The third week of advent is always marked by the lighting of the pink candle. Growing up I loved this week of advent the best. I’m not really sure why I loved the third week. Going to mass and seeing the priest wear pink always seemed funny to me, so maybe it was that. Or maybe it was because I knew we were half way to Christmas--the second half of advent always seems to go so much faster. The first two weeks of our advent journey we empty ourselves of the extra and unneeded. The third week of advent we open ourselves up to be filled by Jesus. The pink candle reminds us that even though Advent is a penitential season, joy is all around us. This week is all about showing and feeling love.
In the crazy world out there it can be so easy for us to forget how much God loves us. There are people wrapped in constant pain, there are innocent lives being taken each and every day, there are people suffering with physical and mental illness, and somehow we are supposed to remember that God loves each and every one of us?
I wish I had some unbelievable epiphany to share with you about why all the “bad” things happen in this world. However, I am not a philosopher. I am just trying to figure it all out as I go. I can tell you that through my own sufferings I become closer to God. Through my own sufferings I learn to appreciate my loved ones even more. Through my own sufferings I remember to breath in all the little moments with my kids. The sufferings really do make the good times even better.
The awesome thing about this crazy world we live in is that along with all the pain and suffering is a whole ton of good things. How do I know that God loves me? I look at my children’s smiling faces. I watch my husband wake up day after day, tired or not, and go work his butt off for our family. I watch my grandmother’s hope as the family joins together and rallies after my grandfather’s stroke. I see God working in my life. I see prayers answered before my very eyes. I KNOW God loves me, because he told me by every little blessing in my life.
It’s easy to go through this life as a pessimist and always looking to criticize others. There’s always someone doing it wrong. What if--for this one joyful week of advent we truly loved everyone around us? What if--we thought of others before we thought of ourselves? What if-- this week we lived like Jesus Christ was truly on his way?
Could you imagine??
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