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Contents: Volume 2 December 14, 2025
1. -- Lanie LeBlanc OP -2. -- 3. --
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Ten women in an Advent Scripture group I attend sat together earlier this week to discuss these readings for the Third Sunday of Advent. We read from multiple versions of the selections as well as some commentaries. Our sharing seemed to mirror both serious concerns about day- to-day life as well as the deep hope these readings bring to a not-so-peaceful world.
What stuck in my mind as I sit and write my personal thoughts days later is how far from my human understanding are God’s ways. It is actually very hard to imagine the wonderful “improvements” God will make in the hereafter. The truth is that humanity needs them NOW, right now.
Our second reading tells us we must be patient. We are relatively patient if we garden or farm because that is normally what those things entail. We are not so patient when there are unsettling surprises that hit us over and over with little respite even to think and go to plan B. At best, we might give them to God and try to move on in a hopeful way.
Our third reading tells us that even John the Baptist wanted some confirmation that positive change in his day and time was coming. Is Jesus really the Savior who will make things different? The answer to John and us is a resounding YES… but often in ways human beings often can’t even imagine!
For me, that is the beauty of unwavering faith, even in times when one’s faith does question and we are not so patient. Jesus certainly did miraculous things as was recounted in the Gospel. Jesus still does miraculous things within people by changing hearts… just ask some true friends about that!
Our part in trying to keep the faith is to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and follow Jesus’s ways. Remember, that being fully human on the Cross, even Jesus asked the Father if he was being abandoned!! The fully divine Jesus was also the Answer.
There are times that I feel just like my granddaughter who asked if it was possible to just be a cat! A wonderful question if asked by a pre-schooler, but a truly insightful one by this teenager. Life at any age in our day and time is complex and complicated at best.
What can we do to give God the time and space to make things better? How can we help our own impatience or questioning? How can we share hope in this often seemingly hopeless world?
One of my personal solutions combines the child-like with the divine… I pray I find time to take a short nap. Gotta let it go to the One with the Answer. Our God gives answers and makes roads smoother in multiple ways, usually surprisingly, but often in a way that does make the world a more peaceful place to live. Gardening helps, might a current or new hobby of yours do the same also?
Blessings, Dr. Lanie LeBlanc OP Southern Dominican Laity
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****************************************************** ****************************************************** 4. ****************************************************** ****************************************************** 5. ****************************************************** Volume 2 is for you. These reflections follow the Liturgical Calendar and appear here about mid week each week. They are written by various guest authors. If you would like to submit a reflection of your own, then click here to send an email request to post to the Webmaster. Deadline is Monday morning of each week for the upcoming Sunday.
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A service of The Order of Preachers,
The Dominicans. (form revised 10/13/2025) |
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