Be Optimistic – Vincentian Spirituality – I believe… – Advent First Week

Vincentian Day of Prayer and Fast

Be Optimistic

The Christmas ideal is different. Yes, take care of your health. But understand how important it is and central to the Christmas message, to be merry, to have a hopeful, positive, and optimistic attitude, even if your health is bad or if life is not at its best. The infant Jesus is lying in a barnyard crib, and yet the emotional atmosphere is glorious and full of hope. What a lesson for us living in a time of worldwide conflict and personal challenges.  -from The Soul of Christmas This quote brings me to stop and know who I am and what Christmas is.  We never start decorating until we have the Advent wreath in place.  This year I am still setting up Christmas Hampers for Craft.  Vincentians around the city submitted their choices of the neediest in their Conference.  I pray over the families of each one of them.  So this year we will have at least 14 which are over Crafts limit.  We are arranging to give small families a smaller hamper.  We have about 4 really large families and 4 normal or small families.  We have families that told us they want less than the $1000.00 dollar hamper.  We also got some volunteers who have agreed to help us deliver.  Things are slowly coming together and I still have time to finish.  Things will come together with Gods help.  I have been fasting and getting closer to God so that I may now Judge.  So far so good.  We all must do more for the coming of our Lord.  For me Tuesday fast is a great place to start.  Fasting from the hustle and bustle.  This will bring us closer to God.  We have to remember we are his servants. Tending his lambs and feeding His sheep.  We fast from judging and see Jesus in all we serve.  We fast from gossip which is a fast that brings us into a better world.  Instead of gossip give hugs and smiles.  A smile always returns when you give it and it starts the day off to many blessings and miracles.  Believe!  I have this reminder all over the house.  Believe Always!

Vincentian Spirituality

God leads us into the midst of the world and God waits for us among the poor. Christ invites us to participate in the mission and He sits with us in prayer.  Christ enables us to be charitable.  The theme has as a reflection to me and is rooted in the Vincentian experience of Jesus. The Vincentian charism and Vincentian spirituality are centered on an encounter with the poor Christ present among those men and women who are poor. There were two key questions that Saint Vincent had to answer: Who is Jesus? How do I follow Jesus? During the process of his conversion Vincent gradually began to understand the meaning of those two questions. His conversion was a process of coming to know Jesus and thus, walking the path of the disciples, the path of the Kingdom. We too can reach this horizon of know the Son of God.  We know we are called and maybe sometimes we take it for granted.  He calls us to see Him in the poor.  He calls us to be servant.  He says we are to tend to His lambs and feed His sheep.  This is what we say yes too. Blessed are those companions who transform discouragement into hope, those wounds and hurts will lead to the creation of a better world.  These are what we cannot forget.  We are not volunteers we are disciples led by Christ as we serve Him in the poor, the homeless, the addicted, the battered, the imprisoned and all who need us.  We serve as Christ would!

I believe…

…we don’t have to change friends if we understand that friends change. I believe… no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you once in a while and you must forgive them….true friendship and love continues to grow, even over the longest distance. You can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life. It has taking me a long time to become the person I want to be and I am still learning and growing. You should always leave loved ones with loving words.  It may be the last time you see them.  I believe…you can keep going long after you think you can’t. We are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel. Either you control your attitude or it controls you. Sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re down will be the ones to help you get back up. I believe…that sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry, not the right to be cruel. I believe…maturity has more to do with the experiences and what you’ve learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated. I believe…it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others.  We must learn to forgive ourselves letting God heal us, no matter how badly your heart is broken, and the world doesn’t stop for your grief.  Two people can look at the same thing and see something totally different.  I believe… our lives can be changed in a matter of minutes by unknown people. Even when you think you have no more to give; when a friend cries out to you, the strength to help will be there through a silent prayer. Know all credentials on the wall and awards do not make you a decent human being. The people you care about in life are taken from you too soon. The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything.

Advent First Week

As we’ve already seen, Advent is a time of waiting. But does this mean that we do nothing? That we sit like lumps? No. In fact, there is something very “active” about waiting. Do you recall how lively and attentive you are when you are eagerly waiting for someone to arrive? When you watch for every car that comes by when you are waiting at the airport? Every sense strains to take in what is happening. Your mind is alive with expectation; your spirit is jumping.  This is what waiting means in the spiritual sense; this is the mood of Advent. We’re invited to actively wait, attuned to the coming.  We wait and we pray.  We try to teach our children of the true meaning of Christmas.  We bring Santa to the side of the manger for the little ones.  We wait for family and the family dinner, but we also make it all about the birth of our Savior.  We work hard to give those in need a Christmas hamper with food, clothing, toys and special treats.  More on Advent next week.

Blessings, Lynn