Advent with St. John Henry Newman
Reflections by Fr. Jason Smith, LC
Monica, a Consecrated Woman of Regnum Christi, was walking the Camino in Spain when she suddenly ran into a woman from Chile who had been in her ECYD group twenty years earlier. Now, a mother with a daughter of her own, she was overjoyed. “I wondered how I could ever find you again—and here you are! I wanted to thank you for the gift of faith you gave me.”
The best surprises are like that—moments of grace that arrive when we least expect them.
St. John Henry Newman writes: “Yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. . . . At midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him.”
God loves to arrive this way: suddenly, unexpected, but never by accident. His surprises are not interruptions but invitations—gentle awakenings that remind us that the Bridegroom’s presence is never far from the ordinary paths we walk.
Advent is the season of readiness. We don’t know when or how Jesus will cross our path today—it might be in a quiet moment of prayer, in the kindness of a stranger, or in the face of someone we thought we’d lost to time. The key is not to predict his coming, but to live alert, open, and grateful when he appears.
With hearts alert to God’s presence in our lives, let us pray: “Come, Lord Jesus.”
Reflect: When has God surprised you with a moment of grace? How might Advent help you remain open to his presence in the ordinary paths you walk today?
In this Advent series, Fr. Jason Smith draws from his personal experiences and St. John Henry Newman’s own Advent sermons, connecting themes like reverence, awe, and intimately encountering Christ in the simplicity and stillness of ordinary life. Pray with us on The Regnum Christi App, sign up to have each day’s reflection delivered to your inbox every morning, or follow the RC Spirituality Center on Instagram and Facebook.
Ordained in 2006, Fr. Jason has served as a Legionary priest throughout the US, primarily in New York and Michigan. His newest role has called him south, as the superior of the Houston community of the Legionaries of Christ.
