Tag Archives: Advent

Opening to the Grace of Advent

08 Sunday Dec 2019

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Reflect on the law of the Most High, and let his commandments be your constant study. Then he will enlighten your mind, and make you wise as you desire. Sirach 6:37

Last week we kicked off the new liturgical year in the Church with the beginning of Advent. The Church gives us Advent as a time to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ Child into the world. It is a time for silent contemplation of all God has done for us in sending His Son to save us from our sins. This is a stark contrast to the world around us that is feverishly shopping for gifts, preparing for holiday get-togethers, and focusing on the busyness of the season.

In the Church, liturgical years are called “years of grace.” All of the liturgies and prayers of Church take us through Jesus’ life, passion, death and resurrection, as well as other key moments in salvation history. This year, the new liturgical year began on December 1st. To make the new liturgical year spiritually great, a true “year of grace,” we need to predispose ourselves to receiving God’s grace.

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A Light to the Nations

01 Sunday Dec 2019

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“Lord…mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel.” Luke 22:29-32

Today marks the first Sunday in Advent and the start of a new liturgical year in the Church. While the world around us is feverishly shopping for gifts, preparing for holiday get-togethers, and focusing on the busyness of the season, the Church gives us Advent. This is a time to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ Child into the world. It is a time to slow down and contemplate the meaning of God becoming man to save us from sin and death. This is a time when we should be conforming our lives more completely to Christ. We are His instruments in the world. Through our witness, others will come to know His love and mercy.

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A Reflection for the Third Sunday of Advent: Christ at the Center of Your Family

15 Saturday Dec 2018

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Family Praying Catholic Church

The love between husband and wife…is the foundation and soul of the community of marriage and the family.[1]

As the journey toward Bethlehem continues, we shift our focus to making Christ the center of our families. We began the journey by focusing on the importance of making Jesus the center of our lives. Last week, we discussed making Jesus the center of our marriages.

Pope St. John Paul II in his epic work Familiaris Consortio (The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World), states that “the family finds in the plan of God the Creator and Redeemer not only its identity, what it is, but also its mission, what it can and should do…family, become what you are.”[2]

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A Reflection for the First Sunday in Advent: Encountering Jesus

02 Sunday Dec 2018

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Jesus Healing Blind Man_El Greco

Healing of the Man Born Blind, El Greco, c.1573

One thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see. John 9:25

In the account of Jesus healing the man born blind (see John 9), the blind man encounters Jesus and his life is forever changed. The Gospels are full of stories of people who encountered Jesus and had their lives turned upside down. Examples are Jesus Calling the First Disciples (Mt 18-22), The Call of Matthew (Mt 9:9), The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus (Mk 10:46-52), Jesus and Zacchaeus (Lk 19:1-10), Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (Jn 4:1-30), and The Conversion of Saul (Acts 9:1-22).

This Advent, we invite you on a journey toward Bethlehem where you will find the Christ child waiting for you to embrace Him. Along the way, you will discover the importance of encountering Jesus personally. You’ll also discover why it is important to make Jesus the center of your marriage and the center of your family. Finally, you’ll discover the mission He has called you to carry out in your neighborhood and the world.

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The Lord Is Coming!

24 Sunday Dec 2017

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The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Isaiah 35:1-2

On this the fourth Sunday of Advent and the Eve of the Nativity of the Lord, our prayer is that you realize the awesome gift God has given you through the birth of His Son. God loved you so much that He did not want sin to separate you from Him. He sent His beloved Son to die in your place so that you could spend eternity with Him. Spend time today contemplating all the Lord has done for you through this gift. May your heart be filled with joy at the coming of the Christ Child!

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More Precious than Silver or Gold

10 Sunday Dec 2017

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Today is the second Sunday in Advent. In a society that has lost sight of the true meaning of Christmas, many are already suffering burnout from all the pre-Christmas activities. The secular “Holiday” season kicks into gear earlier and earlier with each passing year. The reality of the materialistic Christmas is that people have forgotten the Christ Child. Christmas is not about buying the latest high tech gifts or winning the subdivision’s “Holiday Lights” competition. The four weeks leading up to Christmas are called Advent – from the Latin word Adventus – which means “coming.” This is a time not for the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping and office parties, but is a period of waiting in joyful expectation for the coming of the Messiah. Christmas has been hijacked by commercialism and the secular society; we have forgotten to wait in darkness for the coming of the Light into the world.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. John 1:1-5, 14

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Jesus Is Coming

03 Sunday Dec 2017

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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1

This is the first week in Advent. Are you spending time every day contemplating the coming of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Or are you frantically buying gifts, making plans, caught up in the whirlwind of activity that surrounds what our culture now calls “the holiday season?” In our neighborhood, Christmas decorations were up on some houses days before Thanksgiving.

Is this what Advent is all about? What exactly are we supposed to be doing during these four weeks set aside by the Church prior to Christmas? We are to be preparing for Christmas. Our activities however, should not be centered on the busyness of the season. Rather, we should be preparing for the coming of the Lord.

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