Advent on the Border, Part III: Mary, Mother of Immigrants
[This post is the final installment of three.] I left, with my head full of doubts. And here I am, remembering everything that I once was. I crossed four countries in five days Running at a trot, eating a little, speaking little and crying softly. -From Me Fui: Himno de los Migrantes Gloria is a twenty-something volunteer at ...
Advent on the Border, Part II: Journey to the Land of God
[This post is the second of three installments.] The dream we hold must translate into a daily journey of concrete steps…from conflict to communion, from hatred to love, from escape to encounter. A patient journey to the land God has prepared for us. The land where, when people ask, “Who are you?,” you can respond, “I am your brother, you...
On My Homestead, Advent is Thick and Heavy in Nature
Because money is hard made and easy spent, when we were about 3 years into our agrarian dream we could only afford a little homestead and not a big rolling farm. G.K. Chesterton claimed that is all I needed. He also said you need a cow on those 3 acres, which we had on that farm. Now we have 4-6 cows at a time in milk, and a slightly bigger far...
Advent is Here, Knot Your Ropes
By Joseph Larson The Temple in Jerusalem In the ancient world before Christ came, there was only one place where God’s presence resided and where sacrifices were offered to Him - the Temple on Mount Zion. Most Jewish towns had synagogues where the holy books were read and taught, but it was only the one Temple in Jerusalem where God resided...
Advent: A Time of Preparation and Penance
The Church celebrates Advent as a time of preparation for the birth of Christ. It is not as old as Lent, the great fast to prepare for Easter and the initiation of new converts at the vigil, but arose at least by the fifth century. The logic of Advent and Lent is that major events take preparation and in this case we are preparing our souls to rece...
How to Avoid Rushing Through the Holiday Season
If Thanksgiving were a person, it would be a pitiable fellow. Halloween is anticipated all through autumn with lots of decorations, costumes, and candy. Then society rapidly shifts focus to preparing for the “holiday season” which obviously begins with Thanksgiving, but everyone knows is really all about Christmas. Ever seen “Happy Holidays...
Men Need Adventure: How the Christian Adventure Differs from the World’s
Adventure may be an overused word, but therefore it is in need of recovery. The words "advent" and "adventure" share a common Latin root – adventurus – about to happen. In Advent we looked forward to the coming of Christ at Christmas, remembering his first entry into the world and expecting his return. In an adventure, we look forward in exp...