{"id":331,"date":"2015-12-13T04:55:54","date_gmt":"2015-12-13T04:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/?p=331"},"modified":"2015-12-13T04:55:54","modified_gmt":"2015-12-13T04:55:54","slug":"advent-2015-week-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/advent-2015-week-three\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent 2015: Week Three"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><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\/7WXMds2xbQg?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. 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 time of 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>One Whom You Do Not Recognize<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s early evening. You are walking downtown in a large city. It\u2019s a few weeks before Christmas, and the streets are filled with people shopping. The sidewalks are so crowded that it\u2019s hard to walk without bumping into someone. Your life has been so busy lately that you haven\u2019t had time to think about Christmas or shopping or anything related to the season. As you walk, you wonder why you even decided to come downtown tonight. You knew it would be crowded. You knew it would be difficult just crossing the street, but something drew you here, something that you felt deep inside.<\/p>\n<p>You decide to sit in a caf\u00e9 for a few minutes to let your mind settle. You take your coffee, but even this place is so full there aren\u2019t any seats available. You notice someone sitting at a table alone. \u201cDo you mind if I sit here?\u201d\u009d you ask him.<\/p>\n<p>He looks up. You\u2019ve seen his face before, but you can\u2019t remember where. \u201cNot at all,\u201d\u009d he says with a smile.<\/p>\n<p>You take off your coat and sit down. The man continues to look at you. At first it makes you feel uncomfortable. Then he asks, \u201cWhat are you looking for tonight?\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The question strikes you as odd, but there is something about his face and voice that make you want to open up and speak freely. \u201cI\u2019m not shopping, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d\u009d you say laughing. \u201cWhy do you ask?\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n<p>He smiles and says, \u201cI think you know me.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n<p>You look at him and again that feeling that you do know him comes over you. \u201cYour face seems familiar. Perhaps we\u2019ve met before. Are you from around here?\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n<p>His eyes seem to look deep inside of you. His smile is warm and inviting. \u201cI am the one you\u2019ve been searching for. I am he.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n<p>His words penetrate deep inside you. You feel a sense of peace and calm, a feeling that he knows all about you and sits there without judgment. \u201cAll you need to do is open your eyes. I am here. I am everywhere. Just look.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n<p>It is then you know. It is then you understand. You look down at your coffee unable to speak but feeling more alive than you have in years. When you look up, he is gone. You look around the caf\u00e9, but you don\u2019t see him. You look out the window, and there he is, smiling at you. He points to his eyes and says, \u201cJust look. I am here.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n<p>And then he disappears into the crowd.<\/p>\n<p><strong style=\"line-height: 1.71429;font-size: 1rem\"><span style=\"font-size: 1.28571rem;line-height: 1.6\">Scripture Reading<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;line-height: 1.71429\">John 1:6-8, 19-28 &#8211; Jesus knows everything you did for Him. He remembers you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong style=\"line-height: 1.71429;font-size: 1rem\"><span style=\"font-size: 1.28571rem;line-height: 1.6\">Concluding Prayer<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\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\/20075\/arts-faith-advent-third-sunday-imaginative-prayer-exercise-2#sthash.ftMm94LY.dpuf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 ground&#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-331","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-5l","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331","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=331"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":335,"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions\/335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charis.calvarylogos.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}