Pearl Harbor
81 years later.
Celebrating Ambrose of Milan
“If you have two shirts in your closet, one belongs to you and the other to the man with no shirt.”
~ St. Ambrose of Milan
A few thoughts (some comforting, some not at all so!) on this holy season of Advent …
“Advent, like its cousin Lent, is a season for prayer and reformation of our hearts. Since it comes at winter time, fire is a fitting sign to help us celebrate Advent…If Christ is to come more fully into our lives this Christmas, if God is to become really incarnate for us, then fire will have to be present in our prayer. Our worship and devotion will have to stoke the kind of fire in our souls that can truly change our hearts. Ours is a great responsibility not to waste this Advent time.”
~ Edward Hays,
“A Pilgrim’s Almanac”
And here’s an intriguing (and uncomfortable) thought … as rough-hewn uncompromising locust-eating viper-calling John the Baptist enters the Advent story (and ministry) this week. From a 1989 book by Willian Willimon and Stanley Hauerwas:
“Indeed, one of us is tempted to think there is not much wrong with the church that could not be cured by God calling about a hundred really insensitive, uncaring, and offensive people into ministry.”
Hmmm. Is the Gospel challenging you? Is anybody snarling it loudly enough?
Truth for every season…
And a reminder that it’s more than okay to be different!
Stay in touch! mcginty@writeme.com
Believe it. 