Tomorrow we set out for Galway, where we have been invited to offer an afternoon of prayer and reflection on the season of Advent at Bearna parish. We will be reflecting on Advent as a journey of faith: our journey toward Christmas, toward God, and God’s journey toward us in the Incarnation. After a week of being stuck in the house or stranded in an airport, I think everyone is looking forward to blowing out a few cobwebs with a change of scenery and a visit with Anne-Marie, a good friend to the community.
In the meantime, Wexford’s scenery is changing as well. Milder temperatures have thawed out the ice somewhat, and grass was visible on our walk to the parish for the first time a while. It reminded me of the scene in C.S. Lewis’s classic The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, when all of Narnia is transformed from endless winter to full-blown spring in just a few hours because “Aslan is on the move.” Yes, I realize that it’s still early December, and winter is a long way from over, but it’s nice to have the occasional visual reminder that it won’t last forever. For now, we’ll continue to brave the elements, well, bravely, and we’ll Wizard of Oz* our way to work on those days when the sidewalks are as treacherously slippery as they were this morning. General observation: ice melting is only helpful when the resulting water has a place to go; pools of water on top of solid ice = way more dangerous than just straight-up ice.
Will keep you posted (pun absolutely intended) on how the retreat goes. Pray for safe travel this weekend and a fruitful afternoon on Sunday.
*a new verb denoting the practice of walking arm-in-arm as a group; in our case, this is done in the hopes of not falling all the way to the parish
