(from my note to the enCourage community)
By Fr. Adrian Danker, SJ
“Soon and very soon, we will enter into the Advent Season and prepare for Jesus’s coming at Christmas. So often our preparations are busy: trimming the tree, buying presents, cleaning our homes, and preparing the meals. In fact our hearts are too busy and noisy throughout the year, often with our own voices that drown out God’s voice that wants us to know his presence and his better plans for us.
This year, I invite us to focus on preparing our hearts for Jesus. Let’s make our hearts, however messy, the very space where Jesus will come to birth and dwell in. To do this, the silence St Teresa of Calcutta writes about is worth begging the Lord for this Advent: ‘In silence He listens to us; in silence He speaks to our souls. In silence we are granted the privilege of listening to His voice.’
Yes, to listen to His voice on Christmas morning – that of a poor, innocent babe, gurgling. And if we pause before Him in the manager and listen, we might hear Him say, ‘I’ve come to lift you up; so, come, lift me up too.’ Shall we? I pray this desire be ours this Advent.”