PARISH NEWS

STABLE IN THE SWIRL

Astonishing, rapidly changing and challenging though the world is, Jesus teaches us to get it all into perspective. (Luke 21:25-28, 34-36) If we stay awake and watch ourselves as he urges us in the gospel, lest our hearts “be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life”(Luke 21:34), standing erect with our heads held high, confidently facing whatever challenges we encounter, we thrive! The First Sunday of Advent readings are about stepping off into the unknown, not fearfully, but in eager anticipation of God, who delights in the faith and love we do have, incomplete though it may be. Advent is our opportunity to journey even deeper into his love and his presence. 

We journey, wide awake, through both spiritual and earthly dangers and the evils of the world, aware that Christian faithfulness lifts us above them all. Last week graduating 18 year olds, who have experienced a VCE like no other, were encouraged to confidently take on the world, but the principle applies to us all. Enjoy the world we find ourselves in; the Creator’s gift to us! Throw ourselves into it enthusiastically; meet and relate to an amazing variety of people; discover and become passionate about all manner of fascinations and make vital contributions to the world; make it a better place!

Always, the world is going to be a bit crazy (and rarely as crazy as it is at present), but if we pause to reflect prayerfully on God, the centre of the universe, of which we are but a tiny part, who knows and loves each and every one of us absolutely, infinitely and intimately, we get it into perspective. Jesus should be our constant, our centre point, our stillness, our stability in the midst of the fast paced world that seems to swirl around us.

Deacon Mark Kelly