“The Big Picture”: Fourth Sunday of Advent

In this podcast for the Fourth Sunday of Advent: Fr. Leo Austin guides us in our prayer as we near the end of the Advent journey that is bringing us closer and closer to the day of Jesus's nativity and to the day that changed history forever.

Our Lord, in his providence, has been leading us towards the destination that is the encounter with him. There are 7 billion people on the planet right now, more or less, and God is actually coming to us personally. He knows our past and our limitations. The good news is that he is coming to change us and not to inform us about your limitations. He is coming to tell us that we can change and that's what vocation means: a calling to a better situation and happiness in life.

Jesus invites us to be open to divinity and to divine intervention in our history. In her humility and purity, the Blessed Virgin Mary did not understand such an honor. But we learn from Mary her readiness to use all her talents, with freedom, to adapt herself to the plans that God has for her and to see things in the big picture.

As Fr. Leo says, like Mary, Jesus is asking us: "Are you accepting my visitation? Are you open to that?” And with all our hearts, we want to say yes, obviously, because we are the sons and daughters of the handmaid of the Lord. Mary will always give herself to God, not in an obedience that is blind and absurd, but in an obedience that is both hearts connecting at the same time. And that's what we can learn and imitate from Mary, our Mother, this Advent and Christmas.

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Missed the podcasts for the first - third Sundays of Advent? It's not too late to tune in! Explore "A Time for Hope: Advent with St. Josemaria Escriva" - a collection of devotions, readings, and meditations from the St. Josemaria Institute to help you prepare for the Nativity of Our Lord and the season of Christmas.

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