Link to Love’s Pure Light Advent Devotional here:
https://tinyurl.com/yysjvwjm
Psalm 126 Habakkuk 3:13-19 Matthew 21:28-32
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘺𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.
–St. Thérèse of Lisieux
There stands before us today, and every day, an invitation into faithful obedience. This entry into the way of Jesus is for all who read these words, regardless of where you were yesterday, or where you may find yourself tomorrow. Though we may have failed countless times before, the gospel call to repentance can still be heard, received, and obeyed.
In many ways, this is the gift of the Christian year. Advent is an annual reminder and encouragement to renew our commitment to hear and obey the commands of Christ. Though our Lord only once entered this world bodily, our need for him to be born anew within us is unending. Like a misaligned car that pulls to the left or right, we as humans face a lifelong temptation to deviate from the path that lies before us. We are, as an old hymn says, “prone to wander.”
Jesus reminds us in Matthew 21 that faithfulness is found, not simply in the words we speak, but in and through the lives we live. The will of the father is done by the son who obeys, even though he first resisted the command given to him. It is not how you begin that defines you, but ultimately, how you end. As we read yesterday, we must forget what lies behind and instead strain forward to what lies ahead (Phil 3:13). To forget the past is not to pretend it didn’t happen but is to remove its power over your life. In Christ, your past is redeemed and transformed into a glorious future as you faithfully follow him in the present.
𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸
Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲
Fasting is meant to cultivate a hunger for God by consuming less in other areas of life. In order to do this, we must fast from excess, learning to live with less and allow our hunger to move us into spaces of greater fidelity towards Christ. To do this today, as you prepare food to eat, consume half of the food you would typically eat.
