1st Sunday of Advent Reflection from
Santa Maria Magdalena’s Home
A home for abused and abandoned
Mothers and their children.
“Let all who hope in you rejoice,
triumph for ever.
You will shelter them and they will glory
in you”
Perhaps the 1st
Sunday of Advent this year has a very new meaning for me.
As we celebrate the 1st
Sunday of Lent and as we light the 1st candle in our advent wreath
here at Santa Maria Magdalena’s Home, I cannot help but reflect on this morning's
prayer from Psalms 5 which was titled A morning prayer for help!
It is so fitting for
this Sunday and for this home. With such injustice, mistreatment, and cruelty that
has been experienced among those who gathered in the sala this morning, it is
this Hope in the coming of the Lord that gives us all strength. That gives us something
to look forward to. If not the mundane, cruel, taunting, and wicked world would
just get the best of us all. But instead, here at Santa Maria Magdalena’s home
this morning it is as if we gather in hope, with confidence that the lord hears
our voices, that he hears our prayers, and our cries.
The home has become a
refuge for so many in the past months, they come, and they go; but they all
have something in common. They all have experienced pain, heartbreaks, and
terrible physical and emotional pain. But somehow this home brings them peace
and hope. They want to believe; they desire to find the one responsible for
this hope and joy they experience while here.
Today after morning prayer,
I was walking with one of the women today, together we were admiring the flower
gardens, and listening to the birds while her children played, running about
the grounds of the home. She asked me why everything was so pretty, and why I
allowed her to stay so long. I told her because Jesus helped me many years ago
in the same way by sending people to my rescue. I also told her the reason that
the home and the grounds are so beautiful is because Jesus built this home for
women and children just like her and I and that Jesus desires her and her
children to be happy, to have hope in Him. I affirmed with her that Jesus
wanted to love her radically and this home is one way he shows His love for her.
That he wants her to see Him in all its beauty in the birds, in the flowers,
and in the sound of the river running by the home.
I wanted to say thank
you to all of you who support this home because this morning’s prayer nor this
morning’s conversation with this mother would not have been possible without
your help, without your YES!
It is through the
mission of the home, It is through your prayers your donations that allow these
women and children and the surrounding community to experience hope and love!
If you’re not already
partnered with us, please prayerfully consider becoming one! So many good
things are happening here. Incredible miracles and healing of hearts and souls!
It is easy just follow the link
https://www.familymissionscompany.com/santa-maria-magdalenas-home/
Psalm 5
A morning prayer for help
It is you whom I invoke, O Lord. In the morning you
hear me.
Let
my words come to your ears, O Lord:
hear my sighs.
Listen
to the voice of my crying,
my King and my God.
As
I make my prayer to you,
Lord, listen to my voice in the morning;
in the morning I will stand before you and await you.
You
are not a God who loves evil.
The wicked cannot stay near you,
the unjust cannot remain in your presence.
You
hate all who do evil –
you destroy all who speak falsehood –
the Lord abominates the bloody and deceitful man.
But
in the abundance of your mercy you will admit me to your house:
I will worship you in your holy temple, with fear and
reverence.
Lord,
guide me in your justice, protect me from my enemies:
let me see the path I must follow.
For
there is no truth in their mouth – their heart is a bottomless pit –
their throat is a wide open grave – their tongue
seduces.
Punish
them, Lord,
and let their own plans destroy them.
On
account of their crimes, thrust them from your presence;
for they are rebels against you.
Let
all who hope in you rejoice, triumph for ever.
You will shelter them and they will glory in you.
For
you bless the just, O Lord,
and your good will surrounds them like a shield.
Glory
be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit,
as
it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
It is you whom I invoke, O Lord. In the morning you
hear me.
Caserio
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