Our ginormous God

Photo by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay

When my daughter was about 5, she ran from her bedroom into the living room with an exciting idea. A budding inventor, she told me of how we needed to take our roof off and then be able to put it back on. What she described was a roof hinged to the building so it could be opened and shut. This then would permit the really big chair to fit in our living room. The roof was in the way of the big wooden chair, which she tried to describe and show with her hands how really big it is. (She hadn’t considered that all of our furniture would be in the way too.) This went on and on, and she was convicted we must find a way to do this. But why do we need a really big chair (I ask)? “BECAUSE GOD’S REALLY BIG AND HE NEEDS A REALLY BIG CHAIR!”.

How often it may seem this really ginormous God is too big to fit into our life. And yet the truth is, He is already there in every crack and crevice. He is the origin of every moment and sustains our life in that moment. Not because He has to. Because He wants to. And this really ginormous God came to us in the smallest way: a naked infant totally dependent on humans who are willing to listen to His Father and follow His Spirit.

Which leads us to the end of our preparation for Him. As the world goes on unnoticing their Creator in their midst, God the Father continues to sustain them in every moment while God the Son permits Himself to exist in the most vulnerable state: that as infant in the womb. God the Spirit is His breath moving through all of creation, and His Love sparking desire in their soul for Him. I suppose the reason I love meditating the St. Andrew novena[i] is because it puts it all into perspective:

Hail and Blessed be the hour and the moment

The hour that all of creation awaited its redeemer. Even for those people who did not know of the Hebrew God, their souls knew its Creator. Allow yourself to await Him too.

in which the Son of God was born of the Pure Virgin Mary,

Love itself, the three persons of the Trinity, deemed to take on our lowly human habit in order to redeem the world, to redeem you. Ask the Holy Spirit for the Gift of Understanding, to understand profoundly what this means for you.

at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold.

Compose yourself in that place and that moment.  Into the cold, the barren, the forlorn, God comes. Feel the warmth of His Love penetrate.

In that hour vouchsafe, O Lord God to hear my prayers

Ask Him to bring you into that Trinitarian communion of Love, in that very hour that all of creation awaited Him, and that moment He illuminated the world.

and grant my desires (intentions)

What is it that I need to restore my relationship with Him?

 through our Savior Jesus Christ and his Blessed Mother. Amen.

Just be still with Him.  And Her.

Now we welcome this ginormous God cum vulnerable infant into our hearts and our lives. All He asks is that we be willing.

“What does our true Bridegroom cry out and what does He yearn for this Christmas?  He cries for heartfelt prayer washed in tears of contrition and gratitude, bowed in humble adoration, ready to boldly say yes to His presence, generous and eager to welcome His love.” (Dr. Anthony Lilles)[ii] 

Perhaps the best Christmas present we can give our priests is daily prayer. Please continue to pray for Pope Francis, our priests and religious, and the worldwide Church:

Mary, Mother of the Church, we pray to you for your sons chosen and sent by your Son Jesus to prolong his ministerial priesthood. Come to fill them with the same attention and the same motherly love with which you surrounded your divine Son Jesus. 

By your powerful intercession may they receive all the Divine Grace which they need to accomplish faithfully the priestly task that has been entrusted to them in the service of God’s People. Amen.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam 😊

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[i] Something is Different…Advent Meditations from the Gospel of Luke https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08NWQZMQY/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tpbk_p1_i0

[ii] Dr. Anthony Lilles https://spiritualdirection.com/2015/12/21/hearing-the-call-of-the-bridegroom#ixzz3v0c1vB5O