{"id":326,"date":"2015-11-29T13:06:05","date_gmt":"2015-11-29T13:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/?p=326"},"modified":"2015-11-29T13:06:05","modified_gmt":"2015-11-29T13:06:05","slug":"advent-2015-week-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/advent-2015-week-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent 2015: Week One"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/s-LxjkOipdE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Preparation<\/h2>\n<p>As we begin this time of quiet prayer, I invite you to find a comfortable place to sit with your back straight and your legs planted on the ground. Allow yourself to notice your breathing as you breathe normally. Breathe in. Breathe out.<\/p>\n<p>Take a few moments and close your eyes, preparing yourself to listen to what God may be saying to you during this prayer. As you sit with your eyes closed, use these or similar words: \u201cHere I am, Lord. Here I am.\u201d\u009d When you are ready, open your eyes and pray.<\/p>\n<h2>Inviting in the Visitor<\/h2>\n<p>Imagine you are sitting in a small room in a house that is surrounded by farmland and woods. You have come here to seek the quiet and calm. The busy life of work, family, and the city have made you feel anxious and unfocused. You know you need something; you need some time to let your mind be quiet and your heart open. Quiet and open\u2014those words sound so peaceful and desirable but unreachable. The room is simple: a bed, a desk, and a wooden chair. The walls are bare. You\u2019ve brought books to read and a journal to write in, but you can\u2019t seem to do anything but sit on the chair and absorb the silence, even as you feel restless.<\/p>\n<p>As you sit in the silence, you hear a faint sound like a knock on the door. Your heart races, <em>Who knows I\u2019m here? I need to be alone<\/em>, you think. The knocking becomes louder. As much as you want to stay in the room, something moves you to go to the door. The knock comes again, but it\u2019s a soft knock. As you approach the door, you see a light streaming under it. \u201cHello. Can I help you?\u201d\u009d you say without opening the door. A soft voice says, \u201cIt\u2019s me. I\u2019ve been looking for you.\u201d\u009d Something deep inside you stirs, but you are confused. \u201cWho are you? Do I know you?\u201d\u009d you say. \u201cYes. But we have not talked in a long time. I\u2019ve missed you,\u201d\u009d he says. You open the door.<\/p>\n<p>Standing there is Jesus. His eyes look at you with such tenderness. He carries a small lantern that gives off a bright, warm light. You stand there, unable to speak at first, allowing yourself to take in his presence and his light. You speak to Jesus.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What do you say to him?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>How does Jesus respond to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You invite Jesus into the house. You sit and tell him of the restlessness you feel.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>(Spend a few minutes to share with Jesus what is going on within you: your struggles, your feelings, your thoughts&#8230;as He listens.)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>As you talk to Jesus, a wave of peace and calm washes over you like the warm light streaming from his lantern. \u201cRest. Be still. You opened the door. Now let me take care of you,\u201d\u009d Jesus says. You close your eyes and let his words embrace you. Your heart is at peace, and your mind is still. When you open your eyes, Jesus is gone. Sitting beside the chair where he sat is the lantern, still emitting that bright, warm light. You smile and rest in the glow of the light.<\/p>\n<h2>Scripture reading<\/h2>\n<p>Mark 13:33-37 &#8211; What is the invitation?\u00a0What is your response?<\/p>\n<h2>Concluding Prayer<\/h2>\n<p>Glory be to the Father,<br \/>\nand to the Son,<br \/>\nand to the Holy Spirit.<br \/>\nAs it was in the beginning,<br \/>\nis now, and ever shall be,<br \/>\nworld without end.<br \/>\nAmen.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; See more at: http:\/\/www.ignatianspirituality.com\/20019\/arts-faith-advent-first-sunday-imaginative-prayer-exercise-2#sthash.1XKyQ1E1.dpuf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Preparation As we begin this time of quiet prayer, I invite you to find a comfortable place to sit with your back straight and your legs planted on the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8e1fr-5g","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":337,"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions\/337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}