December 11, 2024

By Father William Muench
NCC columnist

I love Advent, these weeks of spiritual preparation for our celebration of the Lord’s birth. In addition, this is the beginning of the next liturgical year. The Catholic Church in its liturgy gives us each day the opportunity to walk with Jesus – his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection and Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit to the apostles. So, we, Catholics, now begin again our liturgical journey – a new opportunity to walk with the Lord.

Of course, you and I have been here before. Now, some of you may say I know the whole story, should I bother again? Today, I want to take this opportunity to convince you that each liturgical year is an important, a unique, and a perfect way to discover so more about Jesus than ever before. This perfect journey with Jesus leads to real happiness.

I truly believe that as we start again Jesus’ story in this next liturgical year, we will learn so much more about our Lord Jesus. And I further believe that as we walk this journey with the Lord, we will learn so more about ourselves. And we will establish a closer relationship with the Lord Jesus.

Each year during Advent, I want to convince my congregation to participate more completely with the Lord’s story. I encourage regular Scripture reading. I tell them to keep the Bible handy. Reading the day’s Scriptures, especially the Gospel from each day’s daily Mass, to keep with the Lord on each day’s journey. I tell everyone to make your Bible well worn, even well wrinkled from use.

Then, it dawned on me. There is an “app.” In fact, there are many “apps” right there on our phones, and there are many sites with the daily Scriptures. I notice that whenever many people stop to pause during the day, the first thing they do is pull out their phone and check something or other online. So, having a Scripture app well marked becomes a perfect place to turn to for a brief Scripture reading. What a great unique opportunity to participate in the Lord’s story right there on the cell phone.

Today, I have another request for keeping yourself close to the Lord on this journey. I suggest prayer but a prayer of silence. Find a time, a regular time, even just five minutes, for quiet silence. I believe that taking some time for silence gives God a good opportunity to reach us and touch our hearts and lives. This is such a busy, noisy world, and we all have so much stuff to be thinking about. We need some silence; we need some quiet time – no words, not even any prayers, just silence. Let Jesus come and be part of our silence. I believe the Lord understands. The challenge is for us to listen. God always has something to bring to us.

I believe that God has a plan for each of us each day. We have nothing to worry about. We can accomplish it all. Jesus will be there to walk with us. We must pray that we will be constantly aware when the Lord reaches out to us. So, pray often with the readiness and confidence that you are willing to accept the Lord’s guidance, the Lord’s challenges for each day. It can be something simple  or it may something great, an opportunity to transform a friend, a loved one,  drawing them closer to God in a special way. When you pray with faith and solid confidence, the Lord will become a wonderful part of your life.