{"id":1447,"date":"2013-12-10T01:00:40","date_gmt":"2013-12-10T07:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/?p=1447"},"modified":"2013-12-03T09:20:54","modified_gmt":"2013-12-03T15:20:54","slug":"spending-advent-with-mary-the-mother-of-jesus-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/?p=1447","title":{"rendered":"Spending Advent With Mary, The Mother Of Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"<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=1447&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\"><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>December\u00a010 2013 \u2502 Tuesday of the 2<sup>nd<\/sup> Week of Advent<\/p>\n<h1>Mary\u2019s Faith<\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Reflection<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Belief like Mary\u2019s Faith is hardto come by in today\u2019s world. We want to base what we believe on science and \u2018hard facts.\u2019 To believe that God is with us and that \u201cthe Lord is kind and merciful\u201d is hard work. We are reminded during Advent that in difficult times, we want to believe that God will swoop in and save us. But as with Mary, God\u2019s plan unfolds slowly, over months and years, with an unseen end and uncertain beginning.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Mary\u2019s Faith is what kept her heart strong during those months and years. Our faith must be the same. We will not be able to see the end when we begin our journey. Believing as Mary did is<br \/>\nour only choice short of despair. When illnesses or accidents intrude in our lives, when death visits us, when we encounter others being cruel, harsh, or violent \u2013 that is when belief is most difficult.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Share with others or ponder alone<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Describe the slowly unfolding plan for your own life and ministry to which God has called you. What signs along the way can you look back on with eyes of faith?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Take action<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We often delay in our response to God calling us. We postpone saying \u201cyes.\u201d On this day of Advent, lean into and embrace your own vocation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Prayer for today<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>I turn to you, O God, knowing you are kind and merciful, slow to anger and rich in compassion. May your hand gently guide me through life, and may my desire be only to follow your call. Amen.<\/p>\n<p>Used with permission<br \/>\nAuthor: Bill Huebsch<br \/>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div><\/div>\n<!-- Print This Section 1 End -->\n\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":[1323,741,1324,835,1117,1164,1322,1319,63,890,889,1321,1337,524,818,820,189,659,1210,1008,1320],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3VlJd-nl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1447"}],"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=1447"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2285,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1447\/revisions\/2285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}