Reflect: Christmas Day has passed, but the Christmas Octave has only just begun! That is one of the beautiful parts of our Catholic faith — Christmas is never just one day, but a whole season during which we can encounter God every day! This is good news for those of us who’s Christmas Day may have flown by in holiday chaos. Sometimes it is hard to make time to enter into the mystery and beauty of Christ’s nativity, but during the octave of Christmas we have more opportunities to do just that! Take advantage of this season. Ask Jesus to be “born in a new way” in your life, and take time to encounter Him each day!
Share: If you’re not in the habit of celebrating the Christmas Octave, keep your decorations up and continue to wish others Merry Christmas! Find one way to share God’s love with someone each day during this week.
Pray: Jesus, please come into my heart and life in a new way this season. Thank You for coming to us.
From all of us at RedeemedOnline, we wish you and your families a very Blessed Christmas season!
Reflect: It’s Christmas Day! Jesus is coming. And He comes to reveal the Father who loves us and calls us His beloved children. “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (Jn 10:10). And what is the fullness of life but to be fully loved? Let’s come to the Christ Child tonight, and let Him look upon us with the gaze of the Father who says, “You are precious in my eyes, and glorious, and I love you.”
Reflect: “From the fear of being asked to give more than I have, Deliver me Jesus.”In our hearts this prayer evokes a longing for freedom and yet also expresses the doubt that trusting in Jesus might leave us wanting. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI says, “If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide.” How do we value this ‘friendship with God’? This Advent may we dare to enter into this friendship and therein discover the freedom of loving and being loved.
Reflect: Just as Jesus comes to Thomas in his doubts, He also desires to meet us in our doubts and confusion, in all of our mess. He left us Himself fully present in the Eucharist, so we might encounter Him physically present and not leave us abandoned. We can adore Him and receive Him, and He enters the locked doors of our hearts to bring us peace. There are times in our life when we simply need Jesus to reveal Himself to us in a very real way. He knows this and wants to meet us in the mess of our doubts. Do not be afraid to encounter Him.
Reflect: Jesus tells us in Scripture, “I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Abundance. Fullness. This is why He came. Somehow, though, we often find ourselves doubting this promised providence. The antidote? Trust. The opening of our hands and our hearts to let Him prove this promise true. In the prologue of the Gospel of John read at Christmas, we hear how “from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.” This Advent, trust that He will fill every emptiness with the fullness of His love.