
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT –
The celebration of Thanksgiving is just past us with its wonderful reminder of gratitude for blessings, but it has also unfortunately become the opening day of the Christmas shopping season. Some stores even opened on the evening of Thanksgiving Day so that shoppers could take advantage of what is now known as Black Friday (Why? I don’t know.) Then came Small Business Saturday, and I am writing this on Cyber Monday. Was there some name for Sunday besides the feast of Christ the King? The newspapers are full of economic forecasts that seem to make the success of the season depend on how much money is spent.
Next Sunday is the beginning of the liturgical year – the First Sunday of Advent. That season is supposed to be a time of hope and preparation (besides shopping and decorating) for the celebration of the birth of Christ. Those who work in the fields of counseling or pastoral ministry know that hope can be in short supply for many people in the midst of all the celebration. St. Paul, in the second scripture for next Sunday from 1 Thessalonians writes: “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you, so as to strengthen your hearts….” The greatest gift of all is love, and a wrapped present may not express it. Hope comes when a person knows he or she is genuinely loved and given a reason to live! The birth of Christ shows love personified. Can we personify love in the season of Advent so that love can be the best gift we give and receive at Christmas? IT’S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
It Has Been Said
“The real church is not always a building or a holy site, but a place of conscience and spirit inside a person, accessible to them without their having to travel to the Holy Land, Rome, London, Salt Lake City, Mecca, Lourdes, or the neighborhood church. The ladder upon which angels ascend and descend between heaven and earth can be found everywhere: nature itself is a cathedral and, inside each of us, there’s a church.”
From WRESTLING WITH GOD – Finding Hope and Meaning in Our Daily Struggles to be Human, by Ronald Rolheiser OMI
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