{"id":1519,"date":"2013-12-15T01:00:23","date_gmt":"2013-12-15T07:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/?p=1519"},"modified":"2013-12-03T09:34:17","modified_gmt":"2013-12-03T15:34:17","slug":"spending-advent-with-mary-the-mother-of-jesus-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/?p=1519","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=1519&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 15, 2013 \u2502<br \/>\n3<sup>rd<\/sup> Sunday of Advent<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1>Mary\u2019s Gladness<\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Reflection<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In Isaiah12 we sing the words which must have been very familiar to Mary, good Jewish woman that she was. \u201cCry out with joy and gladness,\u201d we sing, \u201cfor among you is the great and Holy<br \/>\nOne of Israel.\u201d This would have been the prayer on Mary\u2019s own lips at this point in her journey of faith, near as she was to the birth of Christ. No doubt there was discomfort in her pregnancy, and worry about this birth. But we know that despite it all \u2013 as with so many faithful mothers since \u2013 Mary held fast to her faith.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Gladness can be present in our lives even when discomfort and pain are part of life. Gladness is a condition of the soul. It reaches beyond the present moment to remind us that, no matter<br \/>\nwhat happens, God is still with us, still speaking in our lives, still sending his powerful Holy Spirit to be our counselor. This was also Mary\u2019s Gladness.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Share with others or ponder alone<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What is the source of your own deep gladness? What gives you the hope which Mary must have had?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Take action<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We are reminded constantly that God\u2019s work on earth must be our own. Take an action today to make someone else glad, to assure them of your own unconditional love.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Prayer for today<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>O God, you are the one who brings great joy and gladness to us. Among us indeed is the great and Holy One of Israel. Form our hearts to experience this gladness as we prepare to celebrate the Feast of Christmas. Amen.<\/p>\n<p>Used with permission<\/p>\n<p>Author: Bill Huebsch<\/p>\n<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=1519&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\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","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":[741,1369,1372,953,1302,1216,1368,415,1362,374,1373,818,820,1371,189,1374,1370,659,1210,1334],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3VlJd-ov","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519"}],"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=1519"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2294,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519\/revisions\/2294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nativitycatholicchurch.net\/adult_faith_life\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}