Friday, December 23
Fourth Friday in Advent
O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.
All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy…
Psalm 25
Kindness and constancy. Words that mean both qualities and behaviors, all rolled up together, inseparable.
Christian life is not about being perfect. We belong to God. We learn to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us toward God, to transform us into the image of Christ. We come to recognize that we cannot do this on our own, and that gentleness with ourselves and others is always necessary. We learn to claim and trust God’s forgiveness when we fall away, and come back again and again to God’s constancy and kindness. No one is turned away.
Jesus appears to be holding out his hand to us even as he calls us. He tells us he will provide a bridge over the chasm if we will abide in him. We hear his words, but such language is strange to us, sounding like the dialects of many who have used us or consumed us and then left us along the highway, exposed and alone. We pull back. Many of us return to Vanity Fair and mortgage our heart to purchase more of what is religiously or materially familiar. A few of us arouse our spirit and take a step toward the chasm.
–Brent Curtis
Today’s photo: Wabasha Street Bridge, St. Paul
All photos and graphics by Baya Clare, CSJ.
