<TW>Weekend of 23 and 24 December 2006

.=:  T H I S    W E E K E N D  :=.
     from Father Pat Umberger
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A D V E N T    P A G E

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and blessings, Reconciliation resources and much more.  Just follow the link
from: www.frpat.com 

R A F F L E    C A L E N D A R
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from 01 January-31 December 2007.  Calendars are $25. You'll be a winner
because you'll be helping our parish . . . and you might win a prize as
well!  If you're interested, just visit our Parish Web Site to see the
calendar, prizes and more . . . and fill out the easy form there and we'll
save some for you!  Just follow the link from:  www.frpat.com
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.=:  V O L U M E   2 0 0 6 , Number 12-24 :=.

.=:  T H I S   W E E K E N D ' S   S C R I P T U R E S  :=.

The Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year C.
Weekend of 23 and 24 December 2006

Follow this link for this weekend's Scriptures:
   www.nccbuscc.org/nab/  

.=:  R E F L E C T I O N   Q U E S T I O N S  :=.

"He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock by the strength of the LORD, in
the majestic name of the LORD, his God; and they shall remain, for now his
greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth; he shall be peace."  What
kind of savior were people looking for?  How did they want their messiah to
bring peace?  How did Jesus bring peace?

"Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved." How
can we best turn to the Lord?  What could keep us from doing so?  How does
our self-pity make it difficult for the Lord to find room to come to us?

"Rouse your power, and come to save us."  What kind of power does this Psalm
speak of?  What kind of power did Jesus bring?  In what ways could today's
world be different if people had received the kind of savior they were
praying for rather than the kind God wanted them to have?

"Behold, I come to do your will."  Jesus did God's will by coming to us,
living with us, dying for us and rising again.  What is God's will for us?
Why could it be scary to honestly say, "Behold, I come to do your will."  If
you can muster the courage to think about it, where could it lead you?

""Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."
In the short time that remains until Christmas, we can imagine what this
time of expectation could have been like for Mary.  What gave her the
courage to do God's will?

"Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would
be fulfilled."  Mary trusted that if she did God's will, God would give her
the strength and courage she needed.  What words does the Lord speak to us?
Can we have the same kind of trust Mary had?

How are these Scriptures comforting?  Challenging?

(c)MMVI Fr. Pat Umberger.  These Reflection Questions are found each week at
the Web Site www.frpat.com.  Feel free to link to this page or reproduce
them for parish use as long as this credit remains.

.=:  S P I R I T U A L   R E F L E C T I O N   :=.

Hasn't Advent gone by quickly this year.  It couldn't be any shorter!  In a
few hours we'll gather for the first Mass of Christmas.  But there's still
some a bit time to prepare.  It's never too late to get ready!

People had prayed so hard and long for a Messiah to come.  They expected and
wanted a mighty warrior king, someone who could protect and defend them.
Their physical property was in jeopardy.  They needed somebody to intervene
and make things better.  So they prayed to God, "O come o come Emmanuel and
ransom captive Israel who mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God
appear."

The Son of God will indeed come.  So how can this year be different from
others?

We can focus too much on making things perfect for Christmas.  We can trim
the tree and decorate the house just so.  We can bake wonderful cookies and
buy wonderful gifts.  Everything on the outside can be in order.  Yet we can
come up short.  When Christmas is over we can feel even emptier than before.
Is that all there is?

We need to be open for a surprise!  Jesus came into the world because people
were suffering, not because they were so prosperous and holy. He came to
redeem a fallen world, and to reassure people that God was with them in
their times of need.  He came to show them how to lift one another up.  His
own life wouldn't be spared, but he gave all he had out of love for his
people!

We can spend some time taking an inventory of our needs.  It needn't be too
scary to think of those we have lost over the years, and pray for them.  We
can even consider broken relationships and disappointments.  We can look at
our resentments too, and pray for those who may resent us.  We can try to
identify the emptiness within ourselves.  If we're not able to do so, we can
offer it to God anyway. When we do these things, then Jesus can come to us
and fill us.  We won't be asking, "Is that all there is?"

In order for Jesus to do that, we need to be open.  We'll need to put our
self-pity aside.  The tired old, "Christmas is for young people," "What do I
have to celebrate?" and "I can't wait until it is over" can effectively keep
Jesus away from us.  If we decide how things will be, we'll make them that
way.  The old saying is, "Have a nice day, unless you've decided otherwise."
We can decide otherwise.  That's easy to do.

On the other hand, we can be people who make and build peace.  We can phone
someone who has been at a distance for a long while.  We can get in touch
with someone we know is having a hard time.  We can listen to the Christmas
stories of an older person.  We can reach out to make things nice for
somebody else.  And when we're not watching, Jesus can come into our lives
and do for us what we could never do for ourselves.  Have a good final few
hours of Advent, and a very Merry Christmas!


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<TW>This Weekend is free, and comes from:
Father Pat Umberger, a priest of the Diocese of La Crosse
in Wisconsin U.S.A.
Web Site: www.frpat.com   
Evangelization (reaching out): www.cmonback.com  

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