I have come to fall in love with teaching in Catholic schools. What are YOU in love with?...

"Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything." - Pedro Arrupe

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

So many Advent resources, So little time

Such is life - better to have too many than not enough, right?

But man does that make it difficult for someone like me - I'm afraid to miss out on a really good one, so instead I always find myself doing all the reflections. Clearly, when I do it that way, I'm not being fully present for each one.

There's no one remedy or catch-all solution. But I have (for the record) tried to pare down a little this year - here's what I've been doing:

*I begin my morning with the "Little Blue Book for Advent" and Sacred Reading, spending about 15 minutes in prayer first thing. (That's the promise I made to myself for Advent - and, as far as promises go, you should listen to Fr. Mike Schmitz's podcast this week on promises --> They are made for those times that are difficult, not for the times when it's easy to keep them. That definitely got me out of bed this morning when I was tired and would rather have stayed in bed, no joke.)

*I receive the "Best Advent Ever" daily emails from Dynamic Catholic.

*I've come up with my mantra/slogan (something to say to yourself every morning to help you focus the day) for the season, as urged to do so by our priest at Mass on Sunday: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord!"

*I stopped reading a few daily reflections that I use outside of the Advent season. (I know this seems rather silly - why fix something that's not broken, right? - but it's really helped me focus.)

*I keep a written journal of my personal reflections and ideas based on what I read and pray about each day. (That's been AWESOME! I highly encourage the practice of journaling, even if it's just bullet points.)


What about you - Do you have any awesome reflections or things going on in your life this Advent season to help prepare the way of the Lord?

http://standrewsgreencastle.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/advent-art.jpg

1 comment:

  1. love the picture and thanks for sending the creche resource - the kids love it so far!

    ReplyDelete