Advent Meditations from Betsy Cahill

WOULD YOU LIKE TO WAKE UP TO A DAILY ADVENT REFLECTION IN YOUR INBOX?
 
For a second year, Betsy Cahill, an author and biblical scholar who lives in Charleston, is offering daily Advent reflection by e-mail.  This is a brief, lectionary-based meditation on one of the day’s readings.  A link to the readings is included in the e-mail so it can be one-stop shopping!
 
Because the program was so well-received in its first year, Betsy has generously offered to expand the program to the parishioners of  Corpus Christi.  This is a wonderful way for all of us to keep our focus on what truly matters at this time of year!
 
If you are interested, please e-mail Betsy directly at cahillbetsy@gmail.com and she will add your name to the distribution list. 
Reflections begin Sunday, November 30, so get your name into Betsy ASAP!
Here’s a sample:
fingerprints1
December 19/Third Thursday of Advent
First Impressions
Judges 13.2-7, 24-25; Psalm 71.3-6, 16-17; Luke 1.5-25He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. Luke 1.15 
Any mother who has experienced the happy athleticism of a baby in the womb – kicking, flipping, dancing, the occasional elbow to the ribs – and the awesome experience of giving birth also knows this: each child is born with a certain temperament, certain gifts, certain qualities of character that are his or hers alone. To believers, these wondrous inborn characteristics are of divine origin. One of my favorite descriptions of God’s intimate work in creating us comes from Psalm 139: “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” In this sense, each of us is consecrated to God “from the womb,” like Samson or John the Baptist in today’s readings. Our life’s work is to honor that pre-birth call to fullness of life: to know that which is worth knowing, to love that which is worth loving, to search out and do what will be well-pleasing to God. Just as each of us has a unique fingerprint, so our vocation is unlike anyone else’s. It may be, as it was for John the Baptist, to “turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous“ (as apt a description of parenting as I know!). But wherever our particular gifts lead us, all of us are summoned to do our  part to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Lord of all creation, help me respond to your call by using the gifts you have given me to your greater glory. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121913.cfm