We can get lost in a lot of different ways in life, can’t we? I remember that one day on the Camino back in January 2015, I was hiking when there was a lot of snow on the ground. It was difficult seeing the markers on the trail. I was entering a village when suddenly everything looked very familiar. Upon seeing lady tending to chores in her garden. I asked her the name of the village, and it was the same village I had passed through 20 minutes earlier. I had missed a turn and had gone in a loop, returning to the same village. I felt frustrated and lost. We can feel lost if we are frustrated in a job that does not bring us fulfillment or when we are unemployed trying to find work. We can be lost in a broken friendship or in a troubling family relationship. We can become lost because of poor choices or addictions or exhaustion or lack of self-care. Many in our society today are lost in the values of the secular world, lost in their search for pleasure, not knowing where to find meaning in their lives. What did we do before we had a GPS to help us find our way when we are driving in our cars? We used maps or asked someone for directions, didn’t we? Is it wise to leave 99 sheep unattended to find the lost one? God cares so much about the lost, the poor, and the forgotten that he will go out of his way to reach out to that one lost member of the flock. May our Advent prayer today be that we do not stray from the path of our faith, that we reach out to the lost. May we have the courage to reach out to those who are struggling or who are frustrated.
Today, we celebrate St Nicholas, a great Advent saint. Both the Eastern and Western Churches honors Nicholas as a saint. He was a Bishop in Turkey during the 4th century. The Church passes down a legend about Bishop Nicholas having given three bags of gold to a poor man who needed to provide for dowries for his three daughters for their upcoming marriages. This legend has influenced that way we give gifts at Christmas time and has connected Nicholas to the figure of Santa Claus and to the season of Advent and Christmas. Another legend has Nicholas punching the heretic Arius in the face during the Council of Nicea as they were arguing issues about theology. It is funny how we humans can create a legend out of the facts, how those legends evolve over time. Our Advent journey is full of different stories, traditions, and legends. May our Advent journey and the examples of faith we have to lead us and guide us help us in preparing for the coming of the Lord.
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