The Season That Gives Back

I don’t have anything left to give.

You can’t pour from an empty cup.

All I do is give. Who is giving to me?

Raise your hand if these thoughts have ever run through your head. I’m sure they occur to all of us from time to time. We can become so easily depleted by the fast pace of life and whatever vocation God has called us to, whether that’s parenthood, a demanding professional career or the caretaking of friends and family (or as so often happens, a hybrid of all three). Many of us also undergo certain seasons — seasons of the year, but also seasons of life — that seem to sap us of energy and leave us totally empty.

In these times, it seems impossible to continue in the spirituality of Everyday Stewardship. Graciousness, mindfulness, prayerfulness, gratitude, accountability — maintaining some semblance of these characteristics in our daily life feels not only overly optimistic, but totally impossible.

The Church gives us certain liturgical seasons that are meant to fill us up, almost like spiritual pit stops. Advent is one such season, and the Scriptural passages we reflect on at Mass during these four weeks are filled with images of nature defied. We see the dry steppe blooming. We see the weak made firm. We see the frightened made strong. We see the lame walk. We see the Virgin give birth.

If you think you don’t have anything left to give this Advent, think again. This is the season of miracles when what we thought was depleted brings new life.

— Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS