“Make time in your busy schedule now and then to contemplate and slow way down-to gaze at the landscape, marvel at the beauty and the majesty of the trees, and look up until you can almost touch that big, out of reach blue sky. Be thankful you can see.

Be still and hear the sounds around you. Listen to the birds speaking their own language. Hear the universe singing and the world making its music in concert with the rhythms of the traffic. Tune in to those melodies in your heart for inspiration. Be glad you can hear.

Breathe in hope and joy, and feel the life-giving air. Breathe out fear and regret. Don’t worry about doing anything this moment except being where you are. Feel the harmony of your relationship with every living thing. Be mindful of the people who are positive influences in your life.

Take the time to fall in love with life with the innocence and wonder of a child.” Donna Fargo

God has given us so many gifts! Let us pause and think God for the beauty that surrounds us.

“Never allow anyone to discourage you from following your dreams. Surround yourself with encouraging and helpful people -optimists who will get you excited about your dreams and goals.

Surround yourself with supportive people – the ones who tell you that giving up is crazy because you are so good at what you do.

You cannot waste the passion and talent you have been blessed with. Don’t allow the negative people to bring you down… let the positive ones lift you up.” April Aragam

Take nothing for granted: the sheer act of waking each day; fresh air upon your cheeks; each effort expended on self or another-walking the dog, shopping for food, toiling at home, in an office, or on the road. Every moment is rare, short, and full of glory. Every word is magic; a story achieved through will. Marvel at nature’s moods as mirror of your own. Recall a sunrise or sunset, a flock of geese in the sky.

Care about parents or children as fragile gifts, like petals on a rose, like songs from one bird. Praise the simple or complex-the invention of flight above clouds; the wheel; a rocking chair. We rise and fall in the moon or a wave, in a smile or many tears. And being brave is to be alive as we give and share love always, only and ever to survive.” Rochelle Lynn Holt

“May every day of your life bring you fresh hopes for tomorrow – because hope gives all of us a reason for trying.

May each new day bring a feeling of excitement, joy, and a wonderful sense of expectation.

Expect the best and you’ll get it.

May you find peace in simple things because those are the ones that will always be there” Regina Hill

May this season of advent bring us peace and joy!

”Christine took a terrifying leap of faith: she quit her job as a corporate trainer and began a second career as a prison chaplain. I thought about Christine. I thought about the way she said yes to God’s invitation. And it occurred to me that her story was not so different from the story of that young woman from Nazareth. Just like Mary, when Christine said yes to God, Christ came into the world. Every yes to God’s call is an incarnation of Jesus Christ. He takes on flesh in our lives of love and service. That night I wrote in my journal, ‘Christ enters the world again and again!’

The feast of the Immaculate Conception is about Mary, not Jesus. But isn’t it always all about Jesus? Isn’t it all about the call to welcome Christ into our lives and bring him forth into the world?”  Edward P. Hahnenberg

How do we bring Christ into the world? Let us pause and reflect on how we can be like Mary, bringing Christ into our needy world.