preparation. I invite you to use them in your time of daily prayer. Each reflection will begin with
a reading from the Gospels in the Daily Office Lectionary (Year 2), and then a few comments and
questions to direct your personal time of prayer and meditation on the Word, as prepare for
the coming of the Word Made Flesh.
First Sunday of Advent
Read Luke 21.5-19
http://www.biblegateway.com/
"By your endurance, you will gain your lives" (Luke 21.19). Sometimes the season before Christmas
seems like an endurance contest, doesn't it! Enduring the lines at the grocery store, the department
store, the gas station. Making it to Christmas is a goal we set and hope to achieve - if we can only
manage to get everything on our list successfully crossed off!
The season of Advent is supposed to be a time of peaceful preparation, though our culture would press
us to greater frenzy rather than greater calm. We can, however, resist the pressure and make ourselves
still before the Lord. Jesus in this gospel reading tells of great tribulation - the destruction of the Temple,
warring nations, earthquakes and famine, terrors and persecutions. He warns his followers that they
will be brought before authorities and turned over even by their own family members because they are
witnessing to the Truth of the Lord's identity and mission. And that they should not shrink back from
this opportunity to bear testimony in the face of great pressures.
It's unlikely that any of us will face the threat of persecution for bearing witness to Jesus during this
season of Advent. But do take a moment as this season begins to ask yourself the question: how
can I mark this season differently this year as a time of testimony to Jesus Christ the Lord? How can
I approach the coming of Christmas in such a way that others see my faith in action - not for the purpose
of calling attention to myself, but for the purpose of pointing attention to Him?
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