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Advent Thoughts
Thursday, December 15, 2016 11:26
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Advent Thoughts
I am approaching my first Christmas at Holy Family, almost a year has passed since moving into the parish, I am no longer “the new priest” and as the new year is soon to introduce itself, I am in reflective mood.
Advent has been a busy time, this is not unexpected, the parish is not unlike many up and down the country, and the pastoral call from day to day is full on. Funerals, sick calls, liturgies, schools, hospital visits, administration, correspondence, all continue at a pace during advent. Prayer and the spiritual life are not neglected, as the reason for the work being done is put into perspective by a few precious moments before the Lord in adoration. It is not about me, it is for the glory of God!
Even though saying that it is not about me…This coming year heralds two significant anniversaries for me personally; my 50th birthday in January, and the 25thanniversary of the gift of the priesthood. The 5th July 1992, my ordination day, was a momentous day in my life, and I look back with a sense of gratitude and with a sense of humility. Being 50 is just another breath taken! But it does make me stop and think where is the time going… where too, has it gone already!
I never felt worthy of being a priest, and the great lesson from the passing years is that I never will be! I don’t stress about it, I just hope that despite my flaws, my many failings and weaknesses, I can still turn to Christ and say “Here I am Lord, I come to do your will!” Priesthood is not about worthiness, suitability, or aptitude for the job, rather it is a gift, a calling, a affirmation of the indiscriminate and eternal love of God, who revealed his nature in the stable at Bethlehem and reveals that nature every day since then.
I do not have a superman logo on my chest, I am a frail, finite, weak human being, who when I cooperate with God’s grace can be a good priest and who, when I do not cooperate with God’s grace, frequents the confessional like any other sinner seeking that encounter with Christ, that, to take a line from St John the Baptist, a significant figure during advent, “sets the road straight again.”
Changing tact for a moment, the sacking of Gary Rowett, the Birmingham City manager the other day should have been tinged with joy, our rivals getting rid of a manager, as an Aston Villa fan I should have greeted the news with glee. But it shocked me, saddened me, left me wondering how they announced the news to the manager who had just won another game for the club, perhaps they said “Happy Christmas, here is your sack… not the one with presents in or any festive cheer, but the sack that says clear off, you are not a big enough name for our purposes!” one word sums it up… delusion.
Even in this commercial, money crazy, world of football I was taken aback by the ruthless action of the club. The owners of Blues are expressing their ego’s, by making a statement about who they think they are, but I suspect, and rather hope, that it will backfire spectacularly.
The Bethlehem Stable
Lord, bless us all during this advent
Keep us aware that here is where we are sent
Called to embrace the message of the Bethlehem stable
In weakness, in frailty, to proclaim Christ, as best as we are able.
Fr Patrick Brennan © 2016
Source: http://humblepiety.blogspot.com/2016/12/advent-thoughts.html
