todayis the birthday of C.S. Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia and many other books on Christianity, such as MereChristinaity, The Great Divorce, Miracles, The Screwtape Letters and the list goes on.
Any of these would be great reads for Advent.
I certainly recommend The Screwtape Letters or The Great Divorce.
Here is a quote from C. S Lewis I find appropriate for Advent: "Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."
Someday we will be old enough to read fairy tales again. Someday we will have the wisdom to recognize the truth that is right before us.
Advent is time for us to become like children, to recapture the wonder of it all, the beauty the majesty the simplicity of Christmas, the beauty, the majesty, the simplicity of life.
We have become too grown up. It is time to shake free from our grown upness and become little children once again, redisocvering the twinkle in our eye for life.
Perhaps this is the cure Jesus comes to bring. He tells the centurion in today;s gospel, "I will come to cure him," in response to a request to heal his servant who is paralyzed.
Are we all not a little paralyzed, a little stiff, unable to move freely in life. Have we not bound our selves up by being all grown up and lost sight of the adventure of love.
YEs JEsus please, come and cure us all and reawaken in us the wonder of it all. Help us to be surprised by the little things that are often over looked.
Advent is a time to get nimble and limber learning to bend low and stretch forth.
A few words from G.K. Chesterton
"The power of hoping through everything, the knowledge that the souls survives its adventures, tht great inspiration comes to the middle-aged; God has kept that good wine until now. It is from the backs of the elderly gentlemen and women that the wings of the butterfly should burst."
Fairy tales are about hope. Fairy tales are a place where the word never is replaced by forever after. Fairy tales help us believe that indeed there is someone out there who comes for us.
Jesus will come as we read yesterday. This is no fairy tale but a promise that moves us forth into life.
4 comments:
Yesterday during the homily at OLV, Fr. Charles talked about Advent being a time of getting ready, to prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ. I was intrigued but couldn't figure out HOW we should be getting ready. This was a wonderful post and I'll endeavor to add C.S. Lewis to my reading list because he is one of my favorites.
Whenever I have a question about the faith, I always mean to e-mail you and ask because you answer in such an understandable and applicable way. This was the answer to the question I hadn't yet been able to ask.
Two of my favorites! Some practical ways of getting ready is to make a good Confession and choose something to "give-up" like during Lent.
Thanks Father for the great post!
excellent, just got back from teaching my CCD 1st graders, I had to fuss at one of them, & give him a time out! but at the end of class, he was by my side with a smile and a hug, definitely need to find my inner child this Advent!
I've read the Screwtape Letters three times. There are so many profound insights in this one book that if I read it a dozen more times I'd still be scratching the surface.
I especially appreciate C.S. Lewis's observation regarding deviltry emanating from wood-paneled boardrooms filled with experts who move and second motions to effect one or another perfidy upon mankind. It reinforces the concept of the "banality of evil."
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