Love Guides Us (Wednesday, Fourth Week of Advent)

December 18, 2021, By: Jimmy Scruggs

Welcome! As you set aside time each day for Advent prayer we invite you to use this approach, which works well for individuals and groups of all ages.

Light a candle. Pause to remember the presence of God filling you with Light and Love.

Pray this Opening Prayer:

Radiant Creator, awaken me to your presence.
Jesus, Light of all Lights, kindle love in my heart.
Spirit of Illumination, guide my path today.

Advent Reflection for the Day

And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. Matthew 2:9

The Christmas story of the Magi is relatable to all of us because we know the experience well. The end of the story is happy, but the journey to get there is harrowing. It took a long time for them to find the Christ Child, and the star they followed was only visible at night. They couldn’t be certain they were on the right road.

So too, my direction to know God and myself is often hidden. I’m never sure how Christ will be born in me. Joy and peace are regularly hard to find.

Caryll Houselander writes this in The Reed of God: “We shall not see Christ’s radiance in our lives yet; it is still hidden in our darkness; nevertheless, we must believe that God is growing in our lives. We must believe it so firmly that we cannot help relating everything, literally everything, to this most incredible reality.” Houselander teaches that we must not try to force spiritual growth but have “a deep gratitude for the light burning secretly in our darkness…”

If you believe that God is guiding you as the star guided Magi, then all you need to do is lovingly support this presence dwelling in you. You will find your way. You will one day experience a clearer and clearer awareness of how and where a Holy God inhabits your own life. And like the Magi, you will not lose heart.

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Set your intention for the day. Say: Today I will look for the star that leads me to Christ and rejoice when I behold it.

Pray this Closing Prayer:

Jesus, you are the Everlasting Light.
Help me to bring your love everywhere I go.
Fill me with Light this Advent
that all my life will reflect you.
Shine through me so that that everyone I meet today
would feel your presence in my spirit.
Let them look and see, not just me, but you,
Light of all Lights, Shining through me. Amen

As you blow out the candle and the flame vanishes, remember you have divine light within you that will never go out. You take the light of Christ with you wherever you are.

Together on the Journey,

Katie Martinez