Getting lost is not a novel experience.  I am sure there are times each of us has been physically lost.  It’s frightening to feel alone and lost; whether it is physically, emotionally, or spiritually.  The most wonderful truth is that we are never alone. We are never truly lost.  

Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, promised he would not leave us.  We are not forgotten.  We are not orphans.  This promise is a reminder that even when we feel alone or adrift, there is a guiding presence accompanying us on our journey.  Christ is before us, behind us and beside us.  

This truth is almost more than words can describe, and as per Hans Christian Anderson: “Where words fail, music speaks. “Christ Before Us,” is a beautiful piece with text by Janet Sullivan Whitaker, to the tune Suo Gan, a Welsh lullaby.  The melody is often sung at Christmas depicting Mary singing to baby Jesus.  What more safe place is there than an infant in its mother’s arms?  As Christians, we can be assured of the same safety, knowing that Christ is with us.  

Our minds are cluttered with so many priorities that sometimes it is hard (at least for me) to “hear” God.  St. Ignatius encourages us to surrender all to God, to let go of attachments and trust in God’s plan.  The hope is that by doing this we will become more open to God’s love and guidance.  We may be able to more clearly discern our purpose

The emphasis is on finding God in the everyday experiences of our lives, to take note of those encounters, reflect on them so that we can see what God might be guiding us toward.  We are encouraged to live out our faith in a thoughtful and authentic way that responds to God’s love with love, justice and compassion.  

The Suscipe of St. Ignatius or the “Take Lord, Receive” prayer above is a powerful expression of faith and trust.  It is an expression of the essential truth that when we open ourselves to the reality of who God is and what God has done for us we realize we have all that we need.   

Of course, I have a song:  These Alone are Enough for Me  

The reality of this song brings me to tears each time I hear or sing it.  I hope it is meaningful to you as well.

Cecilia Carroll

Advent Square Director

The quote from Psalm 90 and photo above reminds me of Autumn, my favorite season.  It is the one I miss most since moving to Florida: the crisp air, the pretty colors, even the fading daylight. More than any other season, it reminds me of the passing of time.  As the days shorten, I am reminded of the brevity of life.  We exist on this earth for such a short time.  God gave us this brief moment in time to live purposefully, to make use of the time we have. 

One of my favorite settings of Psalm 90 is “In Every Age.” By Janet Sullivan Whitaker.  

Psalm 90 speaks to us of the eternity of God.  “Before the mountains you are God.”  A mountain can appear to soar forever into the sky.  Looking out over the water at the horizon, it seems to never end.  Yet, God is above, before and behind all of it.  God is God from long before we can remember and for beyond the span of our lives.  We will wither and fade, but God is forever.  We embrace everything that comes to us because even in our most challenging times, our joys and sorrows, God is eternal and He is with us.

Cecilia Carroll

Advent Square Director

Some have wrongly interpreted this to be a condemnation of wealth and success.  It is not.  It is rather a cautionary tale, asking us to look deeply at our motivations and values.  Are we attaining stuff just to have it or are we using the gifts given us to strive to live the best Christian life that we can?  Do we give credit where credit is due and in the words of St. Ignatius of Loyola “return it all to God.”  

We can contrast the story of Mark’s “Rich  Young Man” with another rich young man who did choose to give it all away and follow what he believe was the path for his life, St. Francis of Assisi.  If our rich young man chose the crown of gold, we can say that St. Francis, eventually, after an encounter with the Lord, chose the crown of thorns.  

In our time and context, what does it mean to choose God, rather than gold?  Are we really supposed to give all of our hard won possessions away, dress in brown sack cloth and with nothing but sandals and a staff, set out to spread the Gospel?  No, we are all products of our time and St. Francis was reacting to what he saw as excesses in and out of The Church.  Rather, we should take the words of prayer of St. Francis to heart.

In his “Simple Prayer,” St. Francis challenges us to be the Lord’s instruments in the world.  To bring compassion, peace, understanding, truth, faith, love and justice to the world.  We don’t need to give up our worldly possessions to do so, but rather put the gifts the Lord gave us to work for His glory.

I was told to “be me” in sharing these devotions, so I wouldn’t be me without music, the link below is to a version of the Prayer of St. Francis that I hope you enjoy.  It is not a professional recording, but the best I could find.

As I became acclimated to my role at Advent and learned of all the ministries the community supports, the song that popped into my head was “We are the Hands of Christ” by composer Joel Raney.  Click HERE for a recording.  The text set to this haunting melody is a teaching attributed to St. Teresa of Avila, a mystic and Doctor of the Church.    

“Christ has no body now on earth but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which He looks

           Compassion on this world.

Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are His body.

Christ has no body now but yours.” 

When I ponder these words and look at the photo above, I see Advent Life Ministries. One example is the inspiring group who just completed the Camino.  They literally used their feet to be Christ in this world.  

A song of ascents.

1 Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
    who walk in obedience to him.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labor;
    blessings and prosperity will be yours.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
    within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
    around your table.
4 Yes, this will be the blessing
    for the man who fears the Lord.

5 May the Lord bless you from Zion;
    may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
    all the days of your life.
6 May you live to see your children’s children—
    peace be on Israel.

Maybe I am just a little sensitive due to all the walking I have been doing in preparation for the pilgrimage of the Camino de Santiago,  but whenever I read anything, especially scripture, with the idea of “walking” in it, I pay particular attention.  

Psalm 128 is one of 15 songs sung by travelers on their way to Jerusalem, hence the ascent title, and the focus on walking.  This Psalm not only calls out the walk in obedience, but also translates “Fear” as “walk in the ways”… of the Lord.

Our walk along the Camino de Santiago will bring about many benefits.  Physical, emotional and spiritual to name a few, but none of these compare to the promises of the blessings called out in this Psalm. Who isn’t looking for the personal and national blessings identified here?

As you read this devotion, I will be on the road “singing” the song of Psalm 128.  I encourage you also to sing/pray the blessings of Psalm 128 for yourself, family, nation, and Church as we “walk in His ways”.

Ultreia…Doug

(Camino greeting meaning Let’s go forward)

127 1-2 If God doesn’t build the house,
    the builders only build shacks.
If God doesn’t guard the city,
    the night watchman might as well nap.
It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late,
    and work your worried fingers to the bone.
Don’t you know he enjoys
    giving rest to those he loves?

3-5 Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift?
    the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?
Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows
    are the children of a vigorous youth.
Oh, how blessed are you parents,
    with your quivers full of children!
Your enemies don’t stand a chance against you;
    you’ll sweep them right off your doorstep.

In the last 11 years over 35 women from Advent have “challenged” themselves physically, spiritually and financially to engage in the fight against human trafficking with Freedom Challenge.  In that time, our women from Advent have raised over 1.5 million dollars to rescue, rehabilitate, educate and prevent human trafficking.  It has, OBVIOUSLY, been a Holy Spirit led movement.  Why do I say, “obviously?”  Psalm 127 tells us plainly, “if God doesn’t build the house, the builders only build shacks.”  We can work “our fingers to the bone,” but no matter what we do or where we are, the Lord is the One who makes things come to pass.  And to me that is a perfect message because human trafficking feels like an impossible fight to be in, but as the Psalmist continues, “Your enemies don’t stand a chance against you; you’ll sweep them right off your doorstep.”  Thank you, Lord, for calling us to an impossible task, because we know that the victories come from you!

Susan Hagen 

126 1-3 It seemed like a dream, too good to be true,
    when God returned Zion’s exiles.
We laughed, we sang,
    we couldn’t believe our good fortune.
We were the talk of the nations—
    “God was wonderful to them!”
God was wonderful to us;
    we are one happy people.

4-6 And now, God, do it again—
    bring rains to our drought-stricken lives
So those who planted their crops in despair
    will shout “Yes!” at the harvest,
So those who went off with heavy hearts
    will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing.

Anyone who has been on a mission trip will tell you, the blessing that you think you are going to deliver to someone else, comes back to you tenfold.  When Andy and I visited India with Freedom Challenge, we were in a church that was meeting in a school in the slums of Mumbai—they asked Andy to share a word from scripture and a greeting from Advent.  The people in attendance hung on every word as his message was translated into Hindi and then after the service, they lined up for us to pray for them.  There is such a beauty in people who are hungry for the deliciousness of our heavenly Father.  In the midst of a slum in India, in a little church meeting in a school—they couldn’t believe their good fortune that God loves them—it overflowed from them.  And as we walked through the slum after that wonderful service—we prayed for God to “do it again,” for every person we encountered, knowing that his promise is to restore all creation.  

4-6 And now, God, do it again—
    bring rains to our drought-stricken lives
So those who planted their crops in despair
    will shout “Yes!” at the harvest,
So those who went off with heavy hearts
    will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing.

As I read Psalm 126 and finalize my packing and preparations to start our Camino de Santiago trek, I am reflecting on past victories and God’s faithfulness, that just as the Israelites experienced the joy of deliverance, this journey represents a fight for the freedom and restoration of those trapped in modern-day slavery. Each step taken on the Camino will mirror the steps that victims of trafficking take as they rebuild their lives after being freed from captivity. 

This verse is a call to endurance, faith and hope as this trek is not just a physical journey—it’s a spiritual one that echoes the themes of Psalm 126: from captivity to freedom, from sorrow to joy, from labor to harvest.