2016: A Book of Grace-Filled Days

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readings and reflections through the christian year beginning with advent

2016 A Book of

Grace-Filled Days

C

cycle

j e s s i c a

m e sman

g riffit h

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i n s p i r a t i o n /c a l e n da r

$11 .9 5 U . S .

when we regularly open ourselves to inspiration and God’s grace. 2016: A Book of Grace-Filled Days provides a daily prayer experience to build and nurture our faith with simple yet powerful reflections.

Beginning with the start of the church year in Advent 2015 and continuing through the 2016 calendar year, this daily devotional notes major feast days, saint commemorations, and holidays. Each page combines readings from the Scripture of the day with reflections to provide a few minutes of solace for quiet prayer and meditation. 2016: A Book of Grace-Filled Days is an accessible and insightful way to deepen our connection to God’s loving presence and fill each day with grace. a v ibr a nt pr ay er life u nfolds

received an MFA in writing from the University of Pittsburgh and has published essays in Elle, Creative Nonfiction, and Godspy. She is the coauthor of Love & Salt: A Spiritual Friendship Shared in Letters and a contributor to Daily Inspiration for Women: Seasons of a Woman’s Life. She lives in Michigan with her husband, writer David Griffith, and their two children. je ssic a m e sm a n gr iff it h

ISBN-13: 978-0-8294-3995-3 ISBN-10: 0-8294-3995-1

Š 2015 Loyola Press All rights reserved.

Scripture excerpts are taken from the Lectionary for Mass, Copyright 2001, 1998, 1992, 1986, 1970 by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No part of the Lectionary for Mass may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Cover and interior design by Kathy Kikkert.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8294-3995-3 ISBN-10: 0-8294-3995-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015937159 Printed in the United States of America.

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N T R O D U C T I O N

Grace—we can’t make it, own it, or earn it. It’s freely and mysteriously given. The goodness and mercy of the Lord follow us, as the psalm says, all the days of our lives. But we can’t grab hold of grace. The moment we think we can trace its movements through our days is the moment we deny the mystery of those movements.

Yet our days brim with God’s grace. God is always, somewhere, somehow, working all things for the good, when we’re alone and afraid, broken by grief or shame, and when all we have is the workday or the whining child. God works as life’s storms surge, though we may think he’s asleep in the stern.

In my own life, I can track grace only in hindsight, but my story isn’t over yet. I know this much: it isn’t always pretty. It doesn’t always feel good. It can be inscrutable and painful. Sometimes I tremble at what I must thank God for, at what I have to call grace.

When the story of my life stalls, surprises, or disappoints, the Scriptures are a gift. I search them for the iii

story of God’s grace, and I find it every time. It is a love story: the tale of God’s unending relationship with us. I see that God never gives up but hunts for every sheep, every lost coin. He follows me all the days of my life. He runs out to meet me, drawing me in with love, not chains.

The Scriptures remind me to stay open to possibility.

Grace doesn’t always look the way you think it will. Joseph’s brothers throw him into the cistern only to preserve him as their future hero. The bottom of that cistern didn’t look like the ground of grace. Neither did the pig’s trough, where the prodigal son found himself scrounging for a meal. Neither did the stable in Bethlehem.

God’s word surprises. The last are first and the lowly are lifted. The salvation of the world depends on the consent of a child: Let it be done to me according to your will. The king of the universe rides in on a donkey and dies a criminal’s death.

He rises and invites his disciples to breakfast on the beach.

Whatever story my life seems to be telling, I can read the story of God in the world and manage at least this prayer: “grace is sufficient.” I trust that Christ is its source and love its end.

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NOVEM BER 29 • FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT •

Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life. . . . Be vigilant at all times, and pray that you have the strength . . . to stand before the Son of Man. —LUKE 21:34–36

As Advent begins, we awaken while it’s still dark and commute to town on roads slick with ice. There are parties and performances to attend and presents to buy and three family birthdays to observe. It would be so easy to let this tide of busyness overtake me. But I sit at the breakfast table and cup my hand around the flame of the first Advent candle, observing how its small light struggles in the dark.

When did my heart fall asleep? May Advent be a time to wake up and grow strong.

Jeremiah 33:14–16 Psalm 25:4–5, 8–9, 10, 14 (1b) 1 Thessalonians 3:12—4:2 Luke 21:25–28, 34–36

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NOVEM BER 30 • S T. A N D R E W, A P O S T L E •

Come after me, says the Lord, and I will make you fishers of men.

—MATTHEW 4:19

St. Andrew is sometimes described as the first person to bring someone to Christ. That someone was his brother, Peter, the rock upon which Jesus would build his church.

He also brought to Jesus’ attention the boy with the fish and the loaves on the day Jesus fed the 5,000. Andrew did many brave things in his life, including abandoning his fishing nets to follow Christ. He followed him all the way to death on a cross. I know I don’t have that kind of bravery. But maybe, in my own small way, I can bring someone to Christ’s attention. Today, as I pray for another, I remember St. Andrew as party to miracles he didn’t imagine.

Romans 10:9–18 Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 11 Matthew 4:18–22

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DECEMBER 1 The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain. —ISAIAH 11:8–9

A tragic world is not what God desires. He weeps at the suffering of his creation. He longs with us for the time when there will be no more “harm or ruin,� when peace will reign.

Isaiah 11:1–10 Psalm 72:1–2, 7–8, 12–13, 17 Luke 10:21–24

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DECEMBER 2 He will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations; he will destroy death forever. —ISAIAH 25:7

My brother-in-law recently confessed to me that he was having a crisis of faith—he was beginning to suspect that Christianity is just another fairy tale that soothes our collective fear of death. But as a lover of fairy tales, I am always inspired by their consonance with the Christian creed. We are right to fear death and to long for the elixir or hero that will undo it. When it seems too good to be true, I cling to this promise of Isaiah: the longed-for hero is coming, the one who will destroy death forever.

Isaiah 25:6–10a Psalm 23:1–3a, 3b–4, 5, 6 Matthew 15:29–37

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DECEMBER 3 • S T. F R A N C I S X A V I E R , P R I E S T •

It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. —PSALM 118:8

How do we take refuge in the Lord? Jesus tells us: by doing the will of the Father. And what is the “Father’s will�? That we should love God above all and love our neighbors as ourselves. Loving God first is essential. The neighbors we are called to love and serve are as fallen, bruised, and battered as we are. Only eternal love will transform us and make us able to love one another well. Expecting any human relationship to completely fulfill our hearts’ deep longings is foolish. It is, as Jesus says in today’s Gospel, like building a house on sand instead of on the eternal rock we can trust to hold through any storm.

Isaiah 26:1–6 Psalm 118:1 and 8–9, 19–21, 25–27a Matthew 7:21, 24–27

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DECEMBER 4 • S T. J O H N D A M A S C E N E , P R I E S T A N D D O C T O R O F T H E C H U R C H •

I believe I shall see the bounty of the LORD in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD with courage; be stouthearted and wait for the LORD. —PSALM 27:13–14

In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks two blind men who follow him expectantly, begging for their sight, “Do you believe I can do this?” Their response is simple: “Yes, Lord.” They share the psalmist’s trust in the Lord’s bounty and care.

Their faith is firm, even in a state of affliction. Again and again the Scriptures tell us to have courage, to be stouthearted, because affliction will come. When it does, I hope for stouthearted courage. I want to utter the same simple assent: Yes, Lord. I believe that you can. I trust that while I suffer, you are at work.

Isaiah 29:17–24 Psalm 27:1, 4, 13–14 Matthew 9:27–31

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DECEMBER 5 At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned like sheep without a shepherd. —MATTHEW 9:36

Jesus feels pity. His heart is moved by the sight of us, troubled and abandoned, trying to heal ourselves with what will never truly satisfy—material goods, fleeting pleasures, even human love. He wants to bind our wounds and give us all we need: the Bread of Life for which we hunger, the living water for which we thirst.

Isaiah 30:19–21, 23–26 Psalm 147:1–2, 3–4, 5–6 Matthew 9:35—10:1, 5a, 6–8

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DECEMBER 6 • SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT •

I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it.

—PHILIPPIANS 1:4–6

The Scriptures tell us of a God who will restore, never abandon—a God who is ever increasing, growing the good work he began in us, the work he will ultimately bring to fruition. All our rough ways will be made smooth, our winding paths straightened. We will see the salvation of God.

Baruch 5:1–9 Psalm 126:1–2, 2–3, 4–5, 6(3) Philippians 1:4–6, 8–11 Luke 3:1–6

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DECEMBER 7 • S T. A M B R O S E , B I S H O P A N D D O C T O R O F T H E C H U R C H •

We have seen incredible things today.

—LUKE 5:26

All who came to see Jesus did see incredible things that day. They watched a paralytic—who’d become so desperate for healing that his friends lowered him through the roof—pick up his own stretcher and walk home. Our daily miracles may not seem impressive or beyond belief.

The writer Annie Dillard expresses her awe at a world strewn with easily overlooked wonders, “pennies cast broadside by a generous hand”; but even if we do not pay a writer’s close attention to small wonders, we have witnessed incredible things. We were not there when God came to us as a baby, born in a stable; but week after week, day after day, God comes to us in a wafer of bread and a chalice of wine. We could end every Mass with such words: we have seen incredible things today.

Isaiah 35:1–10 Psalm 85:9ab and 10, 11–12, 13–14 Luke 5:17–26

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DECEMBER 8 • T H E I M M A C U L A T E C O N C E P T I O N O F T H E B L E S S E D V I R G I N M A RY •

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. —LUKE 1:31

Incarnate means “to make flesh.� The Catholic faith is so incarnational, we not only celebrate birthdays but also have feasts for conceptions. I love that we celebrate the moment when life kindles in the womb, when soul joins body, and the eternal and the temporal fuse. That is what we celebrate today: the conception of Mary, whose soul was preserved from sin even in her mother’s womb. Today’s Gospel also mentions the conception of St. John the Baptist in the womb of Mary’s older cousin Elizabeth, who was thought to be barren. These are moments of unfathomable significance, invisible to all but the One who so marvelously orders his creation, who begins his plans in secret, in the hidden depths of a woman’s body.

Genesis 3:9–15, 20 Psalm 98:1, 2–3, 3–4 (1a) Ephesians 1:3–6, 11–12 Luke 1:26–38

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DECEMBER 9 • S T. J U A N D I E G O , H E R M I T •

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. —MATTHEW 11:28

The English artist, writer, and mystic Caryll Houselander wrote beautifully of Advent as a time of rest, a time when we all might emulate Mary, the pregnant mother quietly protecting the growing child in her womb. What is the point of all this—the wreath, the candles, the Jesse tree, the Advent calendar, the cooking, gifting, and caroling—if it leaves us too exhausted to contemplate the mystery at hand? Christ wants to be born in each of us this Christmas Day. Find some time to rest so that he might grow stronger within you.

Isaiah 40:25–31 Psalm 103:1–2, 3–4, 8, and 10 Matthew 11:28–30

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DECEMBER 10 The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain, their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them. —ISAIAH 41:17

Sometimes we don’t realize what we’re thirsting for. We simply feel restless and empty, so we head out to shop, or we have a drink, or we turn on the TV or call a friend. I usually turn to books. Even when I know I’m longing for God—even then, I will look for a book about God, hoping I will find the one that will settle all my questions once and for all, before I seek him directly in prayer. Lord, when I am needy, remind me of the source of my longing. Answer me. Quench my parched spirit with the water only you can give.

Isaiah 41:13–20 Psalm 145:1 and 9, 10–11, 12–13ab Matthew 11:11–15

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DECEMBER 11 • S T. D A M A S U S I , P O P E •

For John came neither eating or drinking, and they said “he is possessed by a demon.” The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they said, “Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” But wisdom is vindicated by her works.

—MATTHEW 11:18–19

People will talk. Don’t listen to their chatter; listen to what God spoke through the prophet Isaiah: “If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river.” This is the cry of a loving parent to his wayward child. Be led by God and not the whispered judgments of peers or community.

Isaiah 48:17–19 Psalm 1:1–2, 3, 4, and 6 Matthew 11:16–19

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DECEMBER 12 • THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE •

Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, above all the women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, the creator of heaven and earth, who guided your blow at the head of the leader of our enemies. Your deed of hope will never be forgotten by those who recall the might of God. —JUDITH 13:18–19

The Old Testament account of Judith slaying the Assyrian general Holofernes is violent and shocking. The leader of enemy troops passes out drunk in his tent; Judith prays that God bless the work of her hands. Then, using the man’s own sword, she strikes twice to sever his head, which her maid carries out in her food bag. Uzziah praises Judith for her service to God. His prayer reminds us that another woman of Jerusalem is coming. The new Eve, Mary, will crush the serpent under her heel.

Zechariah 2:14–17 or Revelation 11:19a; 12:1–6a, 10ab Judith 13:18bcde, 19 Luke 1:26–38 or 1:39–47

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DECEMBER 13 • THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT •

He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.

—LUKE 3:11

John sounds very much like the forerunner of Jesus here.

How can we be forerunners this Advent? Through works of charity—providing clothing and food for those who don’t have enough? By offering company to one who is lonely? By sharing a talent for singing or writing or painting something beautiful? Pray this day that the Holy Spirit will use you to help others anticipate Christmas with a little more comfort and joy.

Zephaniah 3:14–18a Isaiah 12:2–3, 4, 5–6 (6) Philippians 4:4–7 Luke 3:10–18

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DECEMBER 14 • S T. J O H N O F T H E C R O S S , P R I E S T A N D D O C T O R O F T H E C H U R C H •

Remember that your compassion, O LORD, and your kindness are from old. In your kindness, remember me, because of your goodness, O LORD. —PSALM 25:6–7

Today we celebrate the sixteenth-century Spanish mystic and Carmelite friar St. John of the Cross, author of Dark Night of the Soul. We now use that term, a dark night, to describe moments of spiritual crisis when we feel hopelessly separated from God. As I pray this psalm of lament, I remember that there is one who sees me even when I cannot see him in the darkness. He is all-powerful, but he is also compassionate. He is merciful. He is kind.

He is good.

Numbers 24:2–7, 15–17a Psalm 25:4–5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8–9 Matthew 21:23–27

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DECEMBER 15 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted, and those who are crushed in spirit he saves. —PSALM 34:18

So many times I have crushed my own spirit with poor decisions, by doing what I knew was wrong, by straying from the way. In my worst moments, I have even convinced myself that God would have me stray, that just this once he will pardon me for taking the easier path. The truth is—he will pardon me. When my bad choice breaks my heart just as water erodes rock, God will be my refuge.

My face will flush with shame when God meant it to be radiant with joy. No, he would not have me stray. But he will take me back every time.

Zephaniah 3:1–2, 9–13 Psalm 34:2–3, 6–7, 17–18, 19, and 23 Matthew 21:28–32

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DECEMBER 16 Turn to me and be safe. —ISAIAH 45:22

Reading the Scriptures, I am astounded by how many times we are encouraged. Literally, we are told to have courage, to be stout of heart, to fear not, hundreds of times. This is no easy task when the storms of life seem constant, each stronger than the last. The Bible never says we will escape life’s storms, but it does promise that there is one who will carry us to ultimate safety.

Isaiah 45:6b–8, 18, 21b–25 Psalm 85:9ab and 10, 11–12, 13–14 Luke 7:18b–23

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DECEMBER 17 Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. —MATTHEW 1:17

Matthew begins his Gospel with the genealogy of Jesus.

More than a numbing list of names or proof of Jesus’ royal Davidic lineage, it’s a picture of salvation history up to the Incarnation, a wild tale of God at work. On the list are four women: Tamar had twins with her father-in-law; Rahab was a prostitute; Bathsheba—whose name isn’t uttered but who is the woman described as mother of Solomon and wife of Uriah—was David’s mistress. By comparison, the widowed Ruth is a paragon of virtue, faithfully declaring her love for her mother-in-law after they’ve both lost everything. In the lineage of Jesus, we see heroism and fidelity. We also see a lot of sin, betrayal, heartbreak, and death. Yet God has been at work all along, using the kingly and the wayward to accomplish his will.

Genesis 49:2, 8–10 Psalm 72:1–2, 3–4ab, 7–8, 17 Matthew 1:1–17

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DECEMBER 18 The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.

—MATTHEW 1:20

Joseph is about to divorce Mary when the angel appears to deliver this heavenly directive. Not Joseph’s first choice, the shame of a wife who is pregnant with a child not his.

But he trusts God’s messenger and obeys. If only the angel of the Lord would appear to tell me what is right, to clear up my confusion. The Catechism says we are still aided by angels. This claim both comforts and shocks me, which seems entirely appropriate given the reactions people usually have to angels in the Bible. How would I choose if I truly believed this—that there is an angel beside me, not just in my dreams but in my waking life, standing with “watchful care and intercession”? (Catechism #336)

Jeremiah 23:5–8 Psalm 72:1–2, 12–13, 18–1 Matthew 1:18–25

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DECEMBER 19 So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others. —LUKE 1:25

Today’s Scriptures tell two stories of barren women who become pregnant late in life—miracles undeniable to any with eyes to see. Barrenness, in biblical times, was seen as shameful, and the Lord is at work lifting up the lowly and raising the needy from the dust. He turns the world upside down as we near the moment of breakthrough, when God will come to us as a child.

Judges 13:2–7, 24–25a Psalm 71:3–4a, 5–6ab, 16–17 Luke 1:5–25

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DECEMBER 20 • F O U RT H S U N D A Y O F A D V E N T •

And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.

—LUKE 1:43–44

Mary is our model in faith, but God would love for more of us to be like Elizabeth, too—to recognize Christ in others and treat them as holy and blessed.

Micah 5:1–4a Psalm 80:2–3, 15–16, 18–19 (4) Hebrews 10:5–10 Luke 1:39–45

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DECEMBER 21 • S T. P E T E R C A N I S I U S , P R I E S T A N D D O C T O R O F T H E C H U R C H •

He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, he will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals.

—ZEPHANIAH 3:18

Both the Song of Songs and Zephaniah describe God as an ardent lover who will rejoice at our reunion to the point of singing. We, too, are urged to sing with joy at the arrival of our true love. God is here, and he delights in us.

Song of Songs 2:8–14 or Zephaniah 3:14–18a Psalm 33:2–3, 11–12, 20–21 Luke 1:39–45

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DECEMBER 22 I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request. Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD. —1 SAMUEL 1:27–28

Hannah presents her infant son at the Lord’s temple, just as Mary will present the Christ child. These women fulfill religious customs, but they remind me of the mothers I’ve known who’ve had to literally give their children back to God, whether as infants or adults or even before they emerged from the womb. In a scene near the end of Terrence Malick’s film The Tree of Life, the bereaved mother of a dead son raises her hands and utters the same words: “I give you my son.� It’s not the anguished cry of the grieving on earth, but the grateful offering of one who has entered the kingdom; her expression radiates peace. I love the idea that our most exacting sacrifices in this world might be transformed in the next.

1 Samuel 1:24–28 1 Samuel 2:1, 4–5, 6–7, 8abcd Luke 1:46–56

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A BOUT THE A UTHOR JESSICA MESMAN GRIFFITH received an MFA in writing from the University of Pittsburgh and has published essays in Elle, Creative Nonfiction, and Godspy. She is the coauthor of Love & Salt: A Spiritual Friendship Shared in Letters and a contributor to Daily Inspiration for Women: Seasons of a Woman’s Life. She lives in Michigan with her husband, writer David Griffith, and their two children.

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