Friday, Advent I

“Advent is the “sacrament” of the PRESENCE of God in His world, in the Mystery of Christ at work in History…
This mystery is the revelation of God Himself in His Incarnate Son. But it is not merely a manifestation of the Divine Perfections, it is the concrete plan of God for the salvation of men and the restoration of the whole world in Christ.
This plan is envisaged not as a future prospect but as a present fact. The “last things” are already present and realized in a hidden manner. The Kingdrom of God is thus already “in the midst of us.” But, the mystery can only be known by those who enter into it, who find their place in the Mystical Christ, and therefore find the mystery of Christ realized and fulfilled in themselves.”   ~Thomas Merton, Seasons of Celebration

Thursday, Advent I

“A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes… and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent.” ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Wednesday, Advent I

“Have we been impatient? Now is the time to take hold of ourselves and to choose to live for the joy of the Lord. Have we been harsh? Now is the time to submit our anger to the gentleness of God. Have we failed to speak for those who have no one to take their side? Now is the time to surrender our timidity to the Mighty Lord. Have we stewed over injury? It is not too late to plead mercy from the One who bore injury and bitterness for our sake. Have we sat in judgment over those who offended us. Now is the time to loosen the chains by which we have bound them, for the Vindicator draws near.” ~Anthony Lilles, Advent’s Hour

Tuesday, Advent I

“The gospel begins with a birth. Christians claim that the God of the universe has made a remarkable intrusion into the human predicament. The God of the Precambrian soup, the God of the Carboniferous forests, the God of the Cretaceous and the Pleistocene, the God of the triceratops and the wooly mammoth: that same God, Christians say, was born in a barn. The Bible is clear: God loved the world in such a way that he gave to us his only Son (John 3:16). God loves the world with a passion that exceeds our own. God loves this planet and all its many inhabitants. When we fail to appreciate that God is human with us, that he made himself nothing and is the dust of the earth with us, the gospel comes to be more about psychology, more about feelings and fantasies, more about escaping, and less about God and God’s deep and abiding love for his material creation.” ~Daniel J. Stulac, Ploughing Quarterly No. 4: Earth

Monday, Advent I

“Celebrating Advent means learning how to wait.… Not all can wait – certainly not those who are satisfied, contented, and feel that they live in the best of all possible worlds! Those who learn to wait are uneasy about their way of life, but yet have seen a vision of greatness in the world of the future and are patiently expecting its fulfillment. The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come. For these, it is enough to wait in humble fear until the Holy One himself comes down to us, God in the child in the manager.” ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Blessed Charles De Foucauld, hermit

Father, I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will. Whatever you may do, I thank you: I am ready for all, I accept all. Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures – I wish no more than this, O Lord. Into your hands I commend my soul: I offer it to you with all the love of my heart, for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself, to surrender myself into your hands without reserve, and with boundless confidence, for you are my Father. Amen

Saint Andrew the Apostle

We humbly implore your majesty, O Lord, that, just as the blessed Apostle Andrew was for your Church a preacher and pastor, so he may be for us a constant intercessor before you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity  of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen     Saint Andrew, pray for us.

Greed stifles thanksgiving

“I have been thinking of something that stifles thanksgiving. It is the spirit of greed – the greed of doing, being, and having.…Our “self image” is dependent not on the quiet and hidden “do this for my sake” but on the list the world hands us of what is “important.” It is a long list, and it is both foolish and impossible. If we fall for it, we neglect the short list. Only a few things are really important, and for those we have the promise of divine help: sitting in silence with the Master in order to hear His words and obey them in the ordinary line of duty – for example in being a good husband, wife, mother, son, daughter, or spiritual father or mother to those nearby who need protection and care – humble work which is never on the world’s list because it leads to nothing impressive on one’s resume.” ~Elisabeth Elliot

Giving Tuesday

It’s Giving Tuesday!

Please help us meet out fundraising goal. Your gift of any amount will help support consecrated life in the Church.

To make an online donation look for the yellow “Donate” at the bottom of the Home page, or make a check payable to Friends of Little Portion Hermitage and mail to: FLPH, Post Office Box 15, Auburn ME, 04210.

Thank you and may God bless you in the best possible way.

~ Friends of Little Portion Hermitage Board of Directors: JonMarc, Wendy, Billy, Seth, Matt, Mike

ps: All donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.