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ADVENT - UALLY
Between immediate gratification and long-term goals lies anticipation. We postpone today's pleasures when we can wait for something better. Patience will help us achieve our goals in the long term. Anticipation requires persistence and vigilance.
What do we anticipate at the holidays? Quality family time? More toys? Or, something greater? The coming of the Lord. Who is God?

Advent Creed – God the Father
We believe in God the Father, creator of heaven and earth.
The one who is full of patience,
who is not afraid of silence,
who does not need to fill each moment with activity and noise.
The one who is beyond bluster and flurry,
and who does not jostle for attention.

God has his own ways. If we wish to participate in the God's plan, anticipate his coming, we need to have a relationship with God and have the virtue of patient vigilance.

Who is God the Father? There is a sentence that sums up the whole Bible: "God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him" (1 John 4:16). God is spirit. God is not "he" or "she." God is mystery—not a puzzle, but the unfathomable being and love. God is not just another being, but the foundation of all being. We could figure out that someone had to start all this, but we would never had known that God is Father-Son-Spirit—one God, three persons—unless he had revealed his inner self through Jesus. Jesus revealed that God is "Abba"—literally, "Dada," the name all little children give those warm people who hover over them. Jesus said, "When you pray, say 'Abba'!" (Luke 11:2).

To watch for the Lord requires prayer, reflection, and the gifts and fruits of the Spirit, those charisms that serve others. Prayer opens us to God's will. Reflection helps point us the way of his will. And the gifts God gave us for the good of others help us to realize the Lord in others. When we can see a glimpse of the Lord in our service, we will be able to recognize his return and celebrate it in joy.

Reflection Questions
Read the questions below. When you are ready share with the group your response to any of these questions.
- Adults: How do describe the image of God the Father?
- Kids: What does God the Father look like?
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Advent-ually

Peace, justice, joy, wonder—these are not just God’s heavenly aspirations for creation; they are God’s vision for creation, embodied in a man from Nazareth named Jesus. Jesus not only talks about God; Jesus is God. God is no longer up there, but is right here, right now. In Jesus, God’s peace, justice, joy and wonder come to earth, come to life, and walk among us.
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