“I the Lord Grasp your Right Hand” by Beth DeCristofaro
I am the LORD, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to you, "Fear not, I will help you." Do not fear, you worm Jacob, I will help you—oracle of the LORD; the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. (Isaiah 41:13-14)
Jesus said to the crowds: "Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he. (Matthew 11:11)
Piety
Hold my hand tightly, O God, as I walk to the manger, as I wait alertly, preparing myself to renew my wonder at the awesome presence of Christ, every day, in my life.
Study
Fr. Richard Rohr teaches that “When we speak of Advent or preparing for Christmas, we’re not talking about waiting for a little baby to be born. We’re, in fact, welcoming the universal, cosmic Christ—the Christ that is forever being born in the human soul and history.” God desired to become flesh and thereby solved from the beginning the problem faced by humanity! We don’t need to wait for a baby but instead prepare as John was preparing the Way. We need to make room!
Rohr goes on to say that the Eastern Church sees the Incarnation as Universal in which God gives a “yes” to the material universe. God declares “yes” to the finite physical world. The Spirit reveals itself through matter and Christmas is celebrated at those moments which unfortunately we often miss. “It’s good to be human. It’s good to be on this earth…We don’t have to be ashamed because this is what God loves.” We are and should be always preparing the Way!
Action
Take a brief Reflection Pause and watch Fr. Rohr’s video at https://www.facebook.com/CenterforActionandContemplation/videos/2372516392760323/
What Christmas moments are we missing in which the Spirit reveals more and more of God to us?
Where are we holding the imperfections of the physical world against someone - perhaps that person who gets on our last nerve or holds a different, difficult political outlook; or the person who is so different in culture and appearance or who believes differently about the work of God in the world.
How might we take God’s hand ever more tightly in this season of Advent and ask for more discerning eyes to see God’s Presence in the Present?
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