Although sunrise and sunset times pretty match yesterday, the shortest day of the year is now over and we now will see a slow turnaround to morel light. Tomorrow the sunset will be one minute later. The progression to more light is not even, however, just as our progression towards understanding the meaning of this Season is not always even.
Even at this time, around 6:30, looking towards the east, the bare outlines of trees are now starting to be visible, and a dull rose is just over the horizon. The light comes to us, almost imperceptibly, but minute by minute, the rose hue blending into what will become a blue sky.
How will we use the light, this Fourth Sunday of Advent? Will we use the increasing light to draw us out of the shadows of darkness and division? It’s far too easy to bask in the glow of the Season, forgetting that the man Jesus of Nazareth calls us to break the bonds asunder, as the Psalm says, but breaking the bonds of darkness will not be easy.
Prayer for the Day
Soften us with your revelation of love, O God,
For our hearts are hardened by the news of the day;
Sharpen us with your truth, that we are not destined only to hate
But to share in your creation of mercy and love in the world.
Open us to your grace shared with all around us.
Beckoning us into a world beyond our imagination.
In the name of the One who breaks into our lives,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the day
Faith is not belief in spite of the evidence but a life lived in scorn of consequences. … We have come to dissociate belief from faith and we think of belief as a way of thinking when the original intent was not to describe a way of thinking but a way of acting.
Clarence Jordan, theologian, founder of Koinonia Farm (1912-1969)
It is no use saying that we are born 2,000 years too late to give room to Christ . …Christ is always with us, always asking for room in our hearts , and giving shelter or food to anyone who asks for it, or needs it, is giving it to Christ.
Dorothy Day, Co-founder Catholic Worker Movement (1897-1980)
Now, therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear, with trembling, and kiss God’s feet
Or the Lord will be angry, and you will perish in the way,
For the wrath of the Lord is quickly kindled.
Psalm 2: 10-11