Welcome to our Advent Journey! - reading from Isaiah
Welcome to our Advent Journey!
The first reading from Isaiah greets us as unclean, sinful souls whose deeds are like polluted rags. How depressing – but wait- we are then reminded that God is our father. We are the clay and God is the potter. We are the work of his hands.
My mother was a ceramic artist. I grew up watching her throw ugly lumps of grey clay on her potter’s wheel and patiently mold them into beautiful vessels. She painted them with glaze that appeared also grey and drab. Only after firing them in her kiln would the magic appear. Mother waited with great expectation while the fire did its magic and released the colors she knew were hidden there. Opening the kiln was like opening a present. How she treasured the work of her hands.
Public meeting on Climate Jobs
Public meeting on Climate Jobs: Dr. Tony Clarke, founder of the Polaris Institute, Ottawa and recipient of the Alternative Nobel Peace Prize will be guest speaker and resource person at a public meeting on climate jobs. He will address the question: How to make the shift to a green economic future to overcome the triple "E" crisis of environment, the economy and energy. EVERYONE IS WELCOME
WHEN: Tuesday, December 2, 2014 7:00PM
WHERE: Murphy Community Centre
200 Richmond St.
Charlottetown, PE
Local Contact: MacKillop Centre for Social Justice and PEI Coalition for a Poverty Eradication Strategy (902-892-9074)
A reflection for the first Sunday of Advent
October 23 – “Would you consider writing an Advent reflection? You can pick whatever week you want?” Sure! It’s still 6 weeks away, thanks for the invitation! I better choose week one though, “Get’er done and in.” Days pass, weeks even! Remembrance Day holiday seemed a good day to write. It was a beautiful day so guess which activity called more loudly and clearly?
So here I am, almost a month since the invitation and days before the feast of Christ the King. I have been pondering the readings, which do not feel as “catchy” as I had hoped. The semester at UPEI is winding down which means the anxiety of the students is ramping up! I am struck by the number of times in a given day I hear myself trying to offer some consolation to these stressed young adults with the words “Be in this moment. What lies ahead is ahead for a reason.” Our call is to be present here and now. As Saint Paul reminds us, God’s grace is sufficient; and then I add, for today.
