Reflections of a beloved son

  “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil.” Psalm 23:4a Wednesday of the First Week of Advent For an audio version, click here . As winter approaches, the days get shorter, and the sky turns dark earlier. Sometimes the darkness and coldness of winter may put us in a sad mood or even make us think about some of the things we have been working so hard to avoid, ignore, and hide from. Sometimes some parts of our past we are ashamed of creep into our minds and it makes us question ourselves, our identity, our present, and our worth. It is at those times when the enemy capitalizes on our vulnerabilities and try to make us turn to him and move away from God. The Enemy will try to feed the lie that because of those past moments of weakness and shame that we do not deserve happiness or joy and that God does not love us because of our past and we should be too shameful to go to God. But that is the exact opposite of what God wants and what we should do....

As we enter the Third Week of Advent, and as we quickly approach Christmas, what is it that we really want?  Amidst the busyness of buying presents, decorating the home, baking cookies, or making holiday arrangements, what is it that we really hope for this Christmas? In the Gospel, Jesus asked the crowds three times " What or why did you go out to see? "  Wherever we are in our lives, why is it that we are there?  Is this where I want to be?  Where is it that I really want to be?  Sometimes we find ourselves lost and confused, and not really knowing what we want or what we should be doing.  At the heart of that confusion is really perhaps a desire to belong.  We want to belong to something or someone.  Maybe we thought we will find that sense of belonging once we have found "the right job," "the right person," or "the right place."  But once we have reached that point, then what?  What were you looking for?  What are you looking ...