Day 14 #glow #光明 Sunday December 11, Third Sunday in Advent
‘As children of the light we have the opportunity to either squander God’s riches or to capitalize on them by being ministers of God’s light, life, and love for all people’.
身為光明之子的我們，有可能白白浪費上主所賜的財富，也可以善用那財富，做主的僕人，傳揚上帝的光明、生命、和博愛。
Tamsui Church, Taiwan
Day 13 #befriend #親近 Saturday December 10
‘On my journey of faith, Mary has become a kind of friend, and our shared experience of Jesus has become a sacred communion. He invites me into her presence with contagious joy. She points me to him with fresh insight and renewed simplicity’.
在信仰的旅程中，聖母馬利亞可說是我的朋友，我們有共同的體會，就是經歷耶穌，這已成為一種神聖的「共融」（共襄盛舉之交流）。耶穌奇妙地邀我進入馬利亞的喜樂心境；馬利亞則以清新的眼光和單純的心，指點我靠近耶穌。
Supermaster and his Superfriends at St. John’s University Student Fellowship Christmas Outreach on Thursday night!
Day 12 #promise #應許 Friday December 9
‘God gives us the responsibility of doing something ourselves about those faithless fears and worldly anxieties that are holding us back. We don’t have to do this alone. We have God’s promise of holding our hand and of helping us’.
上帝有時要我們負責，做一些自己全無把握，心生憂慮，甚至裹足不前的事。但我們無須「重擔一肩挑」獨力苦撐；我們有神的應許，祂會伸出援手給予必要的幫助。
Ah, Tanzania ~ a wonderful country of great promise. Pray for Tanzania today on this their Independence Day ~ December 9, 1961 ~ 55 today!
Day 11 #act #行動 Wednesday December 7
‘What will we do with the blessings God gives us in answer to prayer? When we pray and God heals us, what will we do with our restored health? When we cry out of our need and God meets that need, what will we do with the resources that have come to us in answer to our prayer?’
當我們的禱告蒙主垂聽，受到祝福的時候，我們如何回應？當我們求告上帝，因而得到醫治的時候，我們如何以這康復之身做出回饋？當我們呼求上主，而祂供應了我們的需求，這時，我們又會做些什麼，來回報祂垂聽我們的祈禱？
Photo taken at the Juming Museum 朱銘美術館
Day 10 #be #陪伴 Tuesday December 6
‘People in trauma need our presence and our prayer rather than our preaching. We will bear a much more comforting witness to someone facing deep loss by simply being with them, and in so doing, representing God Emmanuel – God with us – by our being with them. Not by our words, but by our presence’.
心理創傷的人不需要我們說教，卻需要我們陪伴和代禱。透過單純的陪伴，也能讓一個身陷絕境、苦楚不堪的人得到許多安慰。這種做法，正如同上帝的「以馬內利」（就是「神與我們同在」的意思）—-我們彼此陪伴，不是單靠嘴巴說說，乃是真心相陪、真實做伴！
Photo taken at the Juming Museum 朱銘美術館
Day 9 #commit #決志 Monday December 5
‘In Advent, reflect on a commitment you are considering accepting, or a commitment that needs renewing. In building the house of your life on the rock of God’s committed love, you may discover that you are called to commit; that you cannot claim the Life that God desires for you without it’.
降臨節期，你對於考慮接受的職務，或需要更新的決志，應加以反省。在上帝所應允「愛的磐石」上建造「生命之屋」，你也許發現，蒙主呼召，你正要決志。若無任何決志，實在無權要求上帝想賜予的那種「生命」啊！
Coming soon: the most amazing Rev. and Mrs. Hsu about to celebrate their 70 years of marriage, a Platinum Anniversary. Congratulations! That’s real commitment!
Day 8 #touch #觸摸 Second Sunday of Advent, Sunday December 4
‘As followers of Jesus, our responsibility is to listen for those calling out to us, and to respond in love by reaching out and touching the untouchable, reminding them by word and deed of their sacred identity’.
身為耶穌的信徒，我們的責任是聽取那呼求的聲音，並用愛心伸出援手，觸摸那不可捉摸的心靈，以他們神聖身分的言行來提醒他們。
Part of the Taichi Sculpture Series at the Juming Museum 朱銘美術館
Day 7 #play #扮演 Saturday December 3
‘Our Society’s rule states that “as our faith matures we come to recognize Christ’s hidden presence everywhere.” That’s because a maturing faith is paradoxically childlike. It is marked by openness to new ideas, points of view, and experiences, all of which enable us to see again our God, who knows neither time, nor place, nor limitation’.
我們的社會有一種說法：「當我們信仰成熟時，就能看出基督隱身各地，無所不在。」之所以如此說，是因為成熟的信仰，恰好就像尚未長大的孩子，有開放的心，易於接受新概念、新觀點、新體驗，而這些都使我們更容易與主重逢，遇見那不受時空限制的上帝。
Water Bamboo 茭白筍 grows everywhere in Sanzhi 三芝 and fun Water Bamboo people are everywhere too!
Day 6 #Light #顯明 Friday December 2
‘We will be a more luminous epiphany of the love of Christ not only when we love, but when we recognize Christ present in the loving hearts of others, whatever their beliefs or understanding of God’.
自己心中有愛時，固然能顯明基督的愛，就是看出別人充滿愛心，儼然有基督同在的時候（無論其信仰為何、對上帝認識有多少），我們依然可以彰顯基督的愛，藉以榮神益人。
Dr. Peter H. C. Ay, President of St. John’s University lights the first candle of this year’s Advent Wreath.
Day 5 #proclaim #宣告 Thursday December 1
‘The gospel Jesus proclaims is that in God’s economy everyone will be fed, but we have to be willing to share from the riches that God has given us. In order to do that we have to stop and recognize the goodness that God has given us in our lives’.
耶穌所宣告的福音是，在神的經綸中，每個人都能得到足夠的餵養，只是，我們必須樂意分享從神而來的財富。為了實現此理想，你我必須停下腳步，看清楚神在我們的生命中所賦予的美善。
Proclaim the Good News, today is Advent Calendar Day One ~ let the countdown begin!
Christmas is coming!
Catherine Lee 