Fr. Frank Majka, SJ – The Bridge

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Mary has an important lesson to teach us.
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BACK TO BASICS

Advent 2009: Walking the Valley

There’s a wonderful gospel song that says:

You’ve got to walk that lonesome valley,
You gotta go there by yourself.
Nobody else can walk it for you.
You gotta walk it by yourself.

It’s an American religious song for sure, for there’s something very solitary about us, and it’s one of our national traits that we don’t like the feeling of being dependent on others.

But it’s also true that that nobody can live without being connected with other people. We may want to go it alone, but trying to live a completely private life is impossible, and probably dangerous for our souls.

This week of Advent may be a good time to think about all the connections we have to one another, and all those who keep us company on our walk towards God. And ask yourself if there’s anything you can do to make someone else’s walk through life less lonesome.

Steps along the Path

Advent 2009: Changing Things

It’s Advent again, that season when we usually focus on how the Lord comes to us. This year, however, how about thinking about how we come to God?

We might want to go way back to Genesis and think about Abraham. How did he come to God? It began with the realization that God was asking him to change (“leave your country and your father’s house”). Maybe that isn’t hard for a young person, since young people usually can’t wait to get out on their own. But the writer of Genesis tells us that Abraham was seventy-five years old when he took his family and left for “a place I (God) will show you.” God called and he responded.

We may never hear God calling us to leave our homes, but he could be calling us give up the old ways of being ourselves. He might be asking us to do the normal things we’ve always done, but in new ways: with a new attitude, new purpose, greater creativity, more courage, compassion, patience and faith.

So, as Advent begins, are you hearing the voice of God saying to you, “It’s time for a change”?