Room at the Inn?

Fr. Dan's sermon for Christmas focused on Luke's comment "there was no room for them" in the inn. Lk 2:7.

Why, he asked, was (and is) there no room for Christ in the inn?

First, because it was already occupied with other guests. There simply was no room. Others were there before, and the innkeeper didn't think to disturb them.

Second, the innkeeper didn't appreciate who his new guests were. He was unaware of their importance.

Third, the innkeeper wasn't willing to rearrange things in the inn to make room.Why should he? The inn was full and who were these people to put him out?

Fr. Dan invited us to ponder how we respond to Christ at our door. For, as Revelation says, "Here I stand, knocking at the door. If anyone hears me calling and opens the door I will enter his house and I will have supper with him And he with me." Rev. 3:20.

A Quiet Voice

Life's disappointments tax our faith in God's plan. And the temptation is to let our faith lapse and say to ourselves, "Since I don't know I won't believe. Since I can't see I won't hope."

In my case, in that temptation I heard a small voice saying to me, "Stay with the plan. You will gain all, including all that you think you have lost, all that you hope for, and even more, if you persevere."

In this season of waiting, I am trying to place my trust in that surprising, most welcome quiet voice.  It struck me that it is like the Lord's promise to David in the first reading from this 3rd Sunday of Advent (2 Samuel 7).  The Lord responds to David's wish to build Him a permanent house by promising to establish for David a house and kingdom that "shall endure forever before me", a promise far greater than David could ever have imagined.

The quote from St. Vincent de Paul offered in my commentary (Living with Christ) reinforces the point: "Surely the great secret of the spiritual life is to abandon to God all that we love by abandoning ourselves to all that God wishes, in perfect confidence that all will be for the best; and hence it has been said that all things turn to good for those who serve God."

What a gift is the Lord's promise in response to my fiat! In His economy, sacrificing my will for His will reap unimagined blessings.  I will try to cradle the Lord's promise in my heart this Christmas season.  A happy new year is sure to follow its birth in me!

I Agree Differently

The ways to be one with God are the spiritual practices of prayer, almsgiving and fasting. As we persist in these practices we turn more and more to God, we become more and more aware of our errors, our sinfulness, and become more and more like little Christs. Through these practices we clear out that space in us that God created for his residence. We clear out all the attachments and addictions and false selves we accumulate during our finite existence and make space for the visions of the infinite life that Christ promises to his faithful.

A Good Offense and a Good Defense in the Spiritual Battle

Our homilist today commented on today's gospel statement (Mt.11:11) that "the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force."  He said that we need a good offense and a good defense to enter into effective combat.

The defense, he said is penance, the offense, mortification.  These are the two basic elements in conversion.  Penance involves saying "I'm sorry," asking for forgiveness, and, most importantly, cleaning up the mess, the collateral damage that sin causes.  Mortification entails preparing oneself not to sin again.  Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are the main components of mortification.  By these means we keep the end (our death and judgment) in mind, and access the strength of grace against our proclivity to sin again.

So there is a force of good that we can invoke against the violence of the dark powers directed against the kingdom: Penance and Mortification. Let's use it!

Advent

To wait for... to hope for ... to anticipate. Not to act, for it is not our doing, this thing we await.  Patience! Quiet! Rest your hands. Sit and in silence ... watch and listen.