A Timely Prayer
I’ve just finished writing out my Christmas cards a few days
ago. We don’t send out nearly as many as we did when we were younger, but there
are a few that we do still send.
You may think I am late, but the way I figure it, I am right
on time. Since we are still in the
Christmas season, I like to fill in my cards with notes about our Christmas
festivities, and with the easy-going days following Christmas, I find I am not
so hurried when I do so.
As you know, Christmas isn’t just one day. For us, we try to keep the celebration going
until Epiphany (January 6th) when the wise men finally arrive after
their long journey!
I hope you had a truly beautiful Advent and maybe even took
up some new practices related to those four weeks before Christmas. When Christmas arrives with a genuine focus
on Jesus, the season begins with increased gratitude for his saving work.
One of the prayer practices I tried to add during Advent was
to pray the Angelus. I’ve tried it
before and this time did it about as imperfectly as I have in the past, but it
is so beautiful and simple, I think it is worth the effort to keep trying.
The challenge of praying this prayer which is focused on the
Incarnation (God becoming man in the person of Jesus) is that the typical times
to pray it are 6 a.m., 12:00 noon, and 6 p.m.
As you might imagine, I am often occupied at those times.
I have an app on my phone that reminds me to pray throughout
the day by chiming church bells. If you
have not tried Laudate, I highly encourage you to do so (you can find it in
your apps store.) A friend of mine showed
me that in addition to the Angelus reminders, you have the option of receiving
a short scripture passage every hour.
My family has finally stopped asking, “What is that?” when church
bells go off in my pocket!
Anyway, I think it is important to mark our time throughout
the day with prayer, even if we do not do it perfectly, and stopping for just a
moment or two is a wonderful opportunity to praise God.
In praying the Angelus from this app, I noticed they have
certain lines of the prayer in bold. As
I focused on the bold print, I found it speaking to me personally, in a
surprising way!
You can find the full Angelus prayer here,
but let me give you a few of the lines that jumped out at me:
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit
Be it done unto me according to thy word
And dwelt amongst us
Let’s take them one at a time.
Obviously the first line speaks of Mary’s conception of
Jesus through the Holy Spirit. But, I
ask, can you conceive of Jesus and the Holy Spirit as well? No, obviously no
physically, but the truth about Jesus becoming man? This leads to, the question, “How can I
respond to the presence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in my life?”
And the second line.
What if we, in simplicity, offered this prayer? What if we humbly prayed that God’s will be
done in us, according to his word, throughout the day? This would be transformative! Are you ready
for that?
And finally, to contemplate that Jesus was made flesh and
dwelt among us! It is a great act of
faith when we respond to the Incarnation of Jesus in Mary and we can do this in
many ways, but when we respond with the entirety of our lives, it becomes a
great act of love.
So as we move through this holy season of Christmas, let our
knowledge that God became man in the person of Jesus so that we can all be
saved, penetrate your life. Let it move
you to action. Let God work through you
to love others radically, in ways unexpected and challenging.
And finally, let the realization that Jesus dwells among us
every day impact all that you do.
Merry Christmas!
Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.blogspot.com
janetcassidy.blubrry.net
janetcassidy.blogspot.com
janetcassidy.blubrry.net
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