{"id":1594,"date":"2024-11-27T13:34:34","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T13:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shcj.org\/european\/?p=1594"},"modified":"2025-01-09T17:37:47","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T17:37:47","slug":"advent-reflections-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shcj.org\/european\/advent-reflections-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent Reflections 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fourth Sunday of Advent<\/strong><\/p>\n

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He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock
\nby the strength of the LORD,
\nthe majestic name of the LORD, his God;
\nand they shall remain, for now his greatness
\nshall reach to the ends of the earth;
\nhe shall be peace. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Micah 5:1<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I used to think farming was all about the sheep, and then I got really in to land and soil, and ecology, and cows, and even the economics of it, and these days I know it\u2019s all those things\u2026 yup\u2026 but above all it\u2019s about the people\u00a0\u2026 You have to be intelligent, stubborn, stoical. You need stickability \u2013 you have to endure. You need to be observant \u2026 My father died \u2026 he was not a talker but taught by example. He worked hard and modestly. That\u2019s what I\u2019m working on. – James Rebanks
\nThird Sunday of Advent \u2013 GAUDETE<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Rejoice in the Lord always.
\nI shall say it again: rejoice!
\nYour kindness should be known to all.<\/p>\n

– Philippians 4<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2026 Unseen, you are fed by the Spirit,
\nsustained by an energy of love,
\nthe power of a hope that is greater than you,
\na heart who treasures you, who lifts you, who includes you,
\nwho believes in you.
\nYou are doing a hard thing.
\nBut it is the Infinite One in you who is working the hardest.
\nLet yourself be carried.<\/p>\n

– Steve Garnaas-Holmes
\nSecond Sunday of Advent<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am confident of this,
\nthat the one who began a good work in you
\nwill continue to complete it
\nuntil the day of Christ Jesus. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philippians 1<\/p>\n

So often it feels as if there\u2019s nothing we can do to make a difference, with everything that’s going on – but I\u00a0know<\/em>\u00a0we can each bring colour, fragrance and life to the world around us … Everywhere you plant your feet today is holy ground, after all – and it’s ready for the seeds of hope we’ll plant together. – Barbara Brown Taylor<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

First Sunday of Advent<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love
\nfor one another and for all,
\njust as we have for you,
\nso as to strengthen your hearts.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1 Thessalonians 3<\/p>\n

Gandalf, the wise wizard in J.R. Tolkien\u2019s \u2018Lord of the Rings\u2019, echoes Paul\u2019s words to us today:<\/p>\n

\u201cSome believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found. I have found that it is the small everyday deed of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fourth Sunday of Advent He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock by the strength of the LORD, the majestic name of the LORD, his God; and they shall remain, for now his greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth; he shall be peace. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Micah 5:1   I used to think farming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":385,"featured_media":1523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shcj.org\/european\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shcj.org\/european\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shcj.org\/european\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shcj.org\/european\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/385"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shcj.org\/european\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.shcj.org\/european\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shcj.org\/european\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shcj.org\/european\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shcj.org\/european\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shcj.org\/european\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}