Workout Wednesday with Fr. Marino

WORKOUT WEDNESDAY A Midweek Spiritual Workout with   Fr. Marino H. Msigala, O.F.M. Capuchin   BEGIN THE REAL WORK OF CHRISTMAS   When the song of the angels is stilled When the kings return to their kingdoms When the shepherds return to their flocks Then… The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost To mend the broken To heal the sick To feed the hungry To console the sorrowful To release the prisoner To include the marginalized To love the unloved To rebuild the nations To nurture interior peace To share peace with others ~ edited from a poem by Howard  Washington Thurman, A merican author, philosopher, minister, theologian, Christian mystic, educator, and civil rights leader   (1899-1981) On this  SPIRITUAL WORKOUT WEDNESDAY , begin the real work of Christmas today and continue throughout the new year.

WORKOUT WEDNESDAY A Midweek Spiritual Workout with  Fr. Marino H. Msigala, O.F.M. Capuchin PRACTICE THIS Believe like Mary. Trust like Joseph. Hope like the Shepherds. Seek like the Wise Men. Worship like the Angels. Love like Jesus. Act like His follower. On this  SPIRITUAL WORKOUT WEDNESDAY , listen to the words of the Evangelist, “ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ” (John 1:14) and celebrate the miracle of Christmas.  

WORKOUT WEDNESDAY  A Midweek Spiritual Workout with  Fr. Marino H. Msigala,  O.F.M. Capuchin WHAT’S THE USE OF PRAYING?   A man was asked about his habit of praying. “What’s the point of praying? Why do you spend so much time praying? What do you gain by praying so much?”   The man replied, “Nothing… I gained nothing, but let me tell you what I lost: anger, impatience, pride, greed, depression, insecurity, and the fear of death.   Sometimes the answer to our prayers lies in not gaining, but in losing, and, in the end, that is the ultimate gain. On this  SPIRITUAL WORKOUT WEDNESDAY, take a few minutes to think about your prayer life. What have you lost through prayer? More importantly, what have you gained by that loss? Unexpected blessings await! Pray unceasingly!    

WORKOUT WEDNESDAY A Midweek Spiritual Workout with  Fr. Marino H. Msigala, O.F.M. Capuchin THE ADVENT WREATH,  A CIRCLE OF LOVE The Advent wreath is a continuous CIRCLE of branches from an evergreen tree that signifies God’s unending love for us. The FIRST purple candle, the PROPHECY candle, represents HOPE and harkens back to Isaiah’s foretelling of the birth of Christ and all the promises of the Old Testament that would be fulfilled by the birth of Jesus. The SECOND purple candle, the BETHLEHEM candle, symbolizes PEACE and reminds us of Mary and Joseph’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem before she gave birth to Jesus. T he THIRD candle is pink and is called the SHEPHERD’S candle. It represents the JOY of Gaudete/Rejoice Sunday. It reminds us of the joyful anticipation of the shepherds who returned to Bethlehem to see Jesus, even before the arrival of the Magi. Advent is almost over, and we rejoice that Christmas is near. The FOURTH candle is purple and is ...

WORKOUT WEDNESDAY A Midweek Spiritual Workout with  Fr. Marino H. Msigala, O.F.M. Capuchin   TOGETHER, WE WAIT Advent is a time of waiting. But not all kinds of waiting are alike.  In Advent, we wait in a unique way. WE ANTICIPATE. We wait expectantly for the Christ Child to come again, but we do not know the form that the appearance will take. We wait with anticipation that it will be something wonderful and maybe surprising. Will it be a gift in prayer? An encounter with family or friends where we know Christ is present among us? Will it be a sense of peace and calm? Only God knows what gifts He has in store for us. WE LET GO. We have to make room for God’s action to be something that we can welcome, something that we can pay attention to when it happens.   There was no room at the inn for Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, because it was too full. The stable was poor and simple, but it had space for them to take shelter. Are our hearts open to God? What a...