Spiritual Reflection & Discussion Guide

God Makes the First Move - Sending a Rescue Mission

Often we slip into feeling we have to get our act together, be buttoned-up and polished to present ourselves to God. Only then (we might think) will I be worthy of God’s help and blessings.

The truth is: God does not wait for us to get our act together and begin a journey to him. At the very heart of Advent and Christmas is the fact that God sent his own Son to us—  the greatest of Our Father’s many efforts to reach out to all people— with a rescue mission!

Everything we are and do is in response to God making the first move toward us. We who bear Christ’s name by baptism are called to extend His outreach to others - especially the lost sheep he is so concerned about. Or, using a different biblical metaphor, Cardinal Seán often says:

“Jesus calls us to be fishers of people - not keepers of the aquarium!”

As we live this Advent, how can we keep in mind that we don’t have to do everything on our own, that God has begun the good work in us? And how can we be extensions of the arms of Jesus - God’s rescue mission - to those in our lives who most need to know God’s love for them?