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Dear Mothers,
This morning, December 10th,
my Advent divine reading time is steeped in
reflections of the wedding banquet of the Lord,
as we are only nine days away from Jordan and Kelly's wedding!
I invite you to pray with this 'mother of the groom'
these nine days before the wedding,
before the Blessed Sacrament of the very space we will all gather in His name
on December 19, 2009 at Holy Trinity Parish in Gainesville, Va.
Thank you, my mother-friends,
for joining me during this time of prayerful reflection,
as hand-matrons of the Lord
with lamps filled to the brim with the oil of joyful expectations.

Matthew 23:1-13
~The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids~

Then the kingdom of Heaven will be like this:
Ten Bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and fiver were sensible.
The foolish ones did take their lamps, but they bought no oil,
whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps.
The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.
But at midnight there was a cry,
"The bridegroom is here!
Go out and meet him."
At this, all those bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps,
and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones,
"Give us some of your oil:
our lamps are going out".
But they replied,
"There may not be enough for us and you,
you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves".
They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived.
Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed.
The other bridesmaids arrived later.
"Lord, Lord" They said, "open the door for us."
But he replied, "I tell you solemnly, I do not know you".
So stay awake, because you do not know the day or the hour.


As we prepare to witness this Sacrament of Matrimony
between Jordan and Kelly,
we ask for abundant blessings on them
during this time of preparation.
May we all continue to
radiate the grace we have received from the oil of the Sacramental life
we are granted.
Sharon