The Library

The first room was the study - the library. Let us call it the study of the mind. Now in my home this
room of the mind is a very small room with very thick walls. But it is an important room. In a sense, it
is the control room of the house. He entered with me and looked around at the books in the bookcase,
the magazines upon the table, the pictures on the walls. As I followed His gaze I became
uncomfortable. Strangely enough, I had not felt badly about this before, but now that He was there
looking at these things I was embarrassed. There were some books were there that His eyes were too
pure to behold. There was a lot of trash and literature on the table that a Christian had no business
reading, and as for the pictures on the walls - the imaginations and thoughts of the mind - these were
shameful.
I turned to Him and said, "Master, I know that this room needs a radical alteration. Will You help me
make it what it ought to be? - to bring every thought into captivity to you?"
"Surely!" He said. "Gladly will I help you. First of all, take all the things that you are reading and
looking at which are not helpful, pure, good and true, and throw them out! Now put on the empty
shelves the books of the Bible. Fill the library with Scriptures and meditate on then day and night. As
for the pictures on the walls, you will have difficulty controlling these images, but here is an aid" He
gave me a full-size portrait of Himself. "Hang this centrally," He said, "on the wall of the mind."
I did, and I have discovered through the years that when my thoughts are centered upon Christ
Himself, His purity and power cause impure thoughts to back away. So He has helped me to bring my
thoughts into captivity.
May I suggest to you if you have difficulty with this little room of the mind, that you bring Christ in
there. Pack it full with the Word of God, meditate upon it and keep before it the immediate presence of
the Lord Jesus.

"ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS _____"

"Arise, My beloved, My beautiful one, and come!" -Song of Songs 2:10, 13

Despite the constant hype the world gives to Christmas, the world only wants a minimal Christmas. People are programmed to be happy with "two front teeth," a new PlayStation, fur coat, diamond ring, Barbie doll, power tool, or even a new car. The world proclaims that getting this for Christmas is a maximum Christmas. When you focus on the gifts instead of the Giver of the gifts, you've set yourself up for a minimal Christmas. 
The world is not ready to receive the incarnate Love of the Lord for Christmas. That's why we need Advent: to help us prepare to raise our expectations to receive the earth-shaking, maximum Christmas God has for us. The Lord shouts to us: "Arise" (Sg 2:10, 13). He calls us to rise above our meager expectations. In the northern USA, we expect snow; God expects a new springtime in the Spirit (Sg 2:11ff). We expect family gatherings; God expects us to take our royal place in His glorious family (Jn 3:5; Mt 12:50). We expect good tidings; God sends the Good News by sending His only Son, Jesus (Jn 1:14). We expect delicious Christmas treats; God expects Christ-Mass, featuring the eucharistic banquet of the Lamb. We expect the Christmas Spirit; God expects us to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:41). We expect Christmas carols; God provides His own music as He sings joyfully about us (Zep 3:17). 
Raise your expectations and have yourself a Mary Christ-Mass.


Prayer: Father, may I expand my vision (see Is 54:2-3) and never limit You to a worldly Christmas. Maranatha!

Promise: "Blest is she who trusted that the Lord's words to her would be fulfilled." -Lk 1:45
Praise: "O Radiant Dawn, Splendor of Eternal Light, Sun of Justice, come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death."

CLIMBING ADVENT MOUNTAIN

"Come, let us climb the Lord's mountain." -Isaiah 2:3

Advent is a time for mountain-climbing. It is climbing with all nations (Is 2:2) the highest mountain so that the Lord "may instruct us in His ways, and we may walk in His paths" (Is 2:3). Advent is being like Moses. We climb Mt. Sinai, receive the Ten Commandments, descend radiant with God's glory, and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus (see Ex 19:2ff). As more and more people climb God's holy mountain this Advent to hear and share His word, "the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea" (Is 11:9). Then "they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again" (Is 2:4). 
This Advent, climb the Lord's mountain. Receive and proclaim the Word of God. Give the world the true peace of Christmas. This Advent, be a peacemaker (Mt 5:9), minister of God's Word, and mountain-climber. From the heights of the mountain, shout: "Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth" (Lk 2:14, our transl).


Prayer: Father, make me a guide for spiritual mountain-climbers before, during, and after the climb.

Promise: "I am not worthy to have You under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will get better." -Mt 8:8

Praise: Broken by ill health and bankruptcy, Arlene holds to God as the Center of her being.

THE EUCHARIST, FOOD OF WISDOM

"He manifests Himself to those who do not disbelieve Him." -Wisdom 1:2

As I read the above passage, I felt goose bumps form on my body. Today Almighty God manifested Himself to me in His eucharistic presence (see Wis 1:2). I rejoiced to receive Him in Holy Communion at Mass. Jesus, Wisdom Incarnate (1 Cor 1:30), bounded out of heaven (Wis 18:15; Jn 6:33) to fill me with the Food of Wisdom. 
People spend years obtaining knowledge through education and training. Yet we Catholics have been given the Bread of Wisdom, and can receive this Bread daily! Oh, that we would "seek Him" (Wis 1:1) with more fervor than the worldly seek knowledge! 
We live in an age of information and knowledge. Yet do we live in an age of wisdom? As St. Paul observed, " 'knowledge' inflates," and can lead us to pride, but "love upbuilds" (1 Cor 8:1). Wisdom without love is nothing; real wisdom must lead to love (1 Cor 13:2). 

Jesus, "the Bread of Life" (Jn 6:35), is "Wisdom" (1 Cor 1:30). Attend Mass daily, or as often as possible. Receive the eucharistic Jesus, Wisdom Incarnate, and "get wisdom!" (Prv 4:5)


Prayer: Lord, "increase our faith" (Lk 17:5).

Promise: "The Holy Spirit of discipline flees deceit and withdraws from senseless counsels." -Wis 1:5

Praise: Through reception of daily Eucharist, Maureen saw a change for the good in her tolerance and patience.

A CHRISTIANITY THAT DOESN'T PAY

"No, when you have a reception, invite beggars and the crippled, the lame and the blind. You should be pleased that they cannot repay you." -Luke 14:13-14

How many begging, crippled, lame, or blind people have you had over for supper lately? Most people would probably answer: very few or none. Most Christians in Western culture don't take Jesus' command literally. However, considering the historical and Biblical context of this passage, it is very likely meant to be taken literally. 
Why does Jesus want us to eat with the poor and handicapped? It is not because they are so needy but because they are not able to repay us (Lk 14:14). The Lord calls us to look for situations in which we won't, or better yet, can't be repaid. As far as the Lord is concerned, thankless jobs are the best because we won't be repaid. Moreover, secret or obscure works are ideal, for no one but your Father knows about them (Mt 6:3-4, 6, 18). Thus, no one but your Father is in a position to repay you. Although we must often go public for Jesus to be His witnesses, there is a danger in this because we might be appreciated and rewarded. We must try as best we can to hide our life "with Christ in God" (Col 3:3). This guards against the temptation to live and work for payment rather than for pure love. Therefore, look around for situations that don't pay.


Prayer: Father, may I want nothing but to give all my love to You.

Promise: "How deep are the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How inscrutable His judgments, how unsearchable His ways!" -Rm 11:33

Praise: God provided the Robinson family with the poorest of the poor to be fed daily at their table.

THE PRAYER OF A LIFETIME

"The Spirit intercedes for the saints as God Himself wills." -Romans 8:27

For more than twenty-five years, Pope John Paul II called us to great, growing, and intense prayer (The Redeemer of Man, 22). The Pope taught: "A great prayer for life is urgently needed, a prayer which will rise up throughout the world. Through special initiatives and in daily prayer, may an impassioned plea rise to God, the Creator and Lover of life, from every Christian community, from every group and association, from every family and from the heart of every believer. Jesus Himself has shown us by His own example that prayer and fasting are the first and most effective weapons against the forces of evil (cf Mt 4:1-11). As He taught His disciples, some demons cannot be driven out except in this way (cf Mk 9:29)" (The Gospel of Life, 100). There is "the necessity of praying always and not losing heart" (Lk 18:1).
How can we obey the Lord, the Church, and the Pope and pray the greatest prayer of our lives? We have trouble watching one hour with Jesus (see Mt 26:40). How can we pray always with love and power? Jesus' first followers were pitiful in their prayerlessness until they received the Holy Spirit. "The Spirit too helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us" (Rm 8:26). 
When Advent begins next month, ask Jesus to renew your Baptism and Confirmation - to baptize and immerse you in the Holy Spirit (Mk 1:8). Then you will pray in the Spirit (see 1 Cor 14:15; Eph 6:18; Jude 20).


Prayer: Father, make me docile to the Spirit and powerful in prayer.

Promise: "Try to come in through the narrow door. Many, I tell you, will try to enter and be unable." -Lk 13:24

Praise: Four sisters prayed and fasted for their cancer-riddled father and were rewarded with his living for seven more years.

REPENTANCE OR FEAR

"You did not receive a spirit of slavery leading you back into fear, but a spirit of adoption through which we cry out 'Abba!' (that is, 'Father')." -Romans 8:15

Because we inherited a fallen nature, we were in fear from the first moment of our conception. We lived in fear (see Lk 12:32) no matter how hard we tried to be free. We would have lived in fear our whole lives (Heb 2:15), but we were set free when we received a new nature by being baptized into Jesus. 
When we live our Baptism as adopted children of God, we push fear out of our lives (1 Jn 4:18). However, when we sin and are thereby unfaithful to our baptismal promises, we replace a spirit of adoption with a spirit of slavery, which leads us back into fear (Rm 8:15). In summary, freedom from fear is based on living as adopted children of God, that is, on living our Baptism. Freedom from fear is based on repentance. 
People either repent or become lifelong slaves of the fear of death (Heb 2:15). Sometimes people say they are afraid to go to Confession. On the contrary, they will be trapped in fear forever if they do not repent and confess their sins. Therefore, repent, go to Confession, and "do not be afraid of anything" (Mt 10:31).


Prayer: Father, may I go to Confession frequently, even monthly, as You lead me.

Promise: "There was a woman there who for eighteen years had been possessed by a spirit which drained her strength. She was badly stooped - quite incapable of standing erect. When Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said, 'Woman, you are free of your infirmity.' He laid His hand on her, and immediately she stood up straight and began thanking God." -Lk 13:11-13

Praise: St. Anthony had multiple attempts on his life and suffered great humiliation for the sake of the propagation of truth.