FINDING JOY IN THE GOSPEL THIS ADVENT!

READ EVANGELII GAUDIUM THIS ADVENT WITH ME...

IN SMALL SIPS

Today the Holy Father, Pope Francis, gave us the perfect Advent gift, the perfect guide to help us on this journey as we prepare for the coming of Christ. He gave us his first Apostolic Exhortation: Evangelii Gaudium, or for us non-Latin speaking folk, The Joy of the Gospel. So, being the Catholic geek that I am, I poured my coffee into my already 1/2 full cup of Pumpkin Spice creamer and sat down to joyfully read an Apostolic Exhortation at 6:00 am! (I PROMISE, if you knew me in college this scene would shock you! All of it... the early wake up, the coffee chosen over the Diet Coke and above all, the fact that I found excitement in an Apostolic Exhortation, much less knew what it was!) 

The document turned out to be richer than my Nestle's Coffee Mate drenched coffee and I soon came to the conclusion that I could not digest it all in this one sitting. So, I thought... small sips... and I came up with the idea to read a section of Evangelii Gaudium each morning over my coffee during Advent. Then I thought, there's no way I can do this alone! I won't grasp the fullness of the message, and let's be honest, I'd probably quit by day 8 without someone to prod me on (that's what happens with my workout schedule anyway.) Thus, I'd like to invite you to join me. 

Throughout Advent I am going to post sections of Evangelii Gaudium and hopefully a reflection or some practical things I'm going to try to do to live the message of that section with renewed conviction, with confidence and with hope. Again, I invite you to join me. Pour yourself a cup of coffee (or Diet Coke or whatever wakes you up) and join me in reading this rich Apostolic Exhortation in small sips. Join me by sharing your reflections and by offering ways we can live the Joy in the Gospel. We begin this Sunday! You in?

Here's our Schedule for our small sips of Evangelii Gaudium for Advent

Dec. 1        2-8 (Joy)

Dec. 2        9-13 (Joy of Evangelizing)

Dec. 3        14-18 (Scope of exhortation)

Dec. 4        19-24 (Church's missionary transformation)

Dec. 5        25-33 (Pastoral Activity & Conversion)

Dec. 6        34-39 (Heart of the Gospel) 

Dec. 7        40-45 (Human Limits)

Dec. 8        46-49 (Mary)

Dec. 9        50-58 (Amid Crisis: idolatry of money)

Dec. 10    59-75 (Cultural Challenges)

Dec. 11    76-92 (Temptations of pastoral workers & Relationship in Christ)

Dec. 12    93-109 (No to spiritual worldliness)

Dec. 13    110-126 (People of God proclaim the Gospel)

Dec. 14    127-134 (Person to Person, Charisms, Culture) 

Dec. 15    135-144 (The Homily) 

Dec. 16    145-159 (Preparing to Preach)

Dec. 17    160-175 (Kerygma)

Dec. 18    176-185 (Social dimensions of evangelization)

Dec. 19    186-216 (Inclusion of the poor in society)

Dec. 20    217-237 (Common Good and Peace in Society)

Dec. 21    238-258 (Social dialogue as contribution to peace)

Dec. 22    259-274 (Spirit-filled evangelizers)

Dec. 23    275-283 (Personal encounter with Christ) 

Dec. 24    284-288 (Mary)