Category Archives: Advent Reflections

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Advent 2023, Advent Reflections, Love

The Lord Is with you

Opening Prayer

Thank you, Lord, for your will. Thank you for teaching us to trusyou in all things. No matter how hard it may be some days, please continue to give us the faith to believe in your will as supreme for our lives. Amen.

First Reading: 2 Samuel 7:1–5, 8b–12, 14a, 16
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 89:2–3, 4–5, 27, 29
Second Reading: Romans 16:25–27
Gospel: Luke 1:26–38

Challenge for the Week

At the beginning of each day this week, offer this simple prayer with your whole heart: “May it be done according to your word.” In the evenings, take time to reflect on how that experience of offering your entire day went. Was it easy to offer your day to the Lord? Did
you forget? Did it change how you viewed the actions and events of your day? Each night, use these questions to spark a conversation with the Lord.

Journal

1. When is it especially hard to trust God’s plan for you? Why?
2. We are reminded at every Mass that the Lord is with us. When
is it hard to recognize that this is true? When is it easy?
3. How can you remind yourself of his profound presence in your
daily life?

Beyond Words

Imagine you are watching television and images of starving children come onto the screen. You are moved with pity and immediately decide to quit school or work to serve only the poorest, starving children. Everyone would praise you for such a noble sacrifice! You arrive at your new home and, after a short time, realize you weren’t built for a third world country, you don’t understand the culture or the language, and you are painfully homesick. Would you be angry with God for not blessing your spontaneous mission?

This analogy is imperfect, but it serves to make a point. If God calls you to a foreign mission field, he will also equip you with the desire, temperament, ability, knowledge, and passion to fulfill that vocation. If he doesn’t bless a mission of our own making, we can’t
get annoyed with him; he didn’t ask for the mission to begin with.

In this week’s first reading, King David sets out to do something amazing for God. The Lord has been dwelling in a tent for decades, and now David wants to rightfully honor the Lord. Before he can lay the first stone in a majestic temple, however, God teaches the powerful king a lesson.

God already had a plan for a perfect, everlasting temple and dwelling place not a house made by David but a new temple named Mary, wed to a man “from the house of David.” God’s plan, as St. Paul tells us in the second reading, was not reactionary; this plan was a “revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages.” God did not need David’s favors, only his obedience. In this way, Mary’s response to the angel is the perfect prayer: “May it be done to me according to your word.” If you really want to please God, don’t tell God what you’re going to do for him; ask what he desires for you.

Related Fact

We hear that King David’s palace is “a house of cedar.” Cedar was the highest-quality wood available and the material of choice for royalty and builders alike. Cedarwood was free of knots, was incredibly durable, and gave off an aroma that eliminated the need for air fresheners (which wouldn’t be invented for another millennium or two). Cedar also repelled insects with its smell and taste. It was resistant to the fungus and disease that left other types of wood rotting after only a few years, thus saving money on both exterminators and future remodels.

Behind the Scenes

The phrase “The Lord is with you” is not just a blessing. Many times, when we hear the promise that God’s divine presence will be with a person, danger follows. Before Moses takes on the mighty Pharaoh, God promises, “I will be with you” (Ex 3:12). As Joshua leads the Israelites into the battle of Jericho, God again promises, “I will be with you” (Jos 1:5). When Gideon takes on the Midianites and Amalekites, an angel promises him, “The Lord is with you” (Jgs 6:12). When David prepares to fight Goliath on an apparent suicide mission, King Saul utters, “The Lord be with you” (1 Sm 17:37). When the appointed time had come, the God of the universe sent an angel to a virgin in Nazareth. The angel greeted the handmaiden with the phrase, “The Lord is with you.”

Today, at four points within every single Mass, the priest utters this blessing/warning to us, the modern faithful, to remind us of God’s presence and of the beautiful danger and mystery of the Mass we are about to take part in and the world we are about to enter back into.

Word Play

The word handmaid used by Mary in St. Luke’s gospel is powerful on
many levels. From the Greek and, later, Old English, a handmaid is simply a female servant. Mary’s decision and consent to become the Mother of God is overshadowed not only by the Holy Spirit but also by her immense humility, recognizing and professing that, although she has been picked by God for this unfathomable honor, she is but a humble servant.

This excerpt from One Sunday at a Time: Preparing Your Heart for Weekly Mass (Cycle B) is reprinted with permission of Ave Maria Press.

Behind the Scenes

Advent 2023, Advent Reflections, Joy

The Holy Spirit is mysterious. Much like the wind, while the Holy Spirit cannot be physically “seen,” we can see the Holy Spirit’s power, effect, and presence in the world around us. Still, when we read St.Paul’s writings, we see that the early church’s comprehension and understanding of the Holy Spirit, his role, and his ultimate power are still being worked out by most.

This second reading, to the church in Thessalonica, is a perfect example. St. Paul uses the phrase “do not quench the Spirit,” but what does that mean exactly? Well, as is often the case in scripture, the answer lies in the verses that immediately precede and follow. If we
“pray without ceasing,” we will constantly be aware of the presence and movement of the Holy Spirit around us. Discernment becomes far easier if we are always looking for ways and places where the Spirit may be guiding us or speaking to us. If we “test everything,” it means we are discerning the situations before us to see if they fall in line with the gospel teachings. By retaining “what is good,” we ensure that we are living in line with the will of God for us and not being led astray by our own sinful inclinations or the enemy himself.

In his Commentary on St. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians, St. Thomas Aquinas further explains that when we do not discern through the Spirit’s guidance, if we fail to use our God-given gifts to achieve his will, or if we otherwise impede the movement of the
Holy Spirit in our lives or the lives of others, we have then quenched the Spirit.

This excerpt from One Sunday at a Time: Preparing Your Heart for Weekly Mass (Cycle B) is reprinted with permission of Ave Maria Press.

Related Fact

Advent 2023, Advent Reflections, Joy

This week’s responsorial psalm is not actually from Psalms but from the Gospel of Luke. Mary’s utterance—the Magnificat—is known as a canticle, which is a hymn or chant (usually from scripture) that acts as a song of praise. Very rarely does the responsorial psalm at Mass (which follows the first reading) ever come from a book other than Psalms.

This excerpt from One Sunday at a Time: Preparing Your Heart for Weekly Mass (Cycle B) is reprinted with permission of Ave Maria Press.

Beyond Words

Advent 2023, Advent Reflections, Joy

Do most modern Christians really want to be holy, or are they content to be “good enough”? Do you really seek holiness, or do you still feel as though you can keep one foot in two camps? If you really, truly desire holiness, is there anything you can think of in your life that you could/should change?

What’s stopping you?

This week’s readings are a gut check for the Christian soul. In the second reading, St. Paul gives us very practical suggestions to aid us in our daily pursuits of holiness. We’re told to rejoice, to pray, to give thanks, to test everything, and to retain only what is good. We’re warned against quenching the Spirit, despising hard prophe-cies, and accepting any evil. Why? Because God doesn’t just want us to be holy—he wants us to be perfectly holy.

The initial reaction to that message is usually, “Ouch. Can’t I just be ‘good enough,’ God?That’s still better than most!” Isaiah answers this question in the first reading. This is not a rags to riches story. God doesn’t just want to make small strides with us; God wants to take us from rags and ruins and make us royalty. We are the poor, the brokenhearted, the captive, and the imprisoned. And God wants to give us a robe, a crown, and jewels. How will God accomplish such an audacious task? By sending us the only one who can rescue us: himself. We can be made perfectly holy by virtue of our relationship and intimacy with the One who is perfect holiness. This is why we have reason to rejoice on this Gaudete (Latin for “rejoice”) Sunday of Advent. Why settle for good when you can be perfect? Say goodbye to the rags, for the Lord is offering you the whole kingdom.

This excerpt from One Sunday at a Time: Preparing Your Heart for Weekly Mass (Cycle B) is reprinted with permission of Ave Maria Press.

Journal

Advent 2023, Advent Reflections, Joy

1. Do you ever find yourself carrying a “woe is me” or “poor me” attitude? What holds you back from recognizing that you are capable of greatness?

2. What is one area of your life in which you struggle to see yourself as capable of greatness? Self-image? Ability? Talent? Faith? Fill in the blank: “I struggle to see myself as a great __________.”

3. Right underneath that line in your journal, write the following: “With the Holy Spirit, I am capable of greatness.” Then cross out the line above.

This excerpt from One Sunday at a Time: Preparing Your Heart for Weekly Mass (Cycle B) is reprinted with permission of Ave Maria Press.

Challenge for the Week

Advent 2023, Advent Reflections, Joy

Anytime this week you are tempted to think that you are not capable of something good or something God is calling you to, take a deep breath and ask him to intervene. Ask him to send his Holy Spirit upon you to help you see clearly that you are capable of greatness to see yourself as he sees you. He will give you what you need to accomplish the task he has set before you.

This excerpt from One Sunday at a Time: Preparing Your Heart for Weekly Mass (Cycle B) is reprinted with permission of Ave Maria Press.

Third Sunday of Advent – Perfectly Holy

Advent 2023, Advent Reflections, Joy

Opening Prayer

Lord, you are perfect. You are good. You are true. You created us in your image, and you desire us to see that we were made for friendship with you. Please help me to recognize that the path you have me on is the path to holiness perfect holiness in heaven with you. Amen.

First Reading: Isaiah 61:1–2a, 10–11
Responsorial Psalm:
Luke 1:46–48, 49–50, 53–54
Second Reading:
1 Thessalonians 5:16–24
Gospel: John 1:6–8, 19–28

This excerpt from One Sunday at a Time: Preparing Your Heart for Weekly Mass (Cycle B) is reprinted with permission of Ave Maria Press.

Word Play

Advent 2023, Advent Reflections, Peace

“Hark, the __________ angels sing!” What’s the first word that pops
into your head? Herald. We sing it, but do we really understand the word? A herald is an official messenger who brings important news. Isaiah uses the term to empower and challenge his readers (and us) to share this Good News of God’s redeemer, coming in power.

This excerpt from One Sunday at a Time: Preparing Your Heart for Weekly Mass (Cycle B) is reprinted with permission of Ave Maria Press.

Behind the Scenes

Advent 2023, Advent Reflections, Peace

This gospel passage featuring John the Baptist is clearly designed to evoke images of the mighty prophet Elijah during his earthly ministry. Where does John the Baptist baptize? The Jordan River. Where did the prophet Elijah ascend into heaven by chariot?
The Jordan River. What does 2 Kings tell us Elijah wears? A haircloth and leather belt. What does St. Mark list as John the Baptist’s wardrobe of choice? A haircloth and leather belt.

The allusions are not accidental and can easily be taken as literal (as many scholars attest to being valid). Animal skin pelts were normal and customarily worn by prophets during Old Testament times. Identifying John the Baptist in the same light as Elijah put the “modern” prophet and cousin of our Lord on par with historic heavyweights of Jewish history.

At the same time, this scene taking place at the Jordan River
would have evoked memories of not only Elijah but also Joshua and
the Israelites boldly marching through on their way to Jericho as well
as the healing of Naaman the Syrian from leprosy. These famous and historic stories of deliverance spoke of God’s faithfulness and provided the perfect backdrop for the heralding of God’s dawning salvation.

This excerpt from One Sunday at a Time: Preparing Your Heart for Weekly Mass (Cycle B) is reprinted with permission of Ave Maria Press.