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Hopefully, your experience of praying Holy Scripture using the Lectio-Divina form of prayer was a good one. However, it can take a bit of perseverance if this is new to you. Do not be discouraged, but continue to call upon the assistance of the Holy Spirit.

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The following blog is being reposted from the teaching series that I gave previously.  I hope that you enjoy it!

Great events are marked by great preparation. A wedding, the coming of a new baby, graduations, special anniversaries, significant birthdays, and celebrations of all sorts are often months in the planning.

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When I came back to the Faith in 1981, one Scripture passage became the rudder of my spiritual life. It is Ephesians 1: 3-4. Through the years, this passage has spoken to me in many ways and has sustained me through many trials.

Verse 4 , however, is particularly relevant for this time of the year, and was echoed by Pope John Paul II in a Christmas reflection. It states this, "God chose us in him before the world began to be holy and blameless in his sight, to be full of love." Those first five words tell us something about ourselves that is amazing and astounding -- each one of us was distinctively and individually chosen by God to have life.

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As we approach the solemnity of Christmas tomorrow, we would do well to ask the Holy Spirit to help us enter into the mystery we are celebrating. Implicit in the glory of the birth of Christ, is His death. It is already present, as it has been since His conception in the womb of Mary, in His flesh.

A season of joy, to be sure. A season of wonder, most definitely. A season of magnanimity, most assuredly. For this is the season that proves God's love for us. His Son has been sent for one mission, and one mission only, to pour Himself out for us. 

The Incarnation is the Redemption begun. It is consummated at the conception and culminated at the crucifixion. As we gaze upon the Christ Child lying in the creche, how can we ignore that He is already on the bed of wood?

It is this we celebrate: that in the midst of our depravity, God sent His Son in the fullness of time, born of a woman (Gen. 3:15; Gal. 4:4). It is in this that we find cause for rejoicing.

Carol Houselander, an English author of the last century, asks us to focus our attention on this reality during the Advent season. It is not too late to ponder the cause of our joy in these last hours before Christmas day.

Writing in Reed of God, Houselander offers us these words for meditation and contemplation. She invites us to consider the role of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, as we consider the coming of the Christ Child:

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A new Rasmussen Reports poll has found that Americans believe Christmas should be more about Jesus and less about Santa Claus.

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"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given."  -Isaiah 9:6

My Dear Friends in Christ,

As we enter the final days of Advent and begin our journey into the season of Christmas, we joyfully anticipate the great gift of the Christ Child and all that His birth has meant to humanity.  Our hearts are filled with gratitude for this unfathomable gift. 

We are also filled with gratitude for all that you have done to support the mission of Women of Grace and all of our outreaches.  We wish all of our benefactors, customers and friends the peace, joy and love of Jesus Christ and pray that the He will fill your hearts with His Love and Peace!  May the coming New Year bring you "every spiritual blessing in the heaven!" (Ephesians 1:3)

All of the staff of Living His Life Abundantly® and Women of Grace® offer our prayers for you and your intentions during this Christmas season.  We ask you to please remember us and the efforts of our apostolate during your times of prayer!  I would also ask you to prayerfully consider making a sacrificial year-end donation to assist us in our mission of evangelization for the coming year. 

May you and your families have an even greater experience of the presence of the Child Jesus and His Holy Mother, Mary in the deepest recesses of your soul this Christmas and always!

God bless you!

With gratitude,

Johnnette S. Benkovic and Staff

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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist In a break with tradition, the Pope has decided to celebrate Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve at 10:00 p.m. rather than at midnight.

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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist A leading employer’s group in the UK says shutting the office down for the Christmas holiday may be seen as discriminatory by non-Christians, so employers should say they’re shutting down to cut costs because so many employees take off. But those companies that can’t shut for the holiday shouldn’t worry because Christians deserve no special privileges.

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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist The nation’s largest family organization is calling for a nationwide boycott of Gap, Inc. because of its policy to ban the word “Christmas” from its stores this season.

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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Writer In the midst of too many politically correct “Happy Holidays” incidents, the story of an eleven year-old Mississippi boy whose school backed down after penalizing him for mentioning Jesus’ name in a Christmas poem, is a welcome change.

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