stay awake!

Dec 3, 2017

Happy Advent!

For those of us who follow the life of the church we can also say Happy New Year since today, the first Sunday of Advent, is the first day of the new Church year. I’m looking forward to celebrating Masses today both in the Hurunui and this afternoon at St. Mary’s pro-Cathedral in Christchurch at 5.30.

In today’s gospel you will hear the exhortation “stay awake” (or in other translations “keep alert”).

The challenge of being really awake is that we experience every emotion and every mood every day. While we don’t mind the good moments, the pain and struggle and stress gets a bit much.  Instead of seeing difficult circumstances as a pathway to greater maturity, we too often use busyness, noise, activity, drink, drugs and sex to numb the pain. But when we come-to again we realise that these escapes don’t work and they never deliver the relief they promise…

Advent Reflections Index
Friday 1 DecemberUltimate Journey
The greatest journey of all time – God has come to us. (video)
Saturday 2 DecemberA new beginning
beyond what binds us, accepting new options.
Sunday 3 December – Stay Awake
When we are alive to the full reality of life, we are more ready for God

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts

moving waters

moving waters

Bible questions still pop up regularly in quiz shows and they often cost otherwise sharp players much needed points.
I’m ready for a question asking for the two names for the last book of the Bible. The book often known as Apocalypse is perhaps more often referred to as the Book of Revelation.
It’s common (thanks to movies) to think of an apocalypse as a devastating and unwelcome time of destruction.

to dream

to dream

The pics I use on these daily posts are sometimes snapped by me, and often borrowed from free-use websites. I thought it might be interesting to move towards using only my own snaps, and then only those taken in the past 24 hours. We’ll see how I go.
I took the pic above yesterday morning on an early walk.

to really see

to really see

Perhaps we find the miracles of Jesus too difficult to understand. How can we cope with what we may not have seen with our own eyes?
Many people cope with the miraculous by reducing it to what they can understand. They say Jesus just increased the blind man’s psychological vision, or opened his eyes of faith rather than actually giving him physical sight.

the rich earth

the rich earth

Over the years I have celebrated hundreds of funerals, many well prepared with family and friends gathering to celebrate the life of the one they love. There are efficient funeral directors, beautiful flowers, glossy brochures, photographs and video presentations, eulogies and even artificial grass and sterilised sand at the graveside.

Patrick’s day

Patrick’s day

Most people who celebrate on St. Patrick’s day today think of wearing green and enjoying good Irish music, Guinness and perhaps dancing at an Irish pub. But it’s easy to forget that Patrick was a robust disciple of Jesus Christ who brought the Good News of the ultimate and eternal liberation through Jesus Christ to the people of Ireland.