~~~SisterSea~~~

 Fourth Sunday of Advent 2020 The birth of the Christ is God's love made manifest with the birth of the universe.   Today's first reading and Gospel emphasize the theme of God's Presence throughout the holy disturbances God places in people's lives as well as how God is present in the new universe story.      First let's look at God's holy disturbances.   The first reading refers to how God transformed David from a simple shepherd boy into a King of Israel.   God is there for David throughout each stage of this sometimes-painful transformation.   God doesn't even abandon David when he repeatedly transgresses but sends his prophet to nudge David to return to the right path.   Like us, David is not always open to what God or his prophets have to say.   Even when we ignore what God is trying to tell us, God's is present.   But because we are closed we may not understand God's promises to us, which are always kept but not always i...

  This homily adapted from the work of Allison Tanner (Woke Time) and Jonathan Brennenman ( Keep Awake) found at:   https://www.fosna.org/keepawake Have you ever encountered a catastrophe so horrible that the sun darkened, the moon didn’t light, and the stars fell off from the night sky? Have you ever experienced feeling so terrible that your cries shook the powers in the heavens? Have you ever felt the crushing weight of the sky falling upon you? Mark 13:24-37 alludes familiarity to such a time of suffering and loss. The text at once refers to total cosmic disturbance and exhortation to stay awake, to persist in the responsibilities of keeping attunement to the present alive. Many scholars note its familiar apocalyptic overtures. According to Richard Horsley, the most “apocalyptic sounding part of the gospel of Mark is precisely in this passage which focuses on the climatic restoration of the people.” This historical background of this passage, for Horsley, is within th...

  10  ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11  ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Dear Jesus, the Earth and the Peoples you love are under siege.   The world’s Indigenous Peoples, especially in the Americas are trying preserve the health and beauty of our ailing Earth.   Please let your kindom come now, before this planet is beyond repair.  I pray. Open the hearts and minds of those who cannot yet hear the cry of the Earth and Her poor.  Your Brown and Black Peoples, are crying out for release from wars and release from violence.   Others hungry for wealth and hungry for power are rendering the anawim of today hungry for food and health care and homes.  I pray. Open the hearts and minds of those who cannot yet hear the cry of the Earth and Her poor.  Dear Jesus, in your name I as...

  We hear the Beatitudes calling Telling us how to be It’s only now I realize It also calls for each us To set our frozen hearts free Fear and doubt are the culprits That keep us from letting go Taught to ignore Spirit’s whispers By the churches meant to help us grow They are the blest they tell us Whose teachings we are to obey But their teaching often conflict With the One, who said, “I am the Way” They are the authority From their teaching, we must not depart When it comes to the poor and pained Where is the love? Where is the heart? The beatitudes call us to courage The beatitudes call us to action To follow the Word in love, not fear The way to our souls’ satisfaction My own heart is full of fear and doubt Though I know It’s not how I should be So I pray to our Mother for help For the courage to set my heart free.   Victoria Marie, 2020-10-23