10 Additional Ways To Become Holier This Advent
- Take care of the little things (even when you're exhausted): do the dishes; clean the bathroom; sweep the floor; tidy the living room; clean your bedroom. Practice charity at home, toward your wife and kids, toward siblings and parents, toward a roommate, toward a landlord.
- Give to the poor: donate food and/or cash to a food bank.
- Volunteer at a food bank; pray silently - or if opportunity presents itself, pray with others - for the needs of each person you encounter. Accompany every task with prayer; give thanks to God for the opportunity to serve our brothers and sisters.
- Reach out to a coworker who is difficult to get along with. Acknowledge something good, however seemingly insignificant that something might be. Ask them what interests them; listen carefully.
- Go for a walk and acknowledge passersby: catch their eye and say 'hello', or just smile and nod. Remember: the people you encounter are created in the image and likeness of God.
- Give thanks to God for the miserable moments in traffic. Pray, and be mindful of your circumstances.
- When you hear a police or ambulance siren, say a prayer: (make the Sign of the Cross) "Father, please watch over our emergency workers and those in their care. In Jesus' Name. Amen."
- Be mindful of your thoughts. When tempted, turn your mind to God and ask for the grace to be grateful for truth, goodness and beauty. You might also pray the following well known prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
- Donate to a worthy cause. Visit, for example, Nasarean.org, founded by Father Benedict Kiely "which provides aid and advocacy for persecuted Christians throughout the world". https://nasarean-org.myshopify.com/
- Confront in yourself one of your worst fears and ask God for the grace to help you find relief and freedom from any past or present hurt or situation that is disabling your heart and mind. Ask a saint such as Saint Stephen, Protomartyr of the Church, to intercede for you. Be open to the possibility that a flood of emotions might precede healing, understanding and growth.
and... trust in Jesus always!
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OFFICIUM | Psalm 91 | Second Evensong Mary Mother of God
I will say unto the Lord, Thou art my hope, and my strong-hold : my God, in him will I trust.
OFFICE | Deuteronomy 30 | Second Evensong of Mary Mother of God
AND when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you this day, with all your heart and with all your soul; then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes, and have compassion upon you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.
ST AUGUSTINE
The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.
MARCUS AURELIUS
There is but one thing of real value - to cultivate truth and justice, and to live without anger in the midst of lying and unjust men.
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