{"id":1437,"date":"2013-12-08T01:00:50","date_gmt":"2013-12-08T07:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/?p=1437"},"modified":"2013-12-03T09:15:45","modified_gmt":"2013-12-03T15:15:45","slug":"spending-advent-with-mary-the-mother-of-jesus-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/?p=1437","title":{"rendered":"Spending Advent With Mary, The Mother of Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/tn_MP9003848811.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1401\" title=\"Spending Advent with Mary the Mother of Jesus\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/tn_MP9003848811.jpg\" width=\"200\" height=\"193\" \/><\/a><div class=\"print-this-button-shell\">\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"print-this-button\" onClick=\"parent.location='https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/?p=1437&printthis=1&printsect=1'\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Print This!&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<!-- Print This Section 1 Start -->\n<div class=\"print-this-content\"><\/p>\n<p>December 8, 2013 \u2502<br \/>\n2<sup>nd<\/sup> Sunday of Advent<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1>Mary\u2019s Great Joy<\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Reflection<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Things don\u2019t have to be going perfectly in order for us to be joyful. In fact, things can be somewhat out of whack sometimes, even filled with mystery and wonder, yet we can still know a deep sort of joy. This must have been Mary\u2019s experience. Anyone traveling her journey \u2013 the journey led by God which takes us into the very heart of Christ \u2013 knows how it\u2019s possible to have deep joy while still being greatly challenged by the events of the day.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Psalm 126 helps us understand this when it offers this bit of insight: \u201cAlthough they go forth weeping, carrying the seed to be sown, they shall come back rejoicing, carrying their<br \/>\nsheaves.\u201d This, my friends, is our Advent journey. We enter into this time needing growth, and we arrive at Christmas loaded with gifts.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Do you understand how giving of yourself will lead you to happiness? It\u2019s the secret of eternal life. There is no other pathway to true fulfillment than dying to yourself in love for others, and giving away your heart.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Share with others or ponder alone<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What do you personally bring into Advent this year whichneeds growth? What dimension of your person or spiritual life needs the healing touch of Christ?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Take action<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Write down your response to the reflection question above,<br \/>\nin a safe and private place. Take it to Mass with you this week and offer it to<br \/>\nGod.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Prayer for today<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>O Mary, you were full of joy as you gradually understood more deeply<br \/>\nyour own mission, filled as it was with difficulty for you. Help me to<br \/>\nexperience that same joy now as I embrace that to which I have been called.<br \/>\nAmen.<\/p>\n<p>Used with permission<br \/>\nAuthor: Bill Huebsch<br clear=\"all\" \/><div class=\"print-this-button-shell\">\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"print-this-button\" onClick=\"parent.location='https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/?p=1437&printthis=1&printsect=1'\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Print This!&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<!-- Print This Section 1 Start -->\n<div class=\"print-this-content\"><div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div>\n<!-- Print This Section 1 End -->\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div>\n<!-- Print This Section 2 End -->\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[1294,1305,1303,1299,1302,1289,1300,1307,818,820,1144,1306,1298,1296,1295,1210,1301,465,1297,1304],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3VlJd-nb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1437"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2280,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437\/revisions\/2280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}