First Sunday of Advent

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen.

Jesus came into the world through the Incarnation as a little child. He came to proclaim the Good News, save souls, and prepare the world for his next coming. As this Christmas season begins, we would do well to keep in mind both the First and the Second Coming. The first because through it we were freed from sin and saved from death. The second because it promises everlasting life and the unfathomable experience of being in God’s Divine Presence forever. In both cases, God will increase us, strengthen our hearts, and make us holy. The Incarnation was the beginning of our Christian faith, the Second Coming will be its pinnacle. We can only hope the way we spend our lives will lead us to Hosanna in the Highest and a life full of spiritual blessings and saving graces.

In what ways are we preparing ourselves for the coming of Christmas? How can we also prepare ourselves for the Second Coming? How can we help others to prepare for and anticipate these spiritual events?

O Lord, strengthen our hearts and make them holy.

Amen.

First Sunday of Advent

Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

In this season of Advent, we are all called to prepare ourselves for the celebration of the coming of Christ into the world on Christmas. However, we are also preparing ourselves for the Second Coming of Christ as well. Both the Incarnation and Second Coming are central beliefs in our faith. They are the bookends to what it means to be Christian. It is our belief in the Incarnation that is the bedrock of our faith. It reveals to us a loving Savior, who was willing to suffer, die, and be buried for us so that we could rise again with him. It is the Second Coming that gives us hope in a merciful judgment at the end of time and the possibility of eternal life spent with God if we follow His commandments, teachings, and inspirations. Taken together these two revelations provide us with the greatest expressions of love we will ever experience. And it is this love we are all called to imitate throughout our lives by being there for God and others, acting with love toward God and His children, and showing mercy toward those who have trespassed against us.

How can we prepare ourselves to celebrate the gift of the Incarnation at Christmas? Are we preparing ourselves for the Second Coming by living good and faithful lives? How can we give thanks to God for these great gifts, both past and future?

O Lord, help us to stay awake and prepare a place for you in our hearts.

Amen.

Second Sunday of Advent

John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

Advent is a time of preparation and one of the things we are called to prepare is our hearts. We need to make them ready to receive the Lord and make straight the paths of our lives. There are many obstacles in our way, the primary of these being our own sinfulness. Our pride, greed, lust, wrath, sloth, envy, and gluttony get in the way. The narrow road to salvation is surrounded by temptations that will lead us astray. If we truly wish to prepare the way of the Lord in our own lives, then we will need to overcome our sins by building up good habits and filling in our lives with virtues. Our road to heaven starts with God’s Mercy, but we also need to walk that narrow path with contrite hearts and spirits of repentance.

Are we preparing the way of the Lord in our lives? What are we doing to make straight our paths to Heaven? What are the obstacles, sins, distractions, imperfections, etc., which are keeping us from doing God’s Will?

O Lord, help us to prepare our hearts for you.

Amen.

Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.

It sounds so easy for Peter, Andrew, James, and John to leave everything behind and follow Jesus, but how many of us would do the same? We have so many responsibilities, doubts, fears, and distractions that it’s almost impossible to think of leaving them all behind and starting over with Christ. However, sometimes in our lives God calls us to move out of our comfort zones and leave everything we known in order to do His Will. We can always deny Jesus by claiming we already do this or that, or have too much on our plates, or make some other excuse to keep ourselves from being led to where we do not want to go. These moments of selfishness tempt us away from God’s Divine Plan. We must recognize that in order to be true disciples of Christ, we need to be willing to follow him away from everything we know and hold dear. We must be willing to sacrifice ourselves. Otherwise we will never reach our full potential as Christians and we will be the lesser for it.

What is keeping us from following Jesus? Are we willing to sacrifice ourselves for God and His children? How are we preparing ourselves to be fishers of men?

O Lord, give us the grace to leave everything and follow you.

Amen.

First Sunday of Advent

There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.

If we live our lives in accordance with Jesus’ teachings, we will have nothing to fear at the end of our lives or at the end of time. We will be able to stand erect and raise our head, confident in our redemption. What a wonderful gift God has given us in Jesus and his Good News. He has shown us the way to our salvation. It is by becoming more Christ-like that we will be able to prepare ourselves for the trials and tribulations of life and be able to come out of them with hearts forged in the fires of suffering and tempered with love and mercy. We do not need to be afraid of the end because it shall also be the beginning of our lives with God in Heaven as long as we have lived a good life.

Are we afraid of the end of our lives or the end times? If so, then why are we fearful and what can we do to change our fears into hopes? Are we willing to have our hearts tested, purified, and cleansed through whatever means God chooses?

O Lord, may we stand erect and raise our heads as we wait in hope for your coming.

Amen.

Fourth Wednesday in Advent

In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

The Lord is like a lantern in our hands. He shows us just enough to take the next step on the way of peace. Sometimes we hide this lantern or do not follow the path he presents us. We think in our selfish pride that we can find our own way or make our own path, but these only lead to darkness and the shadow of death. God’s tender compassion for us all is the reason for the light He grants us and it is our humility and faithfulness that allow us to accept it. It takes a great deal of trust to walk the way of Jesus Christ. We cannot see where we are going and fear and doubt can creep into our hearts if we are not vigilant. However, if we let go and let God light our next footstep we will be rewarded with a Heavenly Dawn with our God.

Where is God’s Light currently leading us? Are we looking for it or patient enough to wait for it to shine a light on the way God wants us to go? What are the things in our lives which blind us to the light and what can we do to get rid of them?

O Lord, open our eyes so they can see the way of peace you have prepared for us.

Amen.

Fourth Tuesday in Advent

What, then, will this child be? For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.

When we were born we received a name from our parents, but the graces of our life from God. The people who witnessed our birth might have wondered what we might be, but God knows. Some might have seen us as an unexpected accident or a prayed for blessing, but all of us came into this world with the Lord being with us. His hand is there to support us in our trials, to raise us up when we fall, and to squeeze our hands when we are in need of consolation.

What will we be in the eyes of God? What can we do in light of our gifts, talents, and situations to be the best children we can be? How will we be remembered, not only by our family and friends, but more importantly our Savior?

O Lord, may we be willing to let you guide us with your Providential Hand so we can be your good and faithful servants.

Amen.

Fourth Monday in Advent

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.

The Magnificat expresses in this one line what we are all called to do in our lives. We are asked to magnify the greatness of God through our words and works and rejoice in the salvation He is offering us through Jesus Christ. We are reminded by her words that our vocation whatever it might be needs to be grounded in God and have Him as its source, center, and summit.

Do our souls proclaim the greatness of the Lord in our daily actions? Do our spirits rejoice in God our savoir even when things are most difficult for us? What are the things we do each day to remind ourselves of our vocation to proclaim and rejoice in the God News?

O Lord, we want to magnify your Greatness and celebrate your Saving Grace, inspire us to do so in the best way possible and according to our gifts and talents.

Amen.

Fourth Sunday in Advent

Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.

From the moment of our birth to our death, we are called to be humble servants of the Lord. However, we often forget this calling when faced with the trials and temptations of the world. We slowly but surely become servants of no one, but ourselves. This Sunday before Christmas God gives us a helpful reminder of what our vocation is supposed to be. He does this by presenting us with Mary, the Model of Humble Service to God and to all His children. She is the mother of Christ and our spiritual mother. She shows how to put our trust in God and live according to His Word and our Lord, Jesus Christ. If we think about it each day in our lives is a repeat of the Annunciation, only we are in the place of Mary. We have the free will to choose God’s Will or not… to make our lives a living fiat or not.

How do we respond to these moments? Do we wholeheartedly say so be it when God calls us to do something in our lives? Or do we say, no or not now and deny God’s Will in favor of our own?

O Lord, we want to be your humble servants and to live according to your Word. Please inspire us to become living fiats to your Will.

Amen.

Third Saturday in Advent

Do not be afraid.

Although we might not want to admit it we are often afraid of something in our lives. It might be a bully, a bill collector, a loss of our health, the death of a loved one, or any other problems caused by our choices or out of our control. These anxious moments offer a choice whenever we are faced with them: fight or flight. We can let our fears overwhelm us and run away from the problem or we can stand up to them and face them down. This is much easier said than done, but if we truly believe in Jesus Christ, then we have no excuse to be afraid as long as we chose to do the right thing.

When was the last time you were afraid and what was it? Did you pray about it and seek strength from your faith? How can we learn to be not afraid from this and other moments of fear in our lives?

O Lord, we are fearful, make us brave in you. We are weak, make us strong by you. We are running away, make us stand with you.

Amen.

Third Friday in Advent

He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.

This is the mission of John the Baptist as foretold by the angel Gabriel and it is a similar mission to the one we are called to undertake in our own lives. We are asked to turn hearts, to bring understanding of righteousness, and prepare a people fit for the Lord. We do this by our thoughts, words, and works and by living out our prophetic mission as Christians. Not forcing our faith on others, but rather being a model of Christian love, mercy, and grace for those we meet along the way. We should pray each day to be more prophetic in our actions, living sacramental signs of God’s Will. When we do this we too will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at our birth.

What are we willing to do today to live out our prophetic mission of bearing the Gospel to others? Do we live up to our Christian names when we are given the opportunity to go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah? Why is it so easy for us to talk about the mundane world and its distractions, but when it comes to giving voice to our faith we are silent?

O Lord, grant us the voice to speak your Words and do your Works so you might be known by our family, friends, and neighbors through our love of them.

Amen.

Third Thursday in Advent

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”

God is with us. In the midst of our trials this simple statement can be hard for us to accept as the truth, however, God is always there for us even in our dark nights when all consolation is lost to us. It is in these moments that our faith is tested the most by the temptation of doubt. We ask ourselves why God has allowed evil to befall us, especially when we try to be good people. What we fail to realize is that Jesus Christ is with us in these moments of suffering constantly offering us His Strength to bear us to the end. He does this precisely because he went through the same dark night on the Mt. of Olives. He is truly with us in our agony because He too has suffered evil in spite of leading a good and holy life. He chose to be with us in not only our joys and life, but also our pains and death.

When we are suffering do we suffer with Christ or do we selfishly suffer alone? When we come across someone else who is in pain do we give comfort to them even in the midst of our own trials or do we allow our pain to blind us? What are things we can do to remind ourselves that God is with us even when we are most tempted to think He is not?

O Lord, you are always with us, show us how to be with you and all your children whether we are in joy or suffering.

Amen.

Third Wednesday in Advent

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

The lineage of Jesus Christ is laid out for us today from Abraham through Joseph, Jesus’ adoptive father. Family was and is an important part of what it means to be human and this recounting of his ancestors reminds us of both his humanity and his place in the Providential Plan of God. We see all the generations of men, both good and bad, who the Lord has used to bring about the Word Made Flesh.

How important is family to us? What are things we can do to show our family how much we love and appreciate them, even if they are sometimes hard to live with? Can you see God’s hand at work in your ancestors and how their choices have lead you to where you are today?

O Lord, help us to appreciate your providential plan in our lives and led us to where you need us to be.

Amen.

Third Tuesday in Advent

Which of the two did his father’s will?

The two brothers in this reading reflect upon our relationship with God. Sometimes we are the first son and we tell God, I will not do this or that, but in the end we do it either out of a sense of duty or love. Other times we are the second son and we tell God, Yes, sir, but in the end we let our fears or selfishness stand in the way of doing what we know is right. What a marvelous grace it is to be able to answer Yes, sir to the Lord and do what God wills us to do.

Which of these two brothers are we most like? How often do we allow God to lead us where we do not want to go, but need to be? What can we do to make our Yes, sir mean yes?

O Lord, help us to make our lives living Yes’s to your Divine Will.

Amen.

Third Monday in Advent

By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?

Authority has always been important for us as human beings. When we have questions that need to be answered, we do not ask anyone, but rather we ask those whom we believe have authoritative experience with the issue at hand. When someone of equal or lesser status tells us to do something we may or may not do it, but if someone of higher authority tells us to do it, we tend to drop what we are doing and take up the task. Even those of us who tend to buck authority still have the ability to recognize it when we see it. There is something about it which draws or repulses us like magnetic poles. When the chief priests and elders question where Jesus’ authority comes from they question everything about him, and so he turns the question back on them by asking if John the Baptist’s baptism was of heavenly or earthly origin. This is what they are asking of Jesus. Are you a heavenly prophet or earthly man? When they cannot answer about John, Jesus refuses to answer them because if they cannot recognize John’s origin, then how can they do so with Christ’s?

In what areas of our lives do we question Jesus’ authority over us? Do we spend enough time each day recognizing the heavenly origins of the people, places, and things around us? What authority has God given us and how do we use it to bring about His Will?

O Lord, you have authority over us all. Grant that we might not question this authority, but rather learn how to be humble servants to you in all things.

Amen.

Third Sunday in Advent

I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, “Make straight the way of the Lord.”

How often in our lives have we been asked: Who are you? What do you have to say for yourself? These questions strike at the heart of our existence. They force us to evaluate ourselves and our relationship with God and others. John the Baptist says he is not the Christ, Elijah, or the Prophet, he is a simple voice crying out to the world, Make straight the way of the Lord. We too need to realize that we are not called to be the Messiah, we cannot save ourselves. Only God can do that. The best we can do is to make ourselves into prophetic signs of the love, mercy, and grace the Holy Trinity offers to all His children.

Who are we? What do we have to say for ourselves? Have we spent our lives making straight the way of the Lord for others and ourselves?

O Lord, grant us the thoughts, voice, and works we need to bear you into the world even in the midst of its daily trials.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr

Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased.  So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.

Every day we come face-to-face with the Son of Man made flesh in our family, friends, and neighbors. We are given the opportunity to love and serve Him through the members of His Spiritual Body. We also are called to be Christ for others. It is especially difficult to be and recognize the Christ within others and ourselves when we are faced with troubles, but this is when we most need to open our eyes and the eyes of others. Otherwise the Son of Man will suffer at our hands.

Do we do whatever we please in our lives or do we become living Christs for others and ourselves? How can we be more aware of the Son of Man in our neighbors and treat them as they deserve even when it is most difficult to do so? What can we do to be a more perfect Eucharistic presence to all whom we meet?

O Lord, help us recognize you in others and do whatever pleases you, not just ourselves.

Amen.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

We are blessed to have a model of holiness in our Holy Mother who shows us how to bear the Word Made Flesh in our daily lives. Mary comes to Elizabeth to help her in her time of need even as she prepares for her own labor of love.  She seeks to be of service to her cousin just as she seeks to be a servant to us. She provides us with an exemplar of what it means to be a servant of others even in the midst of our own trials.

How do we recognize the mother of our Lord in our day to day actions? How do we imitate her servant presence in our own lives? Are we able to put aside our own concerns when someone is in need?

O Lord, make us into loving servants of your Divine Will and help us learn from our Holy Mother how to best make ourselves into eucharistic presences to all whom we meet each day.

Amen.

Second Thursday in Advent

There has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

It is difficult to think of ourselves as being called to be greater than John the Baptist, but that is exactly what God asks of us. John the Baptist could only proclaim the Kingdom of heaven according to the Law, but we are able to proclaim it through the lens of Jesus’ life. How blessed we are to have the gift of Christ’s sacrifice to model our lives on.

How do we strive to be greater than John the Baptist? Do we live not only by the laws of nature, but also of our Divine Master? Do we have ears that not only hear the Word of God, but listen to it, and then live it?

O Lord, help us to proclaim the Kingdom of heaven with every thought, word, and work of our life so that we might one day join you at the feast of all your saints.

Amen.

Second Wednesday in Advent

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.

What a fine thing it is to rest in the Lord. He tells us the truth when He says his yoke is easy and his burden light, but they are only so when we allow him to carry us. When we try to carry the yoke by ourselves and go our own way we find everything in this life heavier, more burdensome, and we stumble and fall into imperfection and sin. However, as long as we allow ourselves to be tied by bonds of love to our God he will bear us along the Heavenly Way of salvation.

Do we remember to bind ourselves to Christ each day through prayers and works? When we fall into sin do we struggle to lift ourselves off the ground or do we seek the helping hand of God? How often do we take a moment to simply rest in our God?

O Lord, help us to have hearts meek and humble enough to yoke ourselves to you and rest in your arms for ever and ever.

Amen.