Story of Advent 2012

Prepare in the wilderness a highway for our God.
~Isaiah 40:3~

I searched God's lexicon to fathom "Bethlehem" and "Calvary"
It simply said: See "Love"
~Gordon Gilsdorf~

To you, my God,
I lift my soul,
I trust in you;
let me never come to shame.
Do not let my enemies laugh at me.
No one who waits for you is
ever put to shame.
~Psalm 24:1-3~

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
for the Almighty has done great things for me.
~Luke 1:46,49~

How depict the invisible?
How picture the inconceivable?
How give expression to the limitless,
the immeasurable, the invisible?
~St. John of Damascus~

On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
~Isaiah 11:1~

Advent
by Sr. Christine Schenk, CSJ

I wait
with quickened hope
for crooked paths
to straighten,
with tough-soul'd
anguish,
while blinded
keepers of the keys
shut out
God's own.
(If such a thing were possible.)
I wait,
and will not be
dismayed.
For tiny shoot
of Jesse tree
took root in me
to love
transform,
give sight set free.

Making the House Ready for the Lord
By Mary Oliver

Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed but
still nothing is as shining as it should be
for you. Under the sink, for example,
is an uproar of mice it is the season of their
many children. What shall I do? And under the eaves
and through the walls the squirrels
have gnawed their ragged entrances
but it is the season when they need shelter,
so what shall I do? And the raccoon limps into
the kitchen and opens the cupboard while the dog snores,
the cat hugs the pillow;what shall I do?

Beautiful is the new snow falling in the yard
and the fox who is staring boldly up the path, to the door.
And I still believe you willcome, Lord: you will,
when I speak to the fox,the sparrow, the lost dog,
the shivering sea-goose, know that really I am speaking
to you whenever I say, as I do all morning and afternoon:
Come in, Come in.

Nations, hear the message of the Lord, and make it
known to the ends of the earth: Our Savior is coming.
Have no more fear.
~Isaiah 35:4~

What came to be through God was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
~John 1:4-5~

And the Word became flesh and
made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of God's only Son,
full of grace and truth.
~John 1: 14~

Advent Antiphons
By Sr. M. Charlita, I.H.M.

From Mary's sweet silence
Come, Word mutely spoken!

Pledge of our real life,
Come, Bread yet unbroken!

Seed of the Golden Wheat,
In us be sown.

Fullness of true Light,
Through us be known.

Secret held tenderly,
Guarded with Love,

Cradled in purity,
Child of the Dove,

COME!