Thursday, December 4

Thursday, December 4
First Week of Advent

O come, O Bright and Morning Star.

“O come, O Bright and Morning Star,” we sing. Dispel the shadows of the
night and turn our darkness into light. What does it mean to turn to Christ
as our Morning Star—as the source of our light and heat and life itself?
Gloom covers us when we have no hope for our futures, when we
dread night’s shadows. Every reminder of our mortality—whether it’s
watching a loved one suffer illness or our own aching back or failing eye-
sight—raises the specter of eventual death. So we avoid it—we scramble
back into the shadows where we don’t have to face it or think about it. But
God came to walk us through that darkness into the light of eternal life. We don’t have to live in darkness—we can choose to live in the light.

Prayer for Morning
Jesus, you are the Light of the World. You came to share our humanity, even
to the point of death, to reveal the Father’s radical communion with us.
Give me the courage to face the shadows in my life with the light of your love. O Morning Star, bring your warmth and heat to me today.

Ponder Today
What will remind me of my mortality today? How will I respond?

Prayer for Evening
Jesus, my brother, your light shines even in my deepest anxieties. Help
me to embrace life with you as my salvation and chase away my gloom. O
Bright and Morning Star, I look for your light.