RECORDING: “Intentional Living” – Advent Reflection With Darwin Bishop Charles Gauci


Recording link: Reflection with Bishop Charles Gauci – 14 Dec 2024 – Intentional Living
On 14th December 2024, Most Reverend Charles Gauci DD, Bishop of Darwin and the Northern Territory, Conventual Chaplain Ad Honorem, led Order of Malta members and aspirants in an online Advent reflection upon “Intentional living”.
Bishop Charles implored us to carve time in our busy lives to pause and reflect upon our 4 key relationships with:
- God
- Am I mindful that God loves me unconditionally and wishes the best for me?
- Do I stop and pray, to share with God?
- Do I find stillness to listen to God speaking with me? Perhaps through Adoration?
- Can I find 5 minutes, or even 10 minutes, or longer, each day, to sit with God?
- Self
- Virtue is nurtured through healthy habits. What healthy habits can I prioritise more in my daily life?
- What negative habits or ego-driven addictions do I need to ‘weed out’ of my day?
- Others
- Do I share the joy, mercy, and hope of God wherever I go, with all who I meet?
- How do I serve the sick and poor, or engage people in need?
- During Advent, is there someone who I need to reach out to and forgive?
- Is there someone who I need to humbly seek forgiveness from?
- Creation
- God blessed us as Stewards of Creation. Do I take the time to appreciate creation as God’s first revelation?
- How can I nurture my natural environment?
- When do I find time to walk or sit in nature, and reflect upon the miniature and the magnificent?
- How can quiet time in nature help to restore my own perspective amid the stresses of life?
May intentional living through our Advent journey help us to encounter the deeper reality of God’s love. Inspired by St Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:9, may we grow to see what no eye has seen, hear what no ear has heard, and experience what no mind has conceived. For as St Augustine reflected, our hearts are restless until we rest in Christ, whose birth we shall soon celebrate.
This was the second time this year that Bishop Charles generously led an online reflection for our Order. All members, candidates, volunteers, family, and friends are welcome to share this formation series, “An Hour of Reflection with a Chaplain” of the Order of Malta.