December 24, 2024 // Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Luke 1:67-79
Reflect on the Word //
Every weekday before school, my husband and I gather our seven children around the table for breakfast, tea, and Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. We light candles and open God’s word before the sun peeks over the horizon. We invite light into our hearts before we are swept in so many different directions by the obligations and tasks of the day. This moment of calm and connection is a stake in the ground as we establish a new family born from the ashes of intense loss. All of us have suffered the loss of a spouse or a parent. Some suffered the loss suddenly, some lived in the shadow of death for years, waiting for cancer to claim their beloved. Now we knit our broken hearts together in love, and every morning we pray these words of Zechariah. Bold words, words that recall God’s promises, both fulfilled and awaiting fulfillment.
“[. . .] he promised of old that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us” (Luke 1:71-72). In this season of light, many of our hearts ache with the darkness and pain of lost or broken relationships. Lord, help us to forgive. Help us to trust that You are fighting for us when we feel surrounded by enemies. Help us to choose the path of love.
“In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:78-79). Sweet infant Jesus, we imagine holding Your little body in our arms. Your tiny body, which contains all we are, all we need, all we’ll ever need. Let Your powerful light shine on all those who dwell in the shadow of death: those who have lost parents, spouses, and children, who suffer miscarriage, infertility, loneliness, slavery to sin, grudge-hardened hearts. Guide our feet into the way of peace.
Relate to the Lord // Where do you need the light of Christ to shine? Invite Him in.
