A weekly collection of inspiration and resources for the journey, gathered from websites, books, and pass-alongs that have been shared with us. From The Wisdom Years – Spirituality for the Last Third of Our Lives.
Advent Week 3 – Question of the week: What does it mean to allow God to become incarnate in your life? And how will you do that?
Advent stands before us, within us, pointing to the star for which the wise ones from the East are only icons of ourselves. We all want something more. Advent asks the question, what is it for which you are spending your life? What is the star you are following now? And where is that star in its present radiance in your life leading you? Is it a place that is really comprehensive enough to equal the breadth of the human soul?
—from The Liturgical Year by Joan Chittister, Thomas Nelson
From Benedictine Sisters of Erie website, prayer and liturgy page
Beginning on December 17, you can listen to the O Antiphons as sung by the Sisters’ choir at Mount Saint Benedict Monastery, Erie, PA. Click here. (O Antiphons will be on the front page.)
The Two Women of the Annunciation
by Marjorie George
“Mary and Elizabeth: A teenager and an older woman with no children who, as scripture has it, was ‘getting on in years’ (Luke 1:39-56). Angels appear, the holy Spirit intervenes, and each becomes pregnant. It could not be more unlikely.”
Read the meditation:
Heaven
Advent 3 reflection from Diana Butler Bass
“I think we made heaven distant — depicting it as far away, unattainable in this life, a blessed reward for faith — because we’ve been disappointed that God’s utopian vision has not come to pass. Jesus said it was here. Yet it remains elusive. Where is it? Especially this year. Where, where, where is anything that even resembles heaven?”
Read the entire essay
From the blog of Diana Butler Bass
Chastity and Christmas
By Fr. Ron Rolheiser
Chastity, says Ron Rolheiser, “is the virtue that invites us to live in patience, to wait, to respect what’s other, and to carry tension long enough so that the other can truly be other and gift can unfold precisely as gift.”
Read Fr. Ron’s essay on the real meaning of chastity.
From the blog of Ron Rolheiser
Giving Birth to Christ
by Richard Rohr
“Looking at how Mary gave birth to Christ, we see that it’s not something that’s done in an instant. Faith, like biology, also relies on a process that has a number of distinct, organic moments. What are these moments? What is the process by which we give birth to faith in the world?”
From Richard Rohr’s daily meditations
The Center for Action and Contemplation
If you have something to add to Gathered Wisdom, send it to Marjorie George at
marjoriegeorge62@gmail.com
Gathered Wisdom is from The Wisdom Years, a ministry that invites older adults to deepening spirituality in the last third of their lives. If someone forwarded this to you, learn more about The Wisdom Years and subscribe to the site at
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