Advent Week Four – Reconciliation – Christmas Chaos – Incarnation

Vincentian Day of Prayer and Fast – Tuesday December 23, 2014

Dear Vincentian Family: We are in the final days of waiting. We have balanced society with Church and I hope Church has won out. I truly felt more people saying, “Merry Christmas” this year in the stores. I think it is because of the Filipino workers in our stores. You can see Jesus glowing in their eyes. There is joy everywhere and it should be the priority. We are loved and we should show it to all with our smiling faces and looks of joy. Everything is good with God and His love is eternal. Have a Merry, Happy, Blessed Christmas. Pray always for those in need and those suffering silently. Pray for all our clergy and beloved Pope Francis and our young people. Of course pray for your Vincentian family. Amen

Advent Week Four – Love is the theme. Love as Jesus loved. During this season of Advent, we wait in darkness together. Our Faith tells us the light is coming and like the star that lit the Magi’s path to Bethlehem, our faith will lead us to its source, which is Jesus who is love. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shined.” (Isaiah 9:2)   “Love one another as I have loved you”. (John 13:34) Light your final purple candle and on Christmas Eve, place a white candle in the centre. In our family we light the white candle on Christmas Eve and sing happy birthday as we move Mary and Joseph to the stable and we place Jesus in the manger. The time has come, however we continue to wait for the second coming. Be prepared. Stay awake and celebrate with love.

Reconciliation – As I write this, my mind is on reconciliation which is taking place this evening in my Church. I like to go to reconciliation regularly, perhaps not as much as I should. However, the special reconciliation service in the church usually at Advent and Lent is a moving experience. We are all sinners and at these events we see hundreds lining up to 6-8 priests and they are acknowledging they are sinners. This is a great gift of the Church. One can see the before and after picture of the young and old reconciling with God and also reconciling with those they have hurt or been hurt by. Yes, we are all sinners and God forgives us all the time. We just have to ask. We all need reconciliation. Our hearts get clogged up with everyday sins. Generally we do not have big sins, but we still need a cleansing just as our cars or house does. We would not stop cleaning up our car and house and so therefore it is very important to clean house internally. You are being called to reconciliation.

Christmas Chaos – Try as we might, we still get caught up in the Christmas chaos. I generally am an early shopper, but this year not so much. I like to park a distance from the store and pray as I walk into the inevitable crowds and the terror on their faces. This year my power shopping for all our gifts was amazing. This year I saw true joy, both in the weary shoppers and very weary staff. There were many smiles and many “Merry Christmas” Greetings. We did not find everything on our list but it didn’t matter. We are slow at getting our decorations up, but they are coming. Our first decoration is the Advent wreath and it is the center of things. The day was so pleasant in spite of the cold. It was foggy; we rarely get fog or humidity in my city. The frost on the trees was magical gift of white paintings from God. A masterpiece! My chaos was gone. Love flowed through me and each detail now is not a chore, but a happy preparation for the Celebration of Christ – the Saviour of the World.

Incarnation – In RCIA we are teaching the Incarnation tonight. God became man! This is the culmination of our Advent preparation. It is the amazing truth of the birth of our Lord. Everything leading up to Christmas and the Epiphany in the Christian Faith is known as Incarnation. God became Man! His birth illustrates His humanity and humility. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and is born human, just like us in everything except sin. He is the chosen one. Everything about His birth and death is proclaimed by the prophets. The incarnation in simple words from John: “The Word became flesh.” Jesus the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary (she herself born without sin) and became man to complete God, 3 persons in one – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – The Trinity. Live it this Christmas.

Blessings,

Lynn

Lynn L’Heureux is Special needs co-coordinator & Advisor of the Society of St Vincent de Paul Calgary Alberta Canada.

Her newsletter is translated into 3 languages, hopefully soon to be 4. They have a group which brings the prayer into China and it is translated into Mandarin and other Chinese dialects.