Being Welcoming

Being Welcoming

In a day or two our Church will be gloriously filled as we celebrate the coming of our Savior. There will be visitors from out of town visiting relatives as well as people who may live just down the street from us who haven’t been with us for a while. I was brought up to always put company first. I was to take their coats, smile warmly and offer them the best seat in the house. The goal being to make them feel as if they were in their own home. Our Church is very much like a home. We come together to worship, share a meal, and socialize before and after Mass. We are family.

Think back to last Christmas… Did you put on your “company best”? Did you welcome a newcomer to our family? Or… did you think to yourself, “that stranger took my pew!” Or ask… “whose car is in my usual parking space?” And then go grumbling and finding a new space to sit or park in. At Christmas-time we all have to shift from our usual seats at the dining room table to accommodate our guests. We open our hearts and pocketbooks to those in need. This is the spirit of Christmas. Should it be any different in our Church home?

This Christmas let us put on our “company best.” Today, before leaving, let us pick up any stray bulletins, gum wrappers and Cheerios to prepare for our guests. Let us at Christmas Mass give up our usual seats and let our company have the best seats in the house. Let us park further away so that those who are visiting will feel welcomed.

Let us welcome our company with open arms and warm hearts. You may never know the impact of a smile or a simple Merry Christmas will have on someone. Who knows? Perhaps instead of feeling like “company” they will begin to feel like family and a part of our home.

God Bless, Holly Clark

How was Your Day?

Praying Through Advent

How Was Your Day?

If you are like me you probably go over the events of the day and think about the things that went wrong and how to correct them or maybe you make a mental list of what you need to do tomorrow. Your mind is often racing in a million directions. All you want to do is quiet your mind and get a good night’s sleep.

A lot of us “say” prayers before going to bed or maybe read some scripture but have you ever actually shared your day with Jesus? Have you ever thought of conversing with Jesus about your daily worries and problems? Have you thanked God for the graces you have received during the day. Have you ever shared your hopes and dreams with Him?

St. Ignatius suggests that you take a few minutes every evening and look back over your day and examine how and where Christ was with you during the day:

Get comfortable and close your eyes

Let Christ show you this day as you lived it.

The people you met

The circumstances you encountered

The activities you engaged in

In Christ these things are God’s gifts to you, revealing His presence in a new way.

Recall the feelings and moods that were evoked:

Love, hope, contentment, joy, anger, fear, shame

These feelings can reveal your movement toward God or away from God

Sit with Christ and tell Him how you feel.

Listen to what Christ is telling you.

Thank God for the blessings of the day.

End with an Our Father…

 

This form of prayer will be challenging at first. We have a lot of “noise” in our heads and staying focused will require much practice… but always remember… Christ is with us until the end of time… God Bless… --Holly Clark

Advent: A Song in My Heart

Praying Through Advent

A Song in My Heart…

How often have you had a song floating around in your head that you cannot get rid of? You try humming a different song, or try to think about something else but your mind keeps returning to one song. This happens to me often and I never gave it much thought until I noticed it happening more frequently. I began to think that perhaps the Holy Spirit is speaking to me through music. I began to pay more attention to the lyrics and notes in my head and have realized the Spirit is indeed communicating things I need to hear. Praying with music can be a very spiritual and enriching experience. Advent is a time of prayer and this is an easy form of prayer that can be done in a car, at home, at Mass, etc. Here is one method of praying with music:

Choose a piece of music. It does not need to be a hymn or a particular genre or style. Settle down. Take a few minutes to become comfortable and still your mind Pray to the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray and to hear what the Lord is saying to you.

Play the song you have chosen. Pay attention to the feelings and images the songs stir up for you. After the song, reflect on it. Ask: What is this song saying? How does it speak to my life right now? How can I apply its meaning to my life? What might God be saying to me through this song? Thank God for these moments of insights you received. Record your experiences in a prayer journal for future reflection.

As we attend Mass this Advent let us sing out with strong voices and pay attention to the Spirit moving within us through song.

The faith of countless believers has been nourished by melodies flowing from the hearts of other believers,…In song, faith is experienced as vibrant joy, love, and confident expectation of the saving intervention of God.

Letter to Artists #12, Pope John Paul II, 1999

 

– God Bless, Holly Clark

Imaginative Prayer in Advent

Praying through Advent:
 Imaginative Prayer

A few weeks ago we were expecting Hurricane Sandy to hit our region hard. I prepared myself by stocking up on flashlights, batteries, and some spiritual reading. I was very prepared to be sitting in the dark with a little reading light and found myself actually wanting the electricity to go out! I was craving the stillness and peace darkness can bring. I was going to use the time to pray, to be with God, to contemplate my life and where God is in my life. Unfortunately my electricity stayed on and I never got to sit with God that day. Lucky for me Advent is here! Advent is a time of waiting in darkness for the light of Christ to come to pierce the darkness. It is a time of praying and watching. How do you pray?

            Today’s Gospel reading lends itself easily to a form of Contemplative prayer known as Imaginative Prayer: Read over Luke 21:25-28, 34-36. Imagine yourself part of the scene… Imagine you are at Jesus’ side, one of His disciples, and He is telling you about the signs in the sun, moon and stars- the signs that will come before He comes again in Glory… You may be frightened but Jesus tells you to be vigilant and to pray for strength.to overcome fear and anxiety. Is there anything in your life right now that makes you fearful? Are you facing troubled times and need strength? Read over the text a few times… still your mind and ask Jesus for what you need to get through until He comes again.

Take advantage of the Holy Season of Advent. Stay away from the Malls and busyness of the season. Look forward to the darkness of early winter to be with God. Look forward to the Light that will pierce the darkness.      God Bless, Holly Clark

Advent is Coming

Advent is Coming… Are You Ready?
Praying Through Advent

The season of holy Advent begins on December 2. Are you ready to prepare the way for our Lord? The season of Advent is a time of expectation, we are reminded of the coming of Christ not only at Christmas, but of His second coming in glory at the end of time. This is a time to welcome grace into our lives, and a time for a new “advent” of Christ into our lives.

            We begin December, in the Northern Hemisphere in darkness and so too Advent. We await and seek out the light that will bring brightness to the darkest places of our lives. We long for Christ, whom we know will lead us out of the darkness and will shine his face upon us lifting us up in love and hope. Our liturgical celebrations echo that feeling of hope and expectation of Christ’s return. Christ’s return may seem to be something that won’t happen anytime soon but the reality is the time of His return is NOW! Are you ready?

            For some Advent is a time of rushing around, Christmas shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc. There seems to be very little time to even think about Christ’s coming to meet us. We already have the darkness illuminated by all the Christmas lights and décor (before Thanksgiving no less!). But this year, let us try to add prayer to our lives. Look forward to the darkness, stillness and peacefulness that the nights bring. Let us add prayer to the top of our Christmas todo lists. Over the next several weeks We will explore many types of prayer... prayer can be done by everyone at any time in a multitude of ways…