Welcome in Everybody, and welcome to Advent.
Readings:
Jeremiah 33, 14-16, “The days are coming”, says the Lord, “when I will fulfill the promise I made.”
Psalm 25, To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
1 Thesssalonians 3,12-4,2, May the Lord make you increase and abound in love.
Like 21, 25-28, 34-36, There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars.
Welcome from today's Offertory Team, Michelle & Gil, Carol & Rich
One Day on a Walker
For a New Appreciation of People, Try a Walker
This morning I would like to talk about how I came to see again how genuinely good ordinary people can be. Want a quickie answer to that? Try lumbar stenosis which leads to lower back pain which leads to life on a walker.
Another Day on the walker.
Two examples.
Just after the doctor put me on a walker I had an 8:00 A.M. appointment with my skin doctor. It was freezing dark, cold, windy, and I had to park in one of those ground level parking areas, like about ½ a mile from the double glass entrance doors.
As I hobbled up to the doors, a guy and a woman jumped ahead of me and held the doors open for me. I was most touched.
Leo the Candle Man in Action.
The same thing happened when I departed the buildings.
Other similar events happened all the time we were in Hilton Head. But a special one took place at an Alabama highway welcome facility just departing Georgia.
We stopped in the visitor space to visit the facilities. As I approached the one story building I noticed that the host of the facility this particular morning was a black guy about 60. He saw me and was immediately heading toward the entrance doors.
Buddy reading the Blessing of The Advent Candle.
We arrived about the same moment and I reached out to pull outward the right hand door. Trouble was, I was coming at it from the left. I was awkwardly pulling the door with my right hand when the guy opened the door and stepped out to help me.
Lucky me, because I was planning on using the door handle with my right hand to balance. Suddenly the door was open, the handle out of reach, and I am falling over—right into the arms of the welcoming station. Yes, he caught me and graciously got me righted.
Yes, Harper, you look really pretty with your new shorter hair.
Then, even at the restroom door, truckers were holding it so I could enter and depart.
I have been most touched, folks, and feel privileged.
Any of you seen these people around lately?
And the question I would ask normally, I don’t ask now because it is irrelevant. You do this kind of activity every day.
Could it be that Leo's most favorite time of our Sunday Mass is the Cupcake of the Week time.