My Lord and my God I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me.

I adore you with profound reverence, I ask your pardon for my sins, and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful.

My Immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my Father and Lord, my guardian angel intercede for me.

Well, we have begun this penitential season of Advent.

The color is violet and is meant to remind us of our need for penance, for atonement.

I'm sure you're looking forward towards Christmas, that great mystery of the birth of Christ, our Lord, our Redeemer.

He who would change the whole course of humanity, but we have to get ready.

And his arrival must also change the course of our own life.

It changed the course of humanity, but it must change our soul and our life. I know it can be a busy time. Our minds are

focused on our numerous obligations. Maybe we're a bit stressed with so many demands. Perhaps

our soul has gotten a bit lethargic.

Its texture has become dense, less malleable, a bit hardened, perhaps, to God's appeals.

Well, the liturgy has this marvelous prayer that kind of waken us up.

It says this, stir up your power, O Lord, and come, protect us by your mighty strength

and save us.

That prayer often appears in the first Sunday of Lent.

It's called Stir Up Sunday.

There's a tradition where families would mix the ingredients into plum pudding and give

it a stir, offering their own personal intentions with every stir of the spoon.

Those figures that will stir up the batter of our souls during this Advent,

well, they were chosen members of the family of God

that entered into the salvation history.

...