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Advent, Catholicism, Christmas, Faith, Hope, Jesus, Love, Prayer, Scripture

Nothing Will Be Impossible – Advent Reflection, December 24th

Carrie Sue Barnes

Week 4, Sunday – December 24th

For nothing will be impossible for God.

Luke 1:37

With God, it is possible. These words from the archangel Gabriel are the only ones he needed to speak when Mary asked, “how can this be?”

Gabriel explained some things first, helping Mary to understand and thus helping us many generations later. He gave Mary insight into how she would bear the Son of God. He went on to offer a bit of supporting evidence in Elizabeth’s pregnancy, which Mary could confirm for herself and thus build her confidence in the angel’s message. Yet it is only his final words to her that answered the question of how these things could occur.

“For nothing will be impossible for God.” This alone elicits Mary’s fiat, her yes to God’s invitation to take up her incredible and unique role in humanity’s salvation. It is likewise the only truth necessary to elicit my own fiat.

To whatever God asks of me; to what work of His hands He calls me to participate in; to whom He asks me to serve; my yes arises from knowing that nothing is impossible for Him. I am not asked to do any of it on my own abilities and strength alone. I am invited to count on Him.

Hardships. Hurt. Illness. Grief. Trauma. Every single cross I am invited to carry in my following of Him. No less, the joys and successes; the opportunities, adventures, and marvelous blessings as I walk with Him. Every single one can be taken up with the hopeful cry, “Nothing is impossible for You, Lord!”

In all things requiring faith, my faith must stand upon two simultaneous truths: nothing is impossible for God, and God is love. In these I know and believe that God is capable of accomplishing what He sets out to do – no matter how impossible it may seem to me – and that what He sets out to do is always for my greatest good.

Is there any finer example of these great truths than the Incarnation? God becoming man in the humblest manner. God coming to live with us, serve our punishment of death, and defeat its hold on our souls. God opening the gates of heaven to every person who chooses to follow and believe. It is a most impossible plan, absurdly defying human logic and wisdom. Yet He does it, and He does it all for love of us.

With God, it is all possible. With God. it is all love.

Advent, Catholicism, Christmas, Faith, Jesus, Prayer, Saints, Scripture

Teach Me, O Lord – Advent Reflection, December 23rd

Carrie Sue Barnes

Week 3, Saturday – December 23rd

Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths, guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.

Psalm 25:4-5ab, NAB

I am 42 years old and have been a Christian my entire life, and I still need God to teach me. Deeply and often, I am aware of that need. I have read and studied the scriptures with varying consistency since I was in grade school, and I still need the Lord to make His ways known to me. I have a degree in theology and spend time reading spiritual and theological works, and I still need Him to guide me in truth. Every single day, the need is there.

These aspects of my life are capable of lulling me into contentment with already knowing and doing plenty to live as a follower of Christ. They are also the reasons I continue to bump up against what I do not yet know or fully comprehend.

How often I say, “I don’t get it, Lord! I do not understand.” In these times, I find three options typically at hand: to humbly and eagerly seek Him out as my greatest teacher; to assume in pride that I will figure it out and explain it away within the limits of human comprehension; or to deem the matter not worth the effort it might take, whether by His guidance or my own knowledge, to find understanding.

It’s a critical choice every time. And, my oh my, do the results differ tremendously from the first option versus the others.

When I pray as the psalmist did – Lord, teach and guide me. Make yourself and your ways known to me. Help me understand – I am heard by the One who never ceases to share Himself with me. The truths I know are deepened and clarified. The natures of God, of me who is made in His image, and of human life in the grand and the minute are all more deeply revealed. Each time I approach him with the desire to learn from Him, I am both rewarded and humbled.

St. Thomas Aquinas was one of the greatest intellectual writers in Christian history. His contributions are vast in the realms of theology, philosophy, and scriptural studies for over 750 years. He also suddenly ended his writing endeavors a few months before his death, with a statement that all he had written seemed “like straw” compared to God’s revelations to him. No matter how extensive Thomas’s knowledge and understanding grew to be, God still had more to reveal and Thomas still sat before the Lord as one in need of His teaching.

Every day is an opportunity to follow St. Thomas’s example, and none more so than the days of great celebration in the Church. In the seasons of Advent and Lent, and in the feast days of Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and everything in between, the works of God are brought to the foreground for us to consider with renewed attention. We are invited to hear, contemplate, and respond to God’s revelations. We are offered the opportunity to intimately know the One whom we worship.

All the Christmases I have celebrated, with readings of the Christmas story and sermons on the Incarnation year after year, and still what I comprehend of their meaning is miniscule. This Christmas season, I commit to the Lord that I will approach with a humble but firm belief that He wants me to know Him through the things I celebrate. He has more for me. He has insight and beautiful clarity to offer. He has love to reveal.

I am here to learn from You. I am here to learn of You. Teach me, O Lord.

Advent, Christmas, Holiness, Intentionality, Jesus, Prayer, Saints, Scripture

My Soul Proclaims – Advent Reflection, December 22nd

Carrie Sue Barnes

Week 3, Friday – December 22nd

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

Luke 1:47, NAB

We do not possess silent souls. Mary’s soul proclaimed the greatness of the Lord, and reading this verse brings me to the question of what my own soul proclaims.

The human soul was designed to proclaim what it revels in and thrives on from day to day. In some translations of the Bible we read the words “my soul magnifies the Lord” and what an equally true description that is. In words, responses, actions and attitudes, in perspectives on any human issue, and in how time is spent, every person is making a continuous proclamation of what fills their soul. We fill the earth – especially our families and immediate communities – with what our souls magnify. In turn, these proclamations have untold influence on countless other souls and what they will proclaim.

I can attest to how easy it is to roll along through my days, giving no heed to what my soul and spirit are magnifying at any given moment. Usually it is a mix of things, but always there is a choice. For if I do not pause and choose to proclaim what I know to be true, beautiful, and good, a thousand other influences are ready to fill up my soul and magnify what they will.

Life or death; love or hatred; faith or doubt; courage or fear; pride or humility.

Who I worship; who I serve; where my hope lies; the greatness of me or the greatness of the Lord.

My soul is always in proclamation mode, but some subjects offer far more lasting satisfaction than others. None, not one, surpasses the satisfaction of the greatness of God. In this truth I find the purpose of my soul’s ability to proclaim and magnify. I am meant for the glory of God, to give it, to experience it, and to draw others to it. St. Augustine spoke wisdom when he said “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

When I am plagued by restlessness and dissatisfaction, I can pause and hear for myself what my soul is habitually proclaiming. If I find I have dropped the thread of truth, beauty, and the goodness of God, I can choose to pick it back up and drop the things that crowded that thread out of soul’s grasp.

At Christmas, may my soul, O Lord, proclaim You louder and more readily than it proclaims the busyness and burdens of the season. Let my soul proclaim the greatness of You, the God who comes to satisfy our restlessness for Him.

Advent, Catholicism, Christmas, Gratitude, Jesus, Love, Prayer, Saints, Scripture

Good to Be Here – Advent Reflection, December 21st

Carrie Sue Barnes

Week 3, Thursday – December 21st

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

Luke 1:41-43

I write this from a seat in my local parish church, putting my pen to the page in between gazes at my Lord in the Eucharist. There are a dozen or more others scattered through the pews, each in quiet prayer of adoration. I see only Him though, held in a shining, golden monstrance on the altar. The words of St. Peter on the mountain of Christ’s transfiguration keep repeating in my ears.

Lord, it is good for us to be here. It is good for us to be here.

After some time, the Holy Spirit shifts the words in my mind.

How good it is of you, Lord, to be here with us.

With the Incarnation of the Son on the first Christmas, God came to live among us. In baptism, He makes our souls His dwelling place. In the Eucharist, He becomes the Bread of Life to sustain us.

What goodness, what generosity, what love there is in the Lord’s choice to be here. How kind and merciful. How marvelous. When the Lord came to her, Elizabeth’s soul and even the child within her recognized His presence. She responded with joy and awe, speaking in grateful praise. I pray that my soul responds similarly to Christ’s presence.

How good it is that He comes to us. How good it is of Him to be Emmanuel, God With Us.

Advent, Catholicism, Christmas, Jesus, Prayer, Saints, Scripture

The Pieces He Put Together – Advent Reflection, December 20th

Carrie Sue Barnes

Week 3, Wednesday – December 20th

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.

Luke 1:26-27

The Old Testament has more than twice the number of pages than the New Testament. The arrival of the savior through Mary of Nazareth was not a sudden, unexpected development in God’s almighty plans. It was the culmination of centuries of Him carrying out those plans.

All the details the gospel writers included are like pieces sliding into place in the puzzle of salvation. Anyone listening to these details in the earliest days of Christianity heard the clicks of piece after piece joining together, each one offering more certainty of what God was doing.

This is it! This what we’ve been waiting for!

Luke’s gospel sets the scene in “the 6th month” of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, and identifies Gabriel as the visiting angel – the same angel that visited Zechariah to promise the coming of John the Baptist, who would be the forerunner to the savior’s arrival.

Click.

Who does Gabriel visit? A virgin, betrothed to Joseph of the house of David. She is a person spoken of hundreds of years prior by the prophet Isaiah, when the Lord declared He would send the sign His people needed in the form of a son, born of a virgin and called Emmanuel, God With Us.

Click.

This is it. This is God carrying out His plans. With great intention, He acts to save us, to make Himself known to us, and to be with us. He put it all together in perfect wisdom and perfect timing, as only He could do.

Now, here – where I am and where you are – He continues to do the same. My life is not born of happenstance. My life is chosen intentionally by my creator. As He did for Mary, for Joseph, for Elizabeth, Zechariah, and John, He loved me before I existed and carved out a spot for me in His glorious kingdom. My heart thanks Him and eagerly asks that He show me how to fill that place I am meant to have in His plans.

Advent, Christmas, Jesus, Prayer, Scripture

Fill It With Praise – Advent Reflection, December 19th

Carrie Sue Barnes

Week 3, Tuesday – December 19th

My mouth shall be filled with your praise, shall sing your glory every day.

Psalm 71:8, NAB

When I can’t find the words to pray, I turn to the Psalms. When I am low with hardship, I turn to the Psalms. And when I am bursting with desire to give glory to God, I turn to the Psalms.

In a fallen world riddled with rampant desire to be praised, I must not overlook the deep well of reasons to give praise. The Book of Psalms has long helped me do that. The poetic words inevitably resonate with my heart, no matter the state it is in that day, and soon my mouth is filled with praises of my God. The verses are brimming with all that there is to glorify in Him.

Refuge. Stronghold. ~ I praise the God whom I run to and hunker down with through all turmoil.

Rock. Fortress. ~ I praise the God I stand firm upon. He is unmoved and undefeated through every battle.

Rescuer. Hope. ~ I praise the God who pulls me from the pit and shows me the way to a home in the light of His glory.

Trust. Strength. ~ I praise the God who fulfills His promises and fortifies me with His own Spirit.

In the Incarnation of Jesus, the Son of God departed from glory to dwell amongst us here. How magnificent that even the feeblest utterance of praise from my heart and lips brings Him glory in return. May He fill my mouth with praise through every day and every night that brings me nearer to Christmas.

Advent, Catholicism, Christmas, Faith, Holiness, Jesus, Prayer, Saints, Scripture

Like Joseph Did – Advent Reflection, December 18th

Carrie Sue Barnes

Week 3, Monday – December 18th

When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

Matthew 1:24

Each time I read a gospel passage involving Joseph, I wish he’d speak up. This man lived with Jesus and Mary! He was the human father figure for the Son of God! Imagining his experiences fascinates me. For goodness’ sake, I want to hear from him!

Sorry, didn’t mean to get so worked up there.

Having no record of Joseph’s words does not mean he didn’t say anything. That’s a silly notion. So, why are there no statements or dialogue from him? Believing in the divine inspiration of sacred scripture, I come to one conclusion: what I read of Joseph is what God wanted me to get from Joseph.

Matthew writes that Joseph is a righteous man, and from this righteousness comes his planned course of action: to divorce Mary quietly after he found out about her pregnancy. For though they had already entered a marriage bond by Jewish betrothal, they did not yet live together or have relations as husband and wife. A righteous man among the Jewish people was one who followed God’s laws and commandments. Joseph would have been lawful to not only divorce Mary for her assumed infidelity but also to publicly shame her and even call for her to be stoned to death.

Joseph’s righteousness, however, is clearly coupled with compassion. He does not wish to associate himself with apparent sin and scandal but he also does not desire to publicly punish Mary. A quiet divorce was an act of mercy when Joseph’s possible choices are considered.

I am certain Joseph, being prone to righteousness and mercy, took such serious matters to prayer. I expect he sought out God for guidance. No record of his prayers are in the pages of scripture. What is recorded is God’s answer, and Joseph’s response to it.

God sent an angel while Joseph was asleep. Joseph went to bed that night with a decision made, then awoke with that decision trumped by God’s explanations and instructions. There, at that awakening, is where I am most eager to emulate Joseph.

He did not wake up and write off God’s message as irrational to follow. He didn’t hem and haw, mulling over doubts about what would happen if he did as God said to do.

Joseph awoke and did as God commanded. Once God made the way clear, Joseph stepped into it and no longer considered the other ways he could go, even though they likely felt safer and more reasonable.

From Joseph, I learn of faith producing the necessary fortitude to be who God calls me to be in the grand story of salvation. Joseph’s faith told him to listen to God and to trust in what he heard. It does not take a single word from Joseph for him to tell me likewise. That’s the might of authentic faith. That’s the fruit such faith bears.

Joseph’s piece in the story demonstrates that complex situations reach their best outcomes when submitted to God’s will. Like Joseph, I am not necessarily called to figure it all out and determine the best course of action by my reasoning alone. I am called to seek the guidance of God, and respond with trusting obedience to Him. It is encouraging that, in practicing this, that reasoning of mine can grow little by little to resemble the wisdom of God.

No matter the gap between my answers and the Lord’s, I pray that any time I am awakened to the instructions of God, I will rise and obey with a heart full of faith. Like Joseph did.