Advent Meditations: Saturday 22 December
| Sat Dec 22 |
am: 55 pm: 138, 139 |
Isa 10:20-27 | Jude 17-25 | Luke 3:15-20 |
Notes on the Liturgical Feast for Today : saint chrysogonus, teacher and martyr , 304 on the Eastern Calendar / O Antiphon of the Day – O King of the Nations/ O Rex Gentium
Saint Chrysogonus was the teacher of the Great Martyr Saint Anastasia. When Diocletian learned that the prisons of Rome were overcrowed with Christians who resisted torture, he ordered them all to be killed in a single night, and for Chrysogonus to be sent to him at Aquileia. Saint Anastasia followed her teacher at a distance.
The emperor interrogated Chrysogonus personally, but could not make him renounce his faith. Therefore, he had him beheaded and thrown into the sea..
Biblical Meditation : In the letter from Jude one might say he gives excellent holiday advice as he encourages us to persevere in the faith. rooted in the Scriptures seeking communion with God, and with each other. While Jude warns of false teachers leading astray, we have many falsehoods to lead us astray from the one whom we await. During these holydays with many distractions we must also seek deeper communion with God. Jude reminds us in these days that Christians persevere in communion with God by means of “building,” “praying,” and “waiting.” In times of family gatherings and social settings this may not be always easy to be and do, thus the call to persevere.
PRAYER: Lord, help me in these final days not to dwell on my own wishes and expectations but on your will and the embracing of a holy expectation. Please show to me the countless opportunities to submit to your will that come my way each day and give me grace to live into that holy vocation. Give me the humility I need and help me to remember that humbleness and the simple joy of your birth is what these coming days are about. Guide me in rejoicing in and with the people you give to me as gifts, now and always.
Spiritual Discipline /Activity – Seek out a quiet place and make out a short list of some small ways you can be counter cultural in your observance of the 12 Days of Christmas. Use the lines of the Carol the 12 Days of Christmas and assess what the Lord has given you in abundance and honor that gift each of the 12 days. For example on the first day of Christmas my true God gave to me, one loving wife. One the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two blessed brother, one loving wife etc. Use the to do an inventory in preparing like John for the days of Christ-mas.
Ancient Words/Present Grace: “We have been called to be fruitful – not successful, not productive, not accomplished. Success comes from strength, stress, and human effort. Fruitfulness comes from vulnerability and the admission of our own weakness.—Henri J.M. Nouwen
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
