God is like the eternal rock, like a strong city with walls and ramparts that protects its citizens. God humbles the arrogant and the haughty, but offers protection to the humble of heart. I think we all can relate to the image of building our lives upon a solid foundation, of being strong and firm in the values of our faith. There are times where we to give up or run away. But God is with us every step of the way. He will not abandone us. If we have faith in that strong foundation, we will be able to stand firm. Here in the US, when a building is 100 years old it is considered pretty old. If it is 200 years old, it would be consider ancient. Many areas of our country don’t have a lot of of older buildings. But, when I walk the Camino in Spain, I often visit churches that are 800, 900, 1000 years old. It amazes me how solid those structures are, how they have stood up throughout the centuries through wars and revolutions and natural disasters. Our Church and our Catholic faith has stood firm through a lot of different wars and movements. The season we started this week, Advent, comes from a Latin word - “Adventus” - which means coming. We prepare throughout the four weeks of Advent for the Nativity of the Lord at Christmas time. We stand firm in our faith, looking into our hearts at the ways we need to renew and change. This is a preparatory season in which we look forward to something greater than ourselves. Let us ask Christ to accompany us on our Advent journey, to help us change and reform our lives, to be firm in our faith.
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