It’s an odd seasonfor us, not just this holiday season of December, but this season of loss that wehave journeyed through since 2005. This particularadvent season has been one of deep reflection. Watching and waiting for thepromise that we know we were given, and walking through dreadfully dark valleyshas become our new norm, and we identify with many of the passages in thePsalms and Isaiah, longing and waiting and watching for deliverance.
We observe, as ifwith new eyes, prosperity celebrations of others, while traditional shopping,baking, and decorating are not occurring for the first time in our personalfamily history. The money simply is nothere this year, and deep down, there is an acceptance and peace that isdifficult to articulate. We are forcedto dig deeper, seeking and striving for the eternal rather than the temporal.
Like a healingbalm, today’s reading includes this responsorial psalm:
Ps24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
R.Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.
The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.
The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.
MerryChristmas! Especially this year, wecelebrate Jesus, the Light of the World. May He shine intothe dark corners of our hearts, turning darkness into light in us.
Happy Birthday,Jesus!
New Things 