The shaking, the awakening: with these, life merely begins to become capable of Advent. It is precisely in the severity of this awakening, in the helplessness of coming to consciousness, in the wretchedness of experiencing our limitations that the golden threads running between heaven and earth during this season reach us; the threads that give the world a hint of the abundance to which it is called, the abundance to which it is capable. Father Alfred Delp, S.J., Advent of the Heart: Seasonal Sermons and Prison Writings - 1941-1944
The whole country seems to be in a lock-down again, but this time with bitter cold and for many there will be no Christmas with family and loved ones. Right now outside here it is 11 degrees, though sunny, and our new heat system seems to be taking a break with 56 degrees in the main part of the monastery. Then as we get system up and running there is a county-wide power outage, lasting hours, due to some crises on the mainland. But we must remember those who have it so much harder- those with none of the necessities for survival.
Speaking near a large Nativity scene in Paul VI Hall on Dec. 21, the Pope Francis recalled an encounter that he had with Ukrainian war refugees in which the children seemed unable to smile.
“On this feast of God becoming a child, let us think of Ukrainian children. … These children bear the tragedy of that war, which is so inhuman, so harsh. Let us think of the Ukrainian people this Christmas, without electricity, without heating, without the main things necessary to survive, and let us pray to the Lord to bring them peace as soon as possible.”
Art: Ostap Lozynsky (RIP) Ukrainian