Bishop Gruss shares about openness to God's plan- a reflection for the fourth week of Advent
Greetings and blessings to all of you. Most likely, for many, it may seem like Christmas is already here. And that’s ok.
The Gospel for this week is the Annunciation of Mary – the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that the Lord is inviting her into a great mystery.
She heard the words, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you...Behold you will conceive and bear a son and you shall name him Jesus. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”
Imagine this happening to you
Can you imagine the Lord inviting you into a great mystery? Just imagine this happening to you. What a crazy thing to hear! How would you have responded?
With those words, her world, her life was turned upside down. Not only the world within her, but the world around her. God completely disrupted her plans in inviting her to become a partner in salvation.
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How do we experience true joy? Bishop Gruss' reflection for the third week of Advent
Greetings and blessing to all of you. Thank you for joining me today as we reflect upon this Third Sunday of Advent.
For two weeks already, the season of Advent has been calling us away from the busyness of Christmas preparations and celebrations to a spiritual vigilance in preparing the way for the Lord who desires to come deeper into our lives. The Lord has so much he wants to share with those who seek him.
There is so much going on in our world right now. We are living in post-election times. We have high hopes for a coronavirus vaccine. The Christmas season is almost upon us, even though it is already being celebrated. But many people right now are worried about the challenges they face in their lives.
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God’s living presence of unconditional love, mercy, compassion and healing, is knocking on the doors of our hearts-a reflection for the second week of Advent by Bishop Robert Gruss
Repentance leads us to forsake sin and put ourselves into the loving arms of a merciful God. Let me put it an even simpler way: repentance is the recognition that I am infinitely loved by God, that I have sometimes failed to live up to that love, and that I need his mercy.
Repentance, in the end, is giving God a free hand to work in my life as he wants. This is supremely freeing. It means that I don’t have to save myself. It means that I can allow Jesus to enter into my life and take control, trusting that he deeply cares for us."
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Bishop Gruss on beginning of Advent season: there is great hope and trust and faith
Greetings and blessings to you all as we begin this season of Advent. If we look around, we already see the external signs of Christmas. The ongoing preparation for Christmas has already begun and will certainly try to draw us away from the “slowing down” to which Advent invites us. READ MORE