I think I did this post title last year also, it just doesn’t get old for me! Made you think twice, right? Well, it IS the new year, for the Church, that is! The new church year or liturgical year always begins on Advent.
So last night we celebrated with some sparkling cider (and lots and lots of Panera bagels…thank you, Fisher family), and also with a few games of Manhunt and some chatting outside since it was sooo beautiful out.
We also had a nice Advent Wreath prayer to finish our evening together, and a chance for people to give their reactions to the new Mass translation that we talked about and prepared for for so many weeks this fall.
Our main activity was a service project – we wrote out Christmas cards for deployed service members and residents of Maplewood to brighten their days and reflected for a bit on WHY as Catholics we do acts of service.
Some answers:
-makes us feel good
-Jesus told us to
-good for our souls
We then talked about how none of those are wrong answers at all, but at the heart of service is LOVE, or charity.
Love is willing another’s good, doing what’s best for them, and doing it even when we don’t HAVE to or don’t FEEL like it. We do it freely to please God and follow Jesus’ example and teachings from Scripture, not merely because he “made” us. Sometimes it makes us feel good and that’s great, but sometimes it doesn’t. God is still present. When we do service it is good for our soul and we are able to be Christ to others and see Christ in others. We do service for all people, for the least people – whether they are unborn, elderly, foreign, poor, homeless, disabled, sick, imprisoned, rude, weird, or we don’t like them, or if we really do like them – our friends and family.
How does the Church organize and talk about service/works and creating a just society? With the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy and Principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Click on them to see them and read and learn more. We went over them briefly last night.
We also spoke about and shared experiences from Encounter. There will be a separate post detailing this service camp.
See you all this Sunday for SMASH, next Monday to learn more about Advent, next weekend for our retreat, and Mon the 12th for evening prayer and Q&A night.
