Daily Seasonal Reflections
Thursday of the Second Week of Advent
The Solemnity of Our Lady of Guadaloupe’
Fr. Trey Nelson
 
“Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and they shall be his people, and he will dwell among you, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.” (From Zecheriah 2:14-17) 
 
It is always a privilege to have conversations with young people today. Chances are, if they ask to see you, they are going to be completely honest in the conversation. I know that when I was in high school, not only would I have struggled with sharing certain things about myself with my priest—even though he was awesome—I don’t know if I would have even had the courage to ask for an appointment to begin with. So, first of all, to all of the young men and women out there who have taken the time to come in, sit down, and visit openly and honesty, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your courage. Without going into the details of anyone’s sharing, I can say that a common trend has been questions regarding how we “hear God.” The question is often worded this way, “How do I know if it is God speaking to me? How do I know what God wants me to do in this situation?” That is certainly a fair and honest question. My first response is often this, “For the person of faith—which is what you are—what you need to do will reveal itself to you.” 
 
Today, while being Thursday of the Second Week of Advent, is also the Feast of Our Lady of Guadaloupe’, always celebrated on December 12th every year. When I was in Saint Mary’s Seminary in Houston, Texas, this was a huge celebration each year, with candles spread out all over the courtyard, a beautiful Mass, and, of course, a feast afterwards. Our first reading today is an optional reading for Mass. In it, the Prophet Zecheriah writes, “…and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent you to me.” Our “hearing God” or knowing “what God wants us to do” is not something that simply automatically happens. To use the prophet’s words, “knowing that is was the Lord who did this or said that” requires some effort and openness on our part. More than anything, however, it requires desire. 
 
“Being a person of faith,” certainly means living a life of kindness and charity toward all others, but it also means trying to maintain our personal closeness to God. The more earnestly we strive for this, the more at peace we will be with knowing God’s will and hearing God’s voice. As a step toward what I call a “clarity of heart,” (like a clarity of thought), I would offer all of us a simple 3-point plan, if you will. FIRST, prayer is not something that just happens. We have to stop. Prayer includes the when, the where, and the how. You simply cannot have good prayer if you pray like you’re speeding through a yellow light. While prayer can be refreshing, comforting, enlightening, and so on, it first has to be stopp-ing. I call these the “ING’s” of prayer. Prayer is our primary connection to God. How’s your connection these days. I recommend stopping 3 times a day to just rest in God’s presence and breathe: morning, midday, and evening. SECOND, practicing good choices is crucial. The more we get into the habit of good moral choices, the more in-tune we will feel with God’s voice. THIRDLY and lastly, you absolutely must get enough rest. Our Mom used to always say, “Son, rest is a wonderful thing.” It is true. We see everything differently when we are fatigued. We let our guard down, we postpone prayer, and we make ourselves vulnerable to poor choices.  Yes, you’re a good person. Yes, God understands. However, if we want to hear more clearly and, again, to quote Zecheriah, to “know that it is the Lord,” we have to be diligent in our listening. Most young people today have no idea what it’s like to fine-tune a dial on a radio to get a clear signal. Our relationship with God is always in need of fine-tuning. 
 
Take this Advent time to retune, if you need to.