Good morning! As many of you know, during this second week of Advent we light the PEACE candle. Our Advent devotional for today on that topic comes to us from Charley Reavley. Charley is a Computer Science major from Oswego, IL, and is currently in his junior year at TCU. Charley currently serves as the President of TCU Catholic where he works diligently to lead a vibrant and engaging campus ministry. When I contacted potential devotional writers this year Charley was the first to respond, with an enthusiastic and affirming YES! Charley is as intentional in his leadership style as he is in practicing his faith, which instills a sense of PEACE in others. I trust his words for us today will inspire that same PEACE during this season of Advent, and as we begin this week of finals.
As a reminder, our annual Carols by Candlelight Service is tonight at 7:00pm in Robert Carr Chapel. Please come and celebrate this season of Advent with carols and hymns followed by cocoa and cookies after the service. There will be special performances by Calling in Action, Here Comes Treble, The Horned Tones, License to Trill, and the Word of Truth Gospel Choir that you won’t want to miss! -Rev. Todd Boling, University Chaplain
Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
What is the season of Advent all about? The word “Advent” comes from the Latin term “advenire,” which means “to come.” If you’ve celebrated the season of Advent before, you probably know that it’s about preparing our hearts for the coming of Jesus Christ. Now there are, in a sense, three different “comings” of Jesus. The first is, of course, the coming of the child Jesus that took place over 2000 years ago. The second is the coming of Jesus into our hearts in our everyday lives, and the third is the second coming of Jesus at the end of time.
I want to focus on the second coming of Jesus that I mentioned: the coming of Jesus into our hearts. How do we achieve this? How do we let our Lord enter into our hearts this Advent and beyond? What is keeping us from letting Jesus into our hearts?
The theme of this second week of Advent is PEACE. I think the idea of peace is crucial when it comes to how we allow Jesus to penetrate our hearts on a daily basis. In our fast-paced world, it can be so incredibly easy to let the chaos of our lives and our endless list of responsibilities get in the way of our relationship with Christ.
Why do we allow this to happen? Why is it that every other time we’re asked “How have you been?” we respond with “Oh, I’ve been busy.” I think it’s because the world tells us that we are defined by how busy we are. We are defined by how much we do, and more so, how much we accomplish. This leads us to become people of great anxiety, worry, and fear. We are afraid that we will not do enough in this life to be worth something, to be seen, and to be loved.
Fortunately for us, we were given a Savior. A Savior who was sent to free us from our worries and our fears. Many times in the Gospels, Jesus tells us to not worry and to not fear, but to have peace from the promise that our Heavenly Father will always provide, as long as we put our faith and trust in Him.
Now, this is much easier said than done. A common misconception is that if we put our faith in Jesus, then suddenly our worries and fears will disappear, never to return. This is not true. Worry and fear are a part of our human nature. Nonetheless, I believe what Jesus is trying to convey is that we need to trust Him despite our fears and our worries. As long as we surrender our will and our fears to Him, Jesus will guide us on the path to peace.
Let us pray.
My Lord, and my God. Hear the cry of our hearts to escape the anxieties of this world. Grant us the grace to put our full faith and trust in You alone, and orient our eyes to the glory and peace of Heaven each and every day. O Jesus, I surrender myself to You. Take care of everything. Amen.