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Welcome to Rejoice! Advent Meditations with the Holy Family

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Welcome to Rejoice! Advent Meditations with the Holy Family

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This Advent meditation on the Holy Family invites us to experience Advent with Mary and Joseph and to see their marriage in a new light. If you can't keep up daily on Padlet as a community, at least keep up in your journal! I am looking forward to walking through this reflection with all of you this Advent. I will be uploading days/weeks as we go along.

Below, please introduce yourself!

I am Katie Groves, the Echo Apprentice at St. Mark. My favorite thing to eat/drink around Christmas is Peppermint Hot Chocolate and I love holiday strolls and window shopping during the holidays.

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Please take some time to look through the "How to Use This Journal" and "Forward" sections, taking particular note of A.R.R.R. Also take a few moments to think about when in your day you will be doing the Advent Reflection. Where will you be doing it? How can you prepare this time and space for prayer?

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In this first week of Advent, we are getting to know and growing in our appreciation of Mary and Joseph's marriage to learn more about their identities as spouses.

For this first Sunday, we are focusing on on being /available/ to God, like how Mary and Joseph were totally available to Him. What would that look like? How would total availability to God look in our lives now in 2020 (as opposed to 1 B.C.)? Answer this below, and certainly feel free to incorporate and words that stood out to you in Psalm 139.

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Today we are asked to reflect on the depth of our relationships and what makes them deep -- including our relationship with God. I would like to particularly draw your attention to this verse from the scripture reading"
"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." (1 John 16). What are some important aspects of love and see God through?

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When we accept where we are already at as our standard, we cannot deepen our relationships with each other and God. Fr. Mark Tubes uses the example of driving around on flat tires to describe how absurd it is to lower our standards like this. What are some ways that we can raise our standards, even though we may find ourselves trapped by them now? Married or unmarried, there are always areas in our lives where we may be trapped by these standards we have imposed on ourselves. What are some areas where our standards for ourselves may fall short of God's standards for us?

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Today's topic is on Love, so what is it? Fr. Tubes describes it as wanting for one what God wants for them. What are some ways we can love one another as children of God this Advent? How would this look (especially since we are less able to be physically with extended family and friends)?

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Identifying what our needs is an important part of any relationship -- including our relationship with God. God is not limited in anything, let alone the gifts he has given us, but if He could only give you one thing this Advent (peace, more time, an open heart, etc) what would it be and why? Identifying this first step is important to understanding where else we need God in our lives.

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Today's topic is "heard". We can hear a lot of things at once -- such as the sounds of cars rushing by, coupled with the sounds of a town and the music we might be playing in our cars. We hear all of this. But we need to be sensitive to hear God's voice in the hustle of our lives, because if we quiet our minds to let ourselves even /hear/ Him today, there is no way we can listen tomorrow. Fr. Toups talks about quieting those voices of discouragement and turning to God. What are some ways we can hone in on God's voice? What are some ways we can sensitize ourselves to His voice?

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Yesterday we Heard, today we Listen. Listening requires an active attentiveness to /what/ is being said, not just that something is being said. However, listening to God's voice can be difficult when we are distracted by temptation, desolation, and discouragement. Fr. Toups asks us to think about who we turn to to help us listen, and if we are consistent enough for others to turn to. When seeking spiritual support, what does this 'consistency' look like to you? And how can we better embody these characteristics ourselves?

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Psalm 63 illustrates David’s desire for God. We see how passionate it is, and Fr Toups asks us to imagine Joseph praying these words. How can we take after David in Psalm 63? What is God saying to you in this passage?