It is the fourth Sunday of Advent and the Gospel today is very beautiful. It talks about St. Joseph, since he was a righteous man, does not want to expose Mary to shame and I think that is an incredible witness for us because we can so easily expose others to shame.
It is the holiday season. We are with family all the time. There’s a lot of family parties. And what do we do? We talk about other family members who are not there, or we talk about friends who are not there, and we can easily expose others to shame because it makes us feel good and it builds us up just for a second. And so, we are called to not tear anyone down, not to expose them to shame. We are called to build everyone up. We are the Body of Christ. That’s my invitation for all of us this Advent season. As we grow close and we have tons of family parties and we’re eating the fig pudding, that we can continue to build our family members up, that we never tear down. We are called to build up the Body of Christ always.
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Not Scandalized By You
Imagine if your group text with friends suddenly went public. Or if some of the dumb or embarrassing things you’ve said in the past were brought back to life. Most of us fear that kind of exposure because we know we’ve failed, and we’re not sure we’d be received well.
In this Sunday’s first reading, we hear about King David. For many people, the first thing that comes to mind is his failure with Bathsheba. Yet God looks deeper than David’s mistakes. He sees both the potential for sin and the potential for great love and He still chooses him.
That’s the good news for us. No matter what’s in our past or what we’re ashamed of, God looks into our hearts, sees everything, and still calls us. He is not scandalized by your heart.
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The Most Hipster Thing
Okay, let’s talk about hipsters. We all know them. They are everywhere. And the crazy thing about hipsters is that they all look the same. Have you ever noticed that? St. John the Baptist was the OG hipster. He ate organic, farm-to-table locusts and honey every day. He wore vintage clothing. St. John the Baptist even…
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Yes To God
So, very often in the Old Testament, this is what happens. A prophet speaks to a group of people, calling them to turn back to the Lord. And what does the group of people do? They say no! They reject God, and bad things happen. They dig a hole that they cannot get out of. But the fantastic thing about the first reading for this Sunday is that Jonah, a prophet, speaks to the people of Nineveh, calling them to repent and…
