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The National Office for Vocation is publishing a weekly resource to help enrich our journey through Advent. In this week's reflection, Sister Dorothy Paul of the Franciscan Sisters Minoress writes:

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"We are now in our Third Week of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, the priest will wear pink vestments as a symbol of joy. Joy, that we are halfway through our journey through Advent and approaching the celebration of the Birth of Our Lord Jesus. Each year we journey through the Liturgical Calendar, walking in the Life events of Jesus, knowing that He is Risen and walks with us. Jesus, the Son of God, coming among us as Man, if this does not bring us hope and joy then I don’t know what will.

​"Perhaps as ‘cradle Catholics' , we grow up with a great familiarity in the knowledge of our faith, that we just kind of take it for granted, as Pope Francis said, it is as if we are asleep! That’s why the great readings of Advent, the cries of the Prophets, are meant to awaken us, to stir us up, to the realisation of our faith, it's true - GOD IS!

​"Today’s Gospel reading, Luke 3: 10-18, does just that. John the Baptist exhorts us to prepare for God’s coming, how does he do this? By telling us to change our lifestyle. Repent, turn your life around, he even tells us how to do this. Care for your neighbour, if you have too many clothes, give some to those who have less, give them into a charity shop where others can benefit. If you have strayed from the faith, repent, go to confession, confess your sins, receive the Sacraments, they feed our souls through Grace, we cannot do these things by ourselves, we need God’s help.

​"In thinking of ourselves as ‘pilgrims of hope’, we are reminded of the greatest pilgrimage of all, our journey through life, from our birth to our death. Life is a gift, it's sacred as it comes from God, the Creator of Life. God wants to make us happy, to have joy, to be at peace. He has created each of us for a purpose, whether it be in marriage, single or priesthood/religious life, to each is our unique calling, and our common bond is Baptism, which unites us as one family of God.

​"We live in a very busy world, lived at a frenetic pace and we need to build times into our lives to act as a sort of compass point, to make sure we are still on course. Pilgrimage is a great way to do this, and I had the joy to be at [World Youth Day] in Lisbon last year, with my own Diocese of Nottingham. As I reflect back on that time, many things come to mind but here I will name only a few. There was the preparation for the journey, meeting up with the young people, our Bishop and priests who would be accompanying us, listening to the young people, their excitement, their hopes and the joy of anticipation, it was wonderful. And of course, we all know, its not just the destination that is important, but the journey itself, the people we meet along the way, the lives we touch and share our stories with.

​"The sacred places that we visited still resonate with me and touch that deep space within me that only God knows about, because He created it within me, within all of us, a reminder that we are more than body, we have a soul. Sitting in the Church, where the relics of St Thérèse  were - now I must admit, I am not one for relics and bits of bones etc, but I respect the faith of others and there is no denying the presence of Thérèse there in the Church with us. She promised to spend her heaven doing good on earth and I experienced that, especially in the young people who came to pray before her relics. I was asked many times in that Church by young people, whom I didn’t even know, to not only pray for them, but to pray with them.

​"Pilgrimage gives us the time and opportunity to grapple with the big questions of life:

​What’s life all about?
Is there a God?
Is the Resurrection true?

​"How we answer these questions will affect our compass. As for me: Yes, Lord I believe, and I thank you for coming among us as Man to make the Love of God our Father known to us."

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Source: UKvocation.org​