2016 Dec-Jan | Surprise!

From the Editor

One of the most wonderful things about children is their surprisability. It’s so easy to surprise them, and their expressions of anticipation, followed by shock and glee, are a joy to behold! Maybe that’s one reason everyone loves Christmas; it’s a golden opportunity to delight and surprise each other.

God is always pressing in, just waiting and wanting to surprise us with gifts of grace, especially in this period from Advent to New Year’s when we are so often busy and distracted. Sometimes the happiness God wants to give us is not prettily presented. It first presents as an ongoing hardship or acute crisis that is guaranteed to capture our attention. Think of St Joseph’s sudden problem of Mary’s surprise pregnancy. Or the family tensions we might have to deal with afresh each Christmas time.

Though we are grown- ups, and have lost much of the easy suprisability of youth, God prepares awesome surprises for us. We appreciate them better if we’ve been looking out for them.