Advent Hope

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to Faith Break. Finding God moments in your everyday. Each week on Faith Break, hosts Karen, Luke and Ann Gallagher bring spiritual refreshment to your daily Life. Today is December 1, 2024, the first Sunday in Advent. Karen and Anne explore Advent's first weekly theme hope. [00:00:28] Speaker B: Hey, everyone, welcome. Karen and I are here trying something new. So, hi, I'm Ann Gallagher. [00:00:35] Speaker C: And I am Karen Liu. [00:00:37] Speaker B: And we are co workers together, working together in parish ministry. We are wives, we are mothers, and we are friends, and we are here to talk to you guys a little bit each week about where we are finding God in our everyday moments. [00:00:56] Speaker C: Yeah, it's been fun. [00:00:59] Speaker B: So, Karen, what is your God moment today? [00:01:03] Speaker C: Okay, so my God moment is probably. So we had a little disaster with our cat and birds last weekend. And if you've been following throughout the years, you know that there's always something with me. And our cat knocked over the bird cage, and the birds went everywhere. Oh, my gosh. [00:01:25] Speaker B: In the middle of the night. [00:01:26] Speaker C: In the middle of the night. And we got them all back in, but one of them died. [00:01:30] Speaker B: What? You didn't have that? [00:01:32] Speaker C: Yes. So I woke up Saturday morning and it was on the bottom of the cage. And my son Connor, who didn't want to get rid of them. [00:01:42] Speaker B: Well, yeah, we need to back up and talk about the fact that you were trying to get rid of the birds. [00:01:45] Speaker C: Yeah, we were trying to get rid of them, um, just because of the cat, our newest cat, and. But he was away. He slept over my sister's all weekend, so he wasn't home. [00:01:55] Speaker B: And. [00:01:55] Speaker C: And this was the morning of Emma's swim meet. [00:01:57] Speaker B: Yep. [00:01:58] Speaker C: Her invitational. So it was like a huge, huge morning. And so I didn't tell her. And then did you hide the dead. [00:02:06] Speaker B: Bird or did you just hope nobody would notice? [00:02:08] Speaker C: Well, I was kind of hoping that no one would notice because they don't really pay attention to the birds, which is part of the reason why we wanted to get. Give them a new life somewhere else. And so I took care of the bird and went on with my day. And then I kind of forgot that the bird had died when Connor came home on Sunday, because this is how I work. [00:02:29] Speaker B: Wait, what did you do with the bird? So the bird is. [00:02:32] Speaker C: Can we just say that the bird is buried? [00:02:34] Speaker B: Sure. Okay. I just wanted to make sure the bird wasn't still in the cage. [00:02:39] Speaker C: No, the bird is not in the cage. I took the bird out. That would be health reason. [00:02:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:02:43] Speaker C: This is a long God moment, but okay. It's a backstory because I Have to. The God moment comes later. So Sunday night, Emma found out. My husband Jeremy told her and she was okay for the most part. And then Connor comes outside as I'm mowing the lawn, bawling. And I thought Emma had, like, hit him or did something, because that's typically what happened. No, Emma told him that Sammy died, and he was so sad. And I'm thinking of like, okay, it's just a bird. Like, I'm thinking I'm having my own feelings. Like, I'm sad that it's gone, but not like, super sad. And I wanted to get the lawnmower. Like, all this stuff going on in my head, and he was just sitting on the steps bawling. And my God moment is just that moment with him. [00:03:37] Speaker B: Oh, right. [00:03:39] Speaker C: I mean, it was like. I don't know, I just sat there. I didn't say anything because I didn't know what to say. [00:03:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:45] Speaker C: But just sitting in that moment with him and allowing him to just feel all the feels that he had. And, you know, then later that night, we were going through pictures of Sammy and sending it to him. And so it was just like a beautiful life and death sort of moment. [00:04:09] Speaker B: I love that, especially because he's just, you know, he's just starting middle school, so he's right at that age for boys especially. But it's kind of like he is such my empath. [00:04:19] Speaker C: Like, he is so emotional one way or the other, it's both ways. But he just needed to have all that feel and that safe place. And we didn't talk, you know, like, it was just a quiet, quiet moment. And that was. That was my God moment. [00:04:38] Speaker B: Aw. [00:04:39] Speaker C: So long story longer. We are now down a bird. We still have three. [00:04:44] Speaker B: Are you still gonna get rid of the other three birds this weekend? Like, the plan was. [00:04:47] Speaker C: The plan has changed because of the events of Connor's over emotionalness. [00:04:53] Speaker B: Now he's more attached to the room. [00:04:55] Speaker C: Now he's more attached to him. And now he wants him in his room so he can close the door and not have the cat. Okay, so we'll just see where this goes. But, yeah, welcome to life. And Karen. Yeah, it's always something. [00:05:09] Speaker B: It so is always something. And I think that's part of why we wanted to do this weekly podcast was just because, like, our lives are so full and they're so busy, and when we, you know, ask each other, like, check in and say, like, how are you doing today? There's always going to be some combination of, like, work things. We've got to get done. Like, which of the kids has a doctor's appointment. We need to worry about what's wrong with the car, like, what is the pet doing? Like, and all of that stuff. And it's just, you know, I was talking to my husband Brian about this. It's like we just never get a breath. Like, there's always something, even if it's not a big catastrophe or anything like that. But just like the adulting. [00:05:51] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm over adult. It's constant, you know, I feel like I'm over it. [00:05:55] Speaker B: Yeah, we don't want to do it anymore. [00:05:57] Speaker C: I told my mom the other day, I was like, man, you totally ruined my vision because she made it look so easy. [00:06:06] Speaker B: Wow. Yeah. [00:06:07] Speaker C: And that. It's like I. I'm blessed that I live where I live, that I have my mom and my in laws to be able to help with the carpooling and stuff like that. But like, oh, my gosh, she. Kudos to Kitty. [00:06:22] Speaker B: Yeah, your mom's awesome. She's helping us with confirmation this year. Yeah, she's like, on the ball. [00:06:27] Speaker C: She's. She's really. Shout out to my mom. Love you, mama. [00:06:31] Speaker B: I love you too, mom. I'm not sure my mom has figured out how to watch. I do. Love you, mom. [00:06:40] Speaker C: All right, so what's your. I mean, my God. [00:06:42] Speaker B: Moment? [00:06:42] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:06:44] Speaker B: So it's not as good as yours, but I was talking to the high schoolers at youth group last night, and we were just kind of chatting in between things, and some of us were talking about how, like, fall is our favorite season. [00:06:59] Speaker C: Yes. [00:07:00] Speaker B: And I'm like, it's totally my favorite. I love the feeling of, like, a fresh start in the fall and, you know, just crispness in the air and everything. But, like, we kind of looked at each other and we're like, like, it's almost over. You know, we're heading into. Here we are today talking about Advent already. Yeah. And I just feel like every summer I'm like, just waiting for fall to come. And then I blink and it's Christmas and, you know, so I just. I had a moment driving in today, and I was like, oh, my gosh. The sky was just this beautiful blue and, like, the leaves were that yellow, and they were all just like, they were falling like snow. And it was just like, take a breath. Like, don't let it go by without noticing it and without being grateful for it, because it is. It's so easy to get caught up in all the everyday moments and just forget to just take a breath. [00:07:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:07:58] Speaker B: And Be here and enjoy it. And you know, so that was. It's a small thing, but I just had that really small moment driving in today where it's like, you know, you know those moments when God's like tapping you on the shoulder. He's like, yep, look over here at what I got for you. It's gorgeous. [00:08:13] Speaker C: Yeah. On Facebook the other day. I love. I love Facebook memories. [00:08:18] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, right. [00:08:19] Speaker C: Because it's like, oh, yeah. If you have short term memory, like I do with Dory, like, just keep me. It's so great. And so there was actually two that I posted about 14 years ago. Oh, you're getting babies. Well, no, Connor wasn't even a baby. He was not even in our thought. But the first post was like, right when I got up and I was like, oh, how fun. Emma was by my bed saying, good morning, mommy. It's going to be a great day. And then literally like six hours after, it's like, oh, I should have never woke up today. Like, I should have never came in to work. And I was like, wow. And looking at those two within the same day next to each other, it's like, you know, write your day just at every moment just changes the outcome of how you're gonna. [00:09:12] Speaker B: We gotta find God in the small moments. [00:09:13] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:09:15] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay, so should we. Should we get to our business of the day here? [00:09:21] Speaker C: Yeah. All right, so on our new outline that we're doing, we want to give shout outs to friends, like moments that we've seen people be generous or just loving or just being them. [00:09:38] Speaker B: And it's a way to say thank you to the people in our parishes who are being awesome. [00:09:43] Speaker C: Yep. And so do we want it? We both have the same person we want to shout out to today. So on the count of three, do we want to say it? [00:09:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:09:50] Speaker C: One, two, three. Jeff. [00:09:51] Speaker B: Thanks, Jeff. [00:09:54] Speaker C: So we have the wizard of Oz behind the curtain, Jeff Beckett, who is hosting us in this beautiful studio and is going to be our tech person with our podcast. So we just want to say thanks, Jeff. [00:10:10] Speaker B: Jeff actually knows what he's doing who just come here to talk to Yap. [00:10:17] Speaker C: So thank you for all you do for both of the parishes and technology and making the live streams work for parishioners who are still watching from home or. Yeah. So that's our gratitude for the week. [00:10:33] Speaker B: All right. And let's get to Advent. [00:10:35] Speaker C: Advent. Yeah. [00:10:37] Speaker B: But by the time you are watching or listening to this, it will be December 1st. [00:10:41] Speaker C: Yes. Oh, my gosh. [00:10:42] Speaker B: We will be starting Advent. Wow. So it's Funny, because we actually started this. The podcast, the original podcast with Vicki in Advent. Yeah. We're going to forge on. So, okay, so third Advent, we. In the past, we always had looked really closely at the Mass readings every week, and we just decided that from now on, we want to kind of take things a little more loosely. So we're actually not going to look at the Mass reading specifically week by week, but we are going to look at four themes for Advent. It's actually our parishes Advent theme, and we are, like, maybe 85% sure that we've gotten these four words in the correct traditional order. We've had a lot of discussions at staff meetings about what they are, but we think the order we're going in is we're celebrating an Advent full of hope, peace, joy, and love. Joy is third week because it's the pink. [00:11:43] Speaker C: Oh, that's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was the. That was the confusion. [00:11:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:47] Speaker C: Some websites say it's love, then joy or peace. [00:11:51] Speaker B: I don't know. [00:11:52] Speaker C: You know what? [00:11:52] Speaker B: It doesn't matter. [00:11:53] Speaker C: Well, this is the way we are going. [00:11:54] Speaker B: We're not turning back. We're moving forward. So today is all about hope. Having hope this Advent. [00:12:03] Speaker C: Hope. [00:12:03] Speaker B: So since you weren't going by the lectionary readings, I kind of started by just looking for some general scripture passages all about hope. And there's a lot of good ones, there's great ones, and there's some, like, themes that sort of emerge as you start looking biblically about what hope looks like. And so maybe we can just kind of start with some of the scripture passages. Karen. I don't know. And then I want to talk to at some point today about Mary being a model of hope. [00:12:33] Speaker C: Oh, I love it. [00:12:34] Speaker B: Because I can't not talk about Mary during Advent. [00:12:36] Speaker C: Yeah. Which, I mean, she's the reason. You know, we say Jesus is the reason for the season, but without Mary. [00:12:44] Speaker B: Right. Without Mary. It's all about Mom. [00:12:46] Speaker C: Yeah, it's all about Mom. Okay, so Ann was so good and put these scripture passages together, and one that is sticking out in my notes that I'm looking at right now. Rejoice in hope. Which sounds great. Endure affliction and preserve in prayer. This is from Romans 12:12. [00:13:09] Speaker B: There's actually a whole bunch of talk about hope in Romans. [00:13:13] Speaker C: Like, it's just crazy, you know, when we. Okay. Do you only think of hope when you're in a difficult time? [00:13:21] Speaker B: Right. Well, that was my thing, too, because it's like, we think of hope as being, like, optimism. Right, right. Like I'm hoping that this is going to happen in the future. Or, like, I feel good about this. Or. Yeah. Signs are pointing positive towards whatever this outcome. I want to come in. But I think the truth is, like, you don't really have hope or need hope unless you're in the darkness. Right? Like, you're in a place of hope. [00:13:48] Speaker C: That's what I was trying to think of. Like, in my head, I'm like, I don't think I have, like, have a great day and be like, I hope this day gets better. [00:13:54] Speaker B: Right. Because you're already. No, you have a bad day and you're like, I hope tomorrow is better. That's what you do. And all these scripture passages are like that, though. They're like, yeah, they're like, you know, like you said, like, endure, rejoice in hope, but then endure affliction. Persevere in prayer. It's like, just hang on. Hang on for dear life. Hang on for dear life. [00:14:18] Speaker C: Right. [00:14:18] Speaker B: Be hopeful. Keep praying. It'll get better. And a lot, too, about waiting in these readings about hope. Like, I had another one I found was Psalm 130. I wait for the Lord, My soul waits, and I hope for His Word. And I think that's why we think about hope so much in Advent, because we also think about Advent as being a waiting time, time when we're preparing for Jesus to come. But, you know, so there's this anticipation, but it's not realized yet. So we have to wait for the timing. [00:14:51] Speaker C: I'm bad at waiting. [00:14:52] Speaker B: Me too, man. [00:14:53] Speaker C: I don't like it. Like, and the other. The other thing, this is coming out of spiritual direction. And, you know, the exercises. The exercises. And if you guys haven't done it. Oh, Jeff is doing it too, this year, so I'm so glad that he's going to be part of this thought process now, because once you've done it, you. It's stuck with you. [00:15:15] Speaker B: It sort of becomes a lens through which you see everything. [00:15:17] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. But, like, how many times have we prayed for something and it hasn't come? And we're waiting for it to come, or it comes in a whole different answer. [00:15:31] Speaker B: Right. [00:15:31] Speaker C: You know, like, we're waiting for. Are we waiting for God to answer us the way we want God to answer us, or are we waiting for God to answer us, period? [00:15:41] Speaker B: Right. [00:15:41] Speaker C: And accepting that answer. [00:15:45] Speaker B: Right. Because what we had in mind might not be what God has in mind. [00:15:48] Speaker C: Which is probably 99.9% of the time. [00:15:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Do you remember last year on this time, we were doing. We were sharing our words of the year. Or maybe that was. I think that was. [00:15:58] Speaker C: Yeah, it was. Yeah. [00:16:00] Speaker B: And last year, my word of the year was promise. And I was actually looking a lot at the story of Mary, the Advent stories of Mary, and how, like, she had faith and she believed that the things God promised her would come true. Like, we have that beautiful scripture passage from the visitation when she goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. And, you know, Elizabeth says, blessed are you among women. Blessed are you who believe that what God promised you would be fulfilled. And so that's like, been a scripture I've been thinking about all year. But it's also been a really rough year for my family in a lot of ways. We've just had, like. I'm just going to call them, like, sandwich generation stuff. And if you are a contemporary near our age, you probably understand what that means. But we've had things with parents, we've had things with kids. We've had lots of work, not bad work, just a lot of work. A lot of transition. A lot, just a lot. [00:16:57] Speaker C: And. [00:17:00] Speaker B: I totally forgot about the promise until recently. And I was thinking, and I was like, well, did God keep the promise to me this year? And it's like, well, did I ever stop to name what the promise was? Or was it just a word that was floating around somewhere like you were saying? Or was it something that maybe I had this, like, ideal of, like, in a year, everything will be like the promised land. Right. So, like, first of all, I had an idea of what the promise was going to be, but it wasn't fleshed out. [00:17:33] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:17:34] Speaker B: In prayer past that naming of the word last Advent. And then just by picking a word of the year, I'm putting God on a timeline. [00:17:42] Speaker C: Right. [00:17:42] Speaker B: Like, God, not only do I trust you're going to fulfill this promise, but you're going to do it by the end of 2024. What is wrong with me? I like that, you know, this, like, existential, like, panic I'm having about, like, did we make progress this year? Does it matter? You know, like, God's promise stands forever and it's not on my timeline. [00:18:06] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, you had mentioned something earlier that you like the idea that God has a dream for our living, not a plan. [00:18:17] Speaker B: Right. And if you've ever been to our youth room, we have actually a mural on the wall of Jeremiah 29:11. And it's for. I know. Well, the plans I have in mind for you says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for woe to give you a future. Of hope to give you a future of hope. And that's because the youth group used to be called Destiny a long time ago. Back in the day. Yeah. Like in the 80s and through. Yeah. And I was kind of struggled with that, honestly, because I don't think God has, like, a plan. I think God works with what happens and he has dreams and we can live into them. Right. So that we have freedom and we have ways to become who God wants us to be. But it's not necessarily like that linear. [00:19:13] Speaker C: That was a huge conversation that we had. Was it? Last year at confirmation, one of the last confirmation classes. The kids, teens. So many questions, so many questions, so many questions. And we will get to them at some point. But like, they even said that, right. They're like, well, if God has a plan for us already, what is the point of us being here? Like, what? What is the point? I was like, oh, geez, never thought of that. But if you. If you word it as God has a dream for us that just. That makes it seem like we have more control or maybe that we. [00:19:50] Speaker B: Even if we screw it up, it's not the end. It's not. Yeah. It's to be fixed. Right? Yeah. [00:19:56] Speaker C: Because we all have dreams for ourselves. [00:19:58] Speaker B: Right. [00:20:00] Speaker C: And if the dream. I mean, when I was in sixth grade, I was supposed to be going to Boston University to be a marine biologist. Now, I have no idea where Boston College went in my head because I didn't have anybody who went to Boston College. And in essence, I don't even know if Boston College has a marine biology degree. I don't know why that was in my head. Obviously, I did not go to Boston University, and I'm not a marine biologist, but that was my dream. [00:20:26] Speaker B: But look. Look how. [00:20:28] Speaker C: Look at the dream God had for. [00:20:29] Speaker B: Me because we're here today. Yeah, I know that. And like, even, like thinking about Mary and the promises God made to her, you know, he promised that she would be the mother of Jesus, that this would be the, you know, he would be the Messiah. But, like, think for a minute about her life, right? Like 14. Yeah. [00:20:49] Speaker C: I always get hung up at that. [00:20:50] Speaker B: Mom, right? Gives birth far from home in a table. Right. Refugee, political refugees to Egypt because someone's trying to kill her kid. You know, wife of a carpenter, mother of a carpenter, which I think is probably a pretty good trade then. But still nothing fancy, Right? [00:21:13] Speaker C: Right. [00:21:13] Speaker B: And then Jesus becomes an itinerant preacher. For three years, he's wandering around preaching, and then dies on a cross. [00:21:22] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:22] Speaker B: That was her life. Right. And Then. Right. So that's how God. That's what it looks like for God to fulfill the promise, the biggest promise. [00:21:32] Speaker C: Right, Right. [00:21:33] Speaker B: So it doesn't. God fulfilling his promise doesn't always look the way in our minds it might look. But think of all the love she showed through all that and all the love Jesus showed and how it's changed the world. [00:21:47] Speaker C: I'm going back. Don't kill me, guys. But the chosen. If you haven't watched it, it's so good, please watch it. Because the relationship Jesus and Mary have, like, they're closer in age. Like, I. It didn't click in my head like she. Well, it did. She's only like 14 or 15. [00:22:07] Speaker B: Right. [00:22:08] Speaker C: And Joseph is like, we think, probably. Probably. [00:22:11] Speaker B: But older. [00:22:12] Speaker C: Most likely older. So, like, by the time in the. In the chosen, Joseph has already died. We don't know that time frame in the Bible and everything, but, like, Mary's all by herself during this whole thing. I mean, she's got the disciples and everything, but, like, there is no. All of her relatives. Elizabeth was older. All that suffering that she knew was going to happen, and she still wasn't prepared. [00:22:43] Speaker B: Right. And yet she. We know from Scripture, and it's so beautifully demonstrated in that show that, like, she lived with such joy and hope in the moment, even when things were difficult. Right. So that we're getting back to the beginning here. Like, hope is about trusting in God's promise. [00:23:03] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:23:03] Speaker B: To be fulfilled even when we're in the middle of the mess and even when it looks like things are not coming to fruition in any way that makes sense for us. God is working under the surface, and we are moving in the direction of God's dream for us. [00:23:19] Speaker C: And they can look in many different ways. [00:23:20] Speaker B: Yeah. Right. [00:23:21] Speaker C: I mean, for us, it looks different because we're in ministry. [00:23:25] Speaker B: Yeah. Talk about living in the mess, right? [00:23:27] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:23:28] Speaker B: We love ministry, but it's, you know, it's. [00:23:30] Speaker C: It's a lot. [00:23:31] Speaker B: We got two parishes, different communities we're trying to bring together. [00:23:34] Speaker C: And the pandemic is still. I mean, I. The pandemic was. Is still an issue. Like, we have families who are just coming back who don't know the changes in policy or whatever. And we're trying to meet people where they are. So, like, our. Our hope is different than somebody else's, where somebody just coming back. They. Maybe their hope is to get to mass once a month. [00:24:07] Speaker A: Right? [00:24:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:08] Speaker C: And that's a lovely hope. [00:24:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Just being part of a church community, I think, is an exercise in hope. Right. Yeah. Because nothing else really brings you into relationship with different kinds of people in that close of a way. Right. Different generations and different perspectives and different experiences, and yet we're all in it together. It's not easy, but it is, I think, a very brave act of hope to be part of. Do you. [00:24:37] Speaker C: Do you find it easier to get along with the messiness being in community, then? It's probably hard for us to answer that because we've always been a part of a community. [00:24:50] Speaker B: Right. I don't know what it's like to not be part of a church. I've never actually not practiced. [00:24:57] Speaker C: Right. [00:24:57] Speaker B: In a community before. [00:24:59] Speaker C: I mean, I would say, like, during college, I didn't go. And I'll be honest, you know, look, every once in a while, but. But I. You know, there's been times in my life that something huge has happened, and I'm like, I don't know if I would have been able to get through this without my community. [00:25:24] Speaker B: You know, I just had a crazy memory because I think the first time we met, you were in college, and I was a baby youth minister because I'm, like, two years older than you. Three years. Right. And you were being, like, a young adult leader on a diocesan retreat that I was an adult leader on at Rotary Camp Sunshine. [00:25:43] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh. [00:25:45] Speaker B: So you must have been involved in college. [00:25:47] Speaker C: Yeah, I guess there was. [00:25:48] Speaker B: But, like, okay, God's. Would we ever have thought 20 years ago or however long when we met for the first time that we would be sitting in this room today talking about adventure? [00:25:58] Speaker C: Maybe I secretly hoped it. [00:26:02] Speaker B: But, like, look how God's plan unfolds like that. [00:26:05] Speaker C: Yeah, right. [00:26:05] Speaker B: Or his dream unfolds like that. [00:26:07] Speaker C: I like the dream. Yeah. I like the dream. [00:26:10] Speaker B: And that's what we have hope in, right? That there's, like, we all have many paths that we take. And so this Advent, as we, you know, this is the first week of Advent, we're embarking on this. And listen, like, we know what December is like for families and people, and we, like, we know it's going to be a crazy roller coaster the next four weeks leading up to Christmas. But in the middle of the mess and the darkness, like, have hope because God is guiding you somewhere, even though it may not seem like it's making any sense or have any kind of, like, clarity or direction to it, and. [00:26:44] Speaker C: We'Re not, you know, when we. When. When I say this, I don't want it to be like we're downplaying people's struggles. [00:26:51] Speaker B: Right? [00:26:52] Speaker C: Right. Because everyone Is struggling. I mean, the people in Carolinas with the hurricane, I mean, those are huge mess. Life messes. But a lot of, you know, when you hear the reporting, they have hope that they're going to rebuild, you know, and so I think even in destruction or darkness or even a little. A little darkness of a death of a pet. [00:27:21] Speaker B: Yeah. Right, right. [00:27:22] Speaker C: I mean, to my son, that was the most devastating thing that could happen in my life. It was like, oh, just a bump. For him, it was a mountain. [00:27:31] Speaker B: Right. Yes. [00:27:33] Speaker C: And so I think also we need to have the love and compassion for others, because we don't know what they're. [00:27:42] Speaker B: Going through, Especially this time of year. [00:27:43] Speaker C: Especially this time of year. [00:27:44] Speaker B: You know, we've had a lot of people we know and love this year who have lost somebody really big. And. Yeah. [00:27:53] Speaker C: And so not to downplay somebody else's struggles, because to you, it might just be a hill. To them, it might be Mount Everest. And just hope that we can have that sense of compassion for everybody and not just the people that we like. That's the other. [00:28:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:12] Speaker C: Big thing. [00:28:13] Speaker B: Right. [00:28:14] Speaker C: You know? Wow. Lots of good, good, yummy stuff. [00:28:19] Speaker B: I'm gonna maybe just pick one more scripture passage to share as a way to close. Okay. Do it, because I think this will kind of put a little bow on it for us. This is Hebrews 10:23. Let us hold unwaveringly to the hope we profess, for he who made the promise is trustworthy. [00:28:40] Speaker C: Amen to that. [00:28:41] Speaker B: Bringing. [00:28:41] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:28:43] Speaker B: The trustworthiness of the God who is bringing to birth beautiful things in the masses of our lives every day. Okay. [00:28:53] Speaker C: All right. I have one more thing. [00:28:55] Speaker B: Yay. [00:28:56] Speaker C: Really quick. [00:28:56] Speaker B: Do it. [00:28:57] Speaker C: Okay. You know that quote that's like, don't mind the mess of my house because I have, like, children living here. My angels are playing or something like that. Like, that's how I feel. [00:29:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:07] Speaker C: My house is like I walk in, I was like. But, like, it's a sign of life and comfort. [00:29:13] Speaker B: Like, people live here. [00:29:15] Speaker C: And my husband said the other day, he's like, you know, eventually they're going to be out. And I was like, no. Like, it just put everything into perspective. [00:29:22] Speaker B: So Brian had that moment. Every day it's the same moment, but we have it twice. First we have the moment. Like, one day we won't be having to drive everybody every place and doing all the things, and then we have this moment. One day they're not going to be here anymore. [00:29:37] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:29:37] Speaker B: It's like the same moment. It happens twice. [00:29:39] Speaker C: Excuse the mess. We're we're creating family moments or something like that, or family memories. [00:29:45] Speaker B: Well, think about it like, you know, Advent is all about preparing for Jesus's coming. [00:29:50] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:29:50] Speaker B: And he did not come into a pristine, beautiful home. He came into a stable. And that's if it was good enough for God, it could be good enough for us. [00:30:02] Speaker C: All right, thanks, everybody for stopping in and either listening or watching this conversation with us. We're really glad you're here, and thank you to Jeff again for this wonderful setup. It is much nicer to look at Ann in person than to look at my face on Zoom. [00:30:23] Speaker B: So I hope you guys have a week full of hope, and we will catch you back here next week and it'll be Joy, Peace, Peace Week. [00:30:32] Speaker C: Peace Week. [00:30:33] Speaker B: Hope. Peace, Peace Week. See, we can't even get it right now. It'll be Peace Week. All right, peace out. Bye. [00:30:40] Speaker A: Thanks for taking a faith break with us today. Karen, Luke and Anne Gallagher are lay ministers with the parishes of St. Catherine of Siena in Menden, New York, and Church of the Transfiguration in Pittsford, New York. More about our parishes, including weekly livestreamed Sunday Mass, can be [email protected] or transfigurationpitsford.org Engineering Today is by Jeff Beckett. Catch new episodes each week on your favorite podcast or music app.