To You, O Lord, I Lift Up My Soul

Deacon Tom writes

“To you, O Lord, I lift my soul”

First Sunday of Advent, Year C

In the silence of our Advent reflection, the words of the Prophet Jeremiah can stir our hearts with expectant hope and longing for promises to be fulfilled, for the days when, “all shall be safe and dwell secure”.  This deep longing for safety and security is shared by all humanity in the aftermath of the Paris tragedy and the ongoing suffering countless victims of war, violence, poverty, and illness throughout our hurting world. For this to become a reality we must first, however, place ourselves in the presence of the Lord and breath the prayer we hear in the Responsorial Psalm today, “To you, O Lord, I lift my soul”.

Every year we all face the challenge of Advent; we need to get everything ready for Christmas, the shopping, the cooking, the visits to family and friends, the writing out of Christmas cards. And when do we stop to put it all in perspective and reflect upon the “Reason for the Season”?

This year can be different. We can break the cycle of insanity….if we want to. We can take a tip from St. Paul and ask the Lord to make us, “increase and abound in love for one another and for all”.   How our lives would change!  So some questions to ask during this Holy Season are these:  What holds us back?  What prevents us from seeking the holy?  Are we afraid of the changes that an injection of love into the fabric of our lives would cause?  Are we afraid of what the newborn Babe would ask of us? Are we afraid of the confrontation with self that can take place in the time we spend in holy solitude?  There are a lot of reasons that we avoid silence and fill our lives with business. But it doesn’t have to be this way. This year can be different!!!

Jesus tells us to, “Be vigilant at all times and pray… to escape the tribulations….and to stand before the Son of Man”.  This Advent gives us another chance to renew our efforts to center our lives around prayer and to create a quiet space where we can go and rest awhile with a friend, Jesus, who comes to us as a little child bearing many gifts to all who come before him singing the refrain, “To you, O Lord, I lift my soul”.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom