Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Advent 1: Keep Watch and Pray

Lincoln's Log 12-2-12


“Be vigilant at all times...”
(Lk. 21:36)

This is the time of year when the church issues a wake up call to all disciples. The nights are getting longer. It is getting harder and harder to get out of bed each morning. And the church cries out like an annoying alarm clock “wake up!” I don't know about you, but I want to roll over and hit the snooze button. Staying spiritually awake in the midst of the darkness that surrounds us is an incredible challenge.

But as disciples, we are called to be vigilant. Like sentries on guard duty, we stay awake through the darkness and watch for signs of trouble. We also long for the dawn when our watch will end.
What do we do while we watch? We pray. Praying keeps us spiritually awake and tuned into the Spirit so that we know what we are looking for in the darkness.

This Advent I would encourage you to deepen your life of prayer. Stay awake, be vigilant, and pray. We are offering a wonderful tool to help you pray this Advent. The resource “Give Us This Day” is available in the church entryway. I have been praying with this resource for quite some time now. The morning prayer, readings from Mass, and evening prayer are great at helping to establish a simple daily routine of prayer that is tuned to the prayer of the church. The reflections and other resources are invaluable. It is some of the best spiritual reading available in a small package, perfect for a few minutes while you wait in line or for your computer to catch up..

At St. Rose we will be praying Morning Prayer from the Give Us This Day resource every weekday at 7:30am. I would encourage each of you to take advantage of this resource and this time for prayer.
May this Advent help us stay awake in the dark and keep watch together through prayer.

Peace,


Lincoln A. Wood

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