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Advent Winter Solstice 2009

On Monday December 21 2009 the longest day of the year Ministry Outreach celebrated its annual Advent Winter Solstice. Since 2001 this gathering has taken place at the Catholic Renewal Center drawing a large number of Partners in Ministry grads and friends. As usual everyone enjoyed a delicious potluck meal. This year’s program was planned and led by Ray and Christy Szempruch with music provided by Kien Tran, from, St. Vincent De Paul Parish on the piano.

The Theme was “A MARANATHA WINTER SOLSTICE” and began with:

The Maranatha/ Come Lord Jesus prayer of the ancestors in the season of long nights symbolizes longing and hope in the second coming of the Lord. For us the Winter Solstice symbolizes the emergence of the Cosmic Christ again and evermore. When our daystar seems to have turned its face away, when God seems not to be paying attention we feel the cold of the void upon us. The warmth of this winter must come from within where Gods Holy Spirit waits. Our ancestors in Faith knew it is we who must turn our faces to God, it is we who must open our hearts so that the Breath of God might stir the embers there. Thus will our meditation, our visions and our dreams, come afire with love.

The evening continued with prayer, responses and song. The evening ended with table discussions and sharing of quotes from Psalms, Thich Nhat Hanh, T. S. Eliot, Matthew Fox, David Whyte,Thomas Merton, John O’Donohue and Rainer Maria Rilke.

Everyone went home better prepared to face cold and long winter nights.