Turbulence

This weekend we are beginning the season of Advent and a new message series. Our Advent Message series is Turbulence: Staying Close to God in Turbulent Times. Advent is a season of preparation for the coming of the Lord. It can also be an overwhelming time as we are caught up in the commercialization of the season, stress of travel, preparation for guests, or the extreme loneliness that holidays can inspire. Dealing with the turbulence of life can disrupt us at any time, and this season of preparation is a good time to reflect on where to focus when we feel agitated and far from God. There is also turbulence in the world with war, in the general Catholic Church and the recent damage to our own local church building. During this series we will turn towards God, make straight the path, rejoice and realize that we do not have to be afraid.

This first Sunday of Advent we focus on Turning to God. The responsorial psalm for this weekend is Psalm 80:2-3, " Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved". When we are experiencing turbulent times our first step needs to be turning to God. Our natural human inclination in a turbulent time is to isolate and turn away from God. It is so easy to sin when life is turbulent because we want to medicate our pain with a false God. However, if we take the words of Psalm 80 to heart then we will turn away from the turbulence and towards the one who can save us. When we look upon God then we are saved from the turbulence of our lives.

One of my favorite places to go whenever things get crazy in life is Adoration. Turbulent moments are when we literally need to see God's face. In our Adoration chapel we have that opportunity to literally look upon God and be rescued from our fear, control, pride or whatever it is that we are struggling with at that moment. Advent is all about taking time to turn away from the busyness of our lives and to prepare for Christ's coming. Christmas is all about the Incarnation, God becoming a human being that we could see. That is why this time of year is when people put out lights and nativity scenes so they can prepare themselves to see Christ. This First Sunday of Advent is focused on Hope. Hope is the virtue of change. We are hopeless or in despair when we feel that something cannot change. When we turn to God and look upon God especially in Adoration then we start to feel the hope of God changing what we cannot change. God wants to help you feel more hopeful and that change is possible.

A great way to turn to God is through Exodus 90 and Fiat 90. You can sign-up after masses on Dec. 9/10. A retreat to consider is the Unbound Retreat in January and you can sign-up here: https://forms.gle/b5zjHAtoiwaaJJKr6 . Another great way to turn to God is through Discipleship U and you can sign up here: https://st-albert-the-great-catholic-church.jumbula.com/?fbclid=IwAR1kRJ9-wO1Quc5AZVzTOtcAecP5pC1HkNI29HZtPaBj-dVRS8oOpB4L2uk

As we begin Advent let us turn to God,
Fr. Charlie

• Fr. Charlie Garza 5:00 PM Mass Homily (English) 

• Deacon Phuc Phan 10:00 AM Mass Homily (English)