First Saturday In Advent

WE ARE THE GIFTS WE ARE GIVEN

"But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's Gift." Eph. 4:7

Many things in our lives matter intensely to us, but those are what we must be careful to "hold lightly." Holding lightly to all that is important in our lives means remembering that we are not what we acquire and we accomplish as much as what we have received. The deepest joys come not from the money we earn, the friends we surround ourselves with, or the results we achieve. Rather, we are whom God made us to be in his infinite love. We are the gifts we are given, not just the conquests we make. As long as we keep running around, anxiously trying to affirm ourselves or be affirmed by others, we remain blind to the ONE who has loved us first, dwells in our heart, and has formed our truest self.

O God, may we be grateful for the incomparable gift of faith you have granted us through the redemptive grace of your Son, Jesus.


ADVENT MEDITATIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF HENRI NOUWEN

"LVING IN HOPE"