Advent is a liturgical season of hope.  Think about something you are hoping for in your own life.  The dictionary tells us that hope means we “desire with anticipation.”  Hope means it can be fun to wait.  We can plan and prepare for the time when our hopes are realized.  Kids show us this during this time of year. They anticipate that Santa will come.  They go to bed having left cookies and milk prepared for his visit. 

If I found out someone I hadn’t seen in a long time was coming to visit, I’d clean the house, prepare a special meal, and wait for the doorbell to ring.  Simply because my friend said he or she was coming. I would anticipate it.

Advent is about anticipation.

How would you feel if you really believed you were going to get this thing you are hoping for? You’d rejoice if you believed it was going to happen.  Why do you think small children are happy this time of year?  They believe their hopes will come true. 

Advent is about rejoicing.

The key to hope for me is the realization that to truly hope means you “expect to obtain” what you hope for.  Many of us say we are hoping for this or that but never realistically expect it to come true. For hope to be authentic you have to believe you will get it.  Otherwise, it is just wishful thinking.  I might wish to win the Lotto, but I don’t even play the game so I don’t hope to win.  Hope takes a stand on your part.  You have to be willing to say, “I’m banking on it.  I know this will happen.”

Advent is about expecting.

Think back to the thing you said you hoped for moments ago.  Now look at it in this advent context.

            Do you anticipate it?  Plan for it?  Prepare?

            Do you rejoice at the thought of it coming true?

            Do you fully expect to get it?  Are you willing to bank on it?

What does this all have to do with faith?  Advent gives us the time and space to hope in Christ.  It gives us time to anticipate His working in our lives. We can prepare and make plans. It allows us to be happy about it. We can say, “God works in my life and it makes me joyful.”  It allows us to bank on Him.  We can say with confidence, “Christ is in the world and in my life.”

If you are frazzled, stressed, running, baking, wrapping etc.  I dare say, you have lost your hope.  A hopeful person doesn’t sweat the small stuff.  Take the season to rejoice, be with the ones you love and look forward with hope to the days ahead.

Please enjoy this short but poignant video describing more about this holy season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S02KOlw7dlA

Ask Ellen…And The Winner Is…

Thursdays are Ask Ellen days on AGOG.  I want to thank all of you who have submitted your questions to me.  I also want to encourage you to keep sending them.  If you have submitted questions, you know how easy it is.  If you haven’t, allow me to explain the process to you.  Click on the Ask Ellen tab on the left side of the home page.  That will take you to the most recent question.  On the top of the page, written in blue, is the Submit A Question tab.  Click on it and simply fill out the form.  The question will come directly to me and I will do my best to answer it.  I have a few that I received in the last few months.  But I will need many more in order to explain the things you want to understand.  It is my favorite feature of the site because it allows me to know what you want to know.  So please keep them coming.

But this month on AGOG is about you, our loyal readers.  I cannot thank you enough for your encouragement and support.  But I can offer a token of my appreciation to one lucky reader.  Anyone who submitted an Ask Ellen question this year was entered into a raffle to win AGOG merchandise.  Today, I am so pleased to announce the winner….

Kim Fetter in Pennsylvania has won a super sassy A Gift Of Grace Coffee Mug.  Kim, please send me your address and your mug should be under your tree by Christmas. 

For a chance to win our next Ask Ellen contest, submit your question today

Are You Afraid Of Change?

Many of us have just experienced our second weekend Mass with the changes to the English translation.  Last week is was new and interesting.  But this week many people seem just plain frustrated.  The changes to the Mass have caused me to think about what change means to us.

The dictionary tells us that change is “the act or process of making things different.”  The opposite of change is “fixation and stability.”  We crave stability because it makes us feel safe.  But something that is stable is not improving.  It is simply holding its own.  It lacks personal growth.

Change is hard and it can be scary.  When we stop changing, we stop growing.

The dictionary also tells us that change can also be a “metamorphosis.”  This means a change brought about by supernatural means.  This is what happens during the Mass.  I think we should spend more time discussing this change that happens in the Mass and less time obsessing about the changes to the words we say. The Mass offers us the opportunity to really change and grow and gives us the superpower to do it….grace! That’s the change I’m talking about!

So why did they mess with the words?  The video below shows the process of how it happened.  I’d like to focus on two reasons why I agree with it.

The first is the universality of the new wording.  We all say the same things as Catholics everywhere else.  It allows us to unite more fully with our Catholic family.  This became apparent to me through the appeal of Gracieland.  Jimmy and I make the strip based on things we (or our kids) experience as Catholics.  The cool thing is that any Catholic who reads it gets it one some level, even if they haven’t been to church is years.  They get it because of the universality of being Catholic.  If I walk into a Baptist Church here in Maine and you walk into your local one, we would see two very different things. But if I go to Mass in your town or anywhere else on earth, we would be experiencing and saying the same things. The new words help us connect more fully with others.

The new words also convey a higher level of holiness.  The elevated language is meant to reflect this holiness.  At first I thought, “Oh great! The Church goes out of its way to become less relevant to the people in the pews.”  Then I thought about it.  Mass IS a holy experience, one I will never fully understand.  Nor should I. It SHOULD be above me because it is the point where heaven meets earth.  I think the language should reflect that.  We can spend life grappling with truths, studying Greek and memorizing Scripture.  And I intend to do just that.  But for one hour each weekend, I will be reminded that I will never have all the answers and understand it all.  I’m OK with that.  I am hopeful that one day it will all be revealed to me in heaven.

Until then I intend to embrace the changes to remind ME to grow.  I don’t want to stabilize.  I want to grow.  I want to welcome change.  It keeps things fresh and exciting.  Won’t you change with me?

Check out this great video below for more information on how the changes to the Mass came about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue4GaotluU4
 

It's Got A Good Beat, And You Can Dance to It

Click on the Gracieland icon on the bottom right go the page to view this week's webstrip.

An Advent Change

Click on the Gracenotes link above to hear this week's podcast.

An Ode To Facebook

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSnXE2791yg

Ask Ellen: I Need Your Help!

Time for more questions!  I need a new stockpile for 2012.  What have you always wanted to know about Christianity?  Or Catholicism?  Or Gracieland?  Or AGOG?

No question is too silly.  Remember when I answered who I liked better: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John or John, Paul , George or Ringo?  Just send them in.  You may see your answered in 2012 on Ask Ellen.

You can submit a question through the AGOG site.  Simply click on the Ask Ellen tab.  At the top of that page, click the “Submit Your Question” tab.  It is that easy.

I will be drawing a winner from all the questions submitted and answered in 2011 in December.  One lucky person will win some lovely AGOG merchandise.

Submit yours today.  You know you want to know….