Dear Friends,
On this Second Sunday of Advent, the Letter of Paul to the Philippians speaks to our hearts with the way all of you having been co-journeying with us in prayer
in the face of all the challenges, stressors and losses we and our Community have faced in these last few weeks. And so in a certain sense Paul’s Letter becomes the Letter of Jean and Ron to The Spirit of Life Community: “We pray always with joy in our every prayer for all of you, because of your partnership in the Gospel with us from the first day until now We are confident of this, that the One who began a good work in you will continue to perfect it right up until the day of Christ Jesus. God is our witness, how much we long for each of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is our prayer that your love may abound ever more and more both in understanding and in discernment, so that with a clear conscience and blameless conduct you may learn to value the things that really matter up to the very day of Christ. It is our wish that you be found rich in the harvest of justice which Jesus Christ has ripened in you, to the glory and praise of God.”
As is our practice during Advent, we will celebrate a Communal Rite of Reconciliation this 2nd Sunday of Advent. An aspect of our rite includes “Touchstones of Transformation”, which we share below for your inspiration and Advent pondering.
Touchstones of Transformation
We reflect on what we have done and what we have left undone:
• “This is what Yahweh asks of you, only this:
To act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
How well have I lived this?
In what ways might I have lived this more fully?
• “When did I see hungry and feed you, a stranger and take you in, sick or in prison and visit you? When you did it to these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to Me.” (Matthew 25: 37-40.)
How responsive have I been to the needs of others?
What more might I do?
• “Every human being is granted one more chance, one more opportunity to start life all over again. Just as God has the power to begin , we have the power to continue by beginning again and again.” (Elie Wiesel)
In what ways do I give up on myself or others too easily?
Where could I give myself or others a new chance to begin?
• “Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth: ‘You owe me.’ Look what happens with a love like that:
It lights the whole sky. (Hafiz)
In what ways do I keep track of blessings or failures and compare myself to others?
In what ways do I bring light into my world?
We remind you that during these winter months our Eucharist is at 4:00PM, until the clock changes again in the spring, Sunday, March 10th, when we will return to our 5:00PM time.
At The Spirit of Life, we are intentional about following the call of the Spirit in our lives, by deepening our understanding of what it means to be humans who are truly led by the Holy Spirit. We invite you to come and walk with us in prayer and action at The Spirit of Life. Through our time of prayer and sharing together, we work together to grow in our self-understanding and in our relationships with God and with God’s people. We celebrate the gift of our faith and the responsibility that is ours as followers of Jesus Christ. It is our prayer that what we as a community experience in our praying together will overflow into the rest of our lives, making us more fully human and more ‘whole’….holy! We invite you to join us in this endeavor and journey with us as we seek to grow in our love of God and to grow in our capacity to be living expressions of God’s loving peace and justice in our world.
Blessings of boldness and presence for peace and justice in your corner of the world!
Ron & Jean