That Your Love May Increase Ever More by Jim Bayne
For God is leading Israel in joy by the light of his glory, with the mercy and justice that are his. – BAR 5:9
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy. – Ps 126:3
And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God. – Phil 1:9-11
As it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” – Luke 3:4-6
Piety
May you give and receive love generously.
May this love echo in your heart like
the joy of church bells on a clear December day.
May each person who comes into your life
be greeted as another Christ.
May the honor given the Babe of Bethlehem
be that which you extend to every guest who enters your presence.
May the hope of this sacred season settle in your soul.
May it be a foundation of courage for you
when times of distress occupy your inner land.
May the wonder and awe that fills the eyes of children
be awakened within you.
May it lead you to renewed awareness and appreciation
of whatever you too easily take for granted.
May the bonds of love for one another be strengthened
as you gather around the table of festivity and nourishment.
May you keep your eye on the Star within you and trust
this Luminescent Presence to guide and direct you each day.
May you go often to the Bethlehem of your heart
and visit the One who offers you peace.
May you bring this peace into our world
– Christmas Blessing by Joyce Rupp
Study
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| John Rausch (June 2, 1937 - November 14, 2018) |
About a month before he died on November 14, I went to take my longtime friend John Rausch out to lunch. Instead, John invited me in to share the lunch he had prepared for both of us.
During our lunch, John said that he had been asking himself for some time why he was still here. I reported that I too sometimes ask myself the same question. I was 82 this past September. John would have been 82 this coming June. We've done most of whatever we were called to do in this life.
After some discussion, we decided that we were still here because there were still some people who needed to talk to us and to whom we needed to listen. As today's first reading tells us, just as God led Israel in joy by the light of his glory, so too God had been leading us. During the last 40+ years, our lives have been guided by our weekly practice of Piety, Study, and Action taught to us by the "Cursillo Method." We have the grace of that experience to share.
John was a daily Mass-goer. I am a frequent Mass-goer. This practice along with the other elements of our daily prayer life have strengthened our Piety and enabled us to appreciate the light of his glory. We have encountered Christ frequently in our Piety practices.
For the many years that we grouped, our common and principle source of Study was a book titled A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants. During almost every group reunion, we would say to each other, "Well, I was in 'The Book' this week and I found...." John's copy was on the sideboard in his dining room as we ate lunch.
This one book, perhaps more than any other, provided for us, the answer to Paul's prayer in today's second reading: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. We encountered Christ in our Study, time and time again.
These two elements combined over the years to enable us through our Apostolic Action to ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, (and) make straight his paths not only in our own lives but to be instruments of God's grace for others we met along the way. We encountered Christ in our Apostolic Action.
Our Piety and Study made us men, who in our old age, still have a message to share with others in need of the Light of Christ in their lives. Our weekly living and sharing a life of Piety, Study and Action have enabled us to help others fill in the valleys in their lives and level the mountains they have to climb. What better reason could there be for each of us to be here on this earth?
Action
As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, the great feast of light, take some time this week to reflect on how your life of Piety, Study, and Action is bringing the Light of Christ into your life and into the lives of those in your environment.
Are you in a group reunion?
Do you encounter Christ each week in your life of prayer?
Do you encounter Christ in Study?
Do your Piety and Study enable you to encounter Christ in your Apostolic Action and be a source of Christ's light for those in need?
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