An Act of Love

A Reflection on the Second ​Reading for Sunday, December 8th, 2024:
Second Sunday of Advent

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Philippians
1.3-6, 8-11

Brothers and sisters, I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the Gospel from the first day until now.

I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.

For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Prayer is a very powerful and loving practice. Praying for another is an act of love that is transformative. It allows us to show our care for others and to act as God’s vessel for showing others empathy, compassion, and joy. 

Saint Mother Teresa once said: “I used to pray that God would feed the hungry, or do this or that, but now I pray that He will guide me to do whatever I’m supposed to do, what I can do … I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.”

How incredible is that? 

It can be easy to pray for God to help others and enforce change in our lives and the lives of those around us. However, the truly difficult task is to pray that the Lord enables us to be His hands and His feet, to act as He desires and to lead change for the better. Although all prayer is sacred and good, God wants us to take on the difficult task of praying in order to act. 

I know I can sometimes get caught in a cycle of passively praying, asking God to help me with "this" and help others with "that" as though I’m rambling off a wish list or to-do list intended for Him to simply take care of. But the Lord wants to work with us to change things and change lives. Think about how much more impactful and beautiful it is when He chooses us to help carry out His plan. He wants us to be involved in His amazing intentions and actions and to love others as He loves. We just have to be willing. 

I pray that I may be open to the Lord using me as a vessel for His goodness each and every day. Amen.




​Originally posted on December 2, 2021, by Megan Noye

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