Wednesday of the Third/Gaudete Week of Advent – 14 December
“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”
Daily Meditation:
I am the LORD, there is no other.
Turn to me and be safe.
We have heard the promises and we have begged for more hope.
Today we pray for His saving help and hear His personal invitation
to turn to Him, to find our safety in Him alone.
How might I yet place my trust in God’s love for me?
How might I yet surrender my independence?
How might my heart grow in anticipation and welcome
of the fullness of His coming to me this year?
Let justice descend, O heavens, like dew from above, like gentle rain let the skies drop it down.
Let the earth open and salvation bud forth; let justice also spring up! ISAIAH 45
Closing Prayer:
Dearest Lord,
Your invitation settles in my soul:
“Turn to me and be safe.”
Something lets go inside when I take those words into my heart.
They are an invitation for me to rest.
So many moments of my life are filled with my own needs.
“Turn to me and be safe,” You say to me again.
Give me the great grace to let go from the depths of my soul.
Help me to be released
from the demons I cling to with so much fear.
I hear Your invitation to ask for help
and I begin to list all the places in my life that need healing.
“Turn to me and be safe.”
You promise Your saving help
and I know it is the only thing that can heal me.
I feel Your presence in my life
and am aware of the growing joy I feel
as I anticipate celebrating the birth of Your son.
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
AnaStpaul 
As I let go of my selfish earthly needs to trust in him alone, my heart opens and longs, realizing that is where it needs to be. However, one more personal need takes hold: the desire to be free of sin. That need is always there and unlike the others, I suppose it always must be because I always fall again eventually.
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Interesting your thought here Larry – I have found myself extremely concerned about my Christmas Confession this year – about my own inability to get rid of those “habits of sin”.
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