FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT: CALL TO JUSTICE

Reflection

The season of Advent, in our southern hemisphere, has a strong appeal to many of us. It has something to do with the warmth and light of the summer sun, the end of the civil year, the beginning of a new Church season, and the anticipation of Christmas as we celebrate CHRIST: Christ having come, Christ present with us and Christ coming at the end of time.

Intercessions

In this First Week of Advent what do we hear in the Church’s readings?

We hear a Call to Justice:

“Beat your swords into ploughshares and your spears into pruning hooks,” saysIsaiah (2:4)

In our times the call is to melt down weapons of war and beat them into instruments of peace.

In our times the call is to smooth rugged and hilly ways of deceit and injustice into the ways of Christ.

In our times the call is to enhance the earth and not rape it.

In our times the call is to walk as people of light in peaceful relationships with each other.

Concluding Prayer

Click here to listen to the Concluding Prayer and Blessing

Emmanuel, God-with-us,

amid the clamour of our violence

your Word of truth resounds;

upon a world made dark by sin

the Sun of Justice casts his dawning rays,

Keep your household watchful

aware of the hour in which we live.

Hasten the advent of that day

when the sounds of war will be for ever stilled,

the darkness of evil scattered,

and all your children gathered into one.

We ask this through him whose coming is certain,

whose day draws near:

your Son our Lord Jesus Christ

who lives for ever and ever. Amen. 

(Adapted from: Sunday Celebrations of the Word)

Blessing

May our Advent God bless the work of all involved in the Good Samaritan ministries in the Philippines.

May God bring hope to all who cry for justice.

May the nearness of God bless us now and always. Amen.

Refrain

Text: Erica R Marshall 1997. Sing the Seasons of Liturgy and Life.

Tune: Maranatha. Erica R Marshall © Willow Connection

All rights reserved. Reprinted under One License#A-640636

Resources used:

Diane Bergant. The Word for Every Season. Reflections on the Lectionary Readings. Paulist Press, USA 2010.

Verna A. Holyhead. Building on Rock; Welcoming the word in Year A. Australia, John Garratt Publishing 2006.

Flor McCarthy. New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies, Year A. Dublin, Dominican Publications, 2019.

Barbara Reid. Abiding Word, Sunday Reflections for Year A. LTP, Collegeville, Minnesota 2012.

SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT: CALL TO REPENT  AND LAMENT

Introduction

This second week of our countdown marks journey towards our celebration of the coming of the Lord – not just for his coming in Bethlehem and at the end of time, but for all the various ways and guises in which he comes into our lives every day.

Lighting of Candle

Click here to view the lighting of the 2nd candle

Click here to listen to the explanation below

This Week 2, we light the Candle of Repentance — a sign that we are called to turn our hearts back to God. Repentance is more than regret; it is a change of direction, producing the good fruit of kindness, humility, and justice.

Reflection

In this  second week of Advent we meet John the Baptist, the disturbing prophet who addresses us in fiery words, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.” John says: name the barren places of your heart, lament your complacency, your mistreatment of people, your moral superiority. Repent and lament of such behaviours; change your way of acting. Rather, produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance, be people of kindness, seek forgiveness, long for God’s reign in your heart.

Intercessions

In this Second Week of Advent what do we hear in the Church’s readings?

We hear a Call to Repentance: “If you are repentant , produce the appropriate fruit.”                                                                                                              Matthew 3:9

We pray:

Give us the grace to lay the axe of conversion to the roots of any arrogant superiority or intolerance in our hearts.

Give us the grace to do deeds of peacemaking in our families, neighbourhoods and local areas.

Give us the grace to ensure an equitable and sustainable distribution of earth’s food and resources among people and creatures.

Give us the grace to appreciate our interdependence with all people, creatures, and the universe.

Concluding Prayer

Click here to listen to the Concluding Prayer and Blessing

Your kingdom is at hand,

O God of justice and peace;

you made John the Baptist its herald

to announce the coming of your Christ,

who baptises with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Give us a spirit of repentance

to make us worthy of the kingdom.

Let complacency yield to conviction,

that in our day justice will flourish

and conflict give way

to the peace you bestow in Christ.

Grant this through him whose coming is certain,

whose day draws near:

your Son our Lord Jesus Christ

who lives for ever and ever. AMEN.                

Sunday Celebrations of the Word and Hours

Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

Blessing

May our Advent God bless the work of all involved in the Good Samaritan ministries in Kiribati.

May God bless us with repentant hearts.

May the nearness of God bless us now and always. Amen.

Refrain

Text: Erica R Marshall 1997

Tune: Maranatha. Erica R Marshall © Willow Connection

All rights reserved. Reprinted under One License#A-640636

Resources used:

Diane Bergant. The Word for Every Season. Reflections on the Lectionary Readings. Paulist Press, USA 2010.

Verna A. Holyhead. Building on Rock; Welcoming the word in Year A. Australia, John Garratt Publishing 2006.

Flor McCarthy. New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies, Year A. Dublin, Dominican Publications, 2019.

Barbara Reid. Abiding Word, Sunday Reflections for Year A. LTP, Collegeville, Minnesota 2012.

THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT: CALL TO REJOICE

Introduction

We light our third candle, the colour of rose, the colour of joyful anticipation marking the third week of this journey towards our celebration of the coming of God in the flesh.

Lighting of Candle

Click here to view the lighting of the 3rd candle

Click here to listen to the explanation below

This Week 3, we light the Candle of Joy – the colour of rose. A sign that even in uncertainty, we can find hope in God’s presence among us. Joy is not the absence of hardship; it is the deep assurance that God is at work, healing and renewing our world.

Reflection

“Rejoice” is the proclamation of this third week of Advent!

John the Baptiser is in Herod’s prison and full of doubts about Jesus: Who are you?

In response Jesus reminds him of the fruits of his ministry:

The blind see again,

the lame now dance for joy,

the lepers can now kiss their loved ones,

the deaf are startled by a bird song,

the dead are raised to life.

What is coming to pass, says Jesus, is the good news of the Kingdom of God.

Are we, like Jesus, good news among the poor and needy and frail of this world?

Are we working to transform our world to bring about this Kingdom?

To those with fears, anxieties, disappointments and sadness can we bring joy, hope?

Intercessions

In our third week of Advent, we hear the call: Rejoice!

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! The Lord is near!”              

May I bring joy to someone weakened by life’s burdens.

May I bring joy to an older person.

May I bring joy to a child.

May I bring joy to a colleague.

May I bring joy to a family member.

May I bring joy to someone working for justice.

May I bring joy to the Kingdom.

May I bring joy to all those being served in Good Samaritan ministries.

Concluding Prayer

Click here to listen to the Concluding Prayer and Blessing

Joy and gladness, O God

accompany the advent of your reign in Jesus.

Wherever the good news is proclaimed,

feeble limbs are made steady,

fearful hearts grow strong

and your wounded world begins to make a joyful noise. 

Give us strength as witnesses,

that we may go and tell others what we see and hear.

Give us patience for waiting

until the harvest of your kingdom,

when the return of your Son

will make your saving work complete.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Your Son, who was, who is and who is to come,

and lives and reigns with you for ever and ever.

Amen.                                                                 

Adapted from Prayers for Sundays and Seasons

Peter J. Scagnelli. LTP 1998

Blessing

May our Advent God bless the work of all involved in the ministry to the women and children  of the Good Samaritan Inn.

May God bring hope to all who cry for justice and joy.

May the nearness of God bless us now and always. Amen.

Refrain

Text: Erica R Marshall 1997

Tune: Maranatha. Erica R Marshall © Willow Connection

All rights reserved. Reprinted under One License#A-640636

Resources used:

Diane Bergant. The Word for Every Season. Reflections on the Lectionary Readings. Paulist Press, USA 2010.

Verna A. Holyhead. Building on Rock; Welcoming the word in Year A. Australia, John Garratt Publishing 2006.

Flor McCarthy. New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies, Year A. Dublin, Dominican Publications, 2019.

Barbara Reid. Abiding Word, Sunday Reflections for Year A. LTP, Collegeville, Minnesota 2012.

FOURTH WEEK OF ADVENT: CALL TO GODLIKE ACTION

Lighting of Candle

Click here to view the lighting of the 4th candle

Click here to listen to the explanation below

This Week 4, we light the Candle of Love — a sign that God is with us and calls us to act with courage and compassion, remembering that our lives are an Advent; they are a time of waiting, listening and hoping, a time of openness to the unimaginable gift of God.

Joseph, faced with fear and uncertainty, chose empathy. By protecting Mary and welcoming Emmanuel, he mirrored God’s own love — a love that enters our struggles and restores dignity.

Reflection

The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary …”

When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took his wife into his home.

Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, “God is with us.”                                                                                                        

Matthew 1:18-24

This Sunday’s gospel brings to the fore the situation of Joseph, whose culture had little tolerance for a formally betrothed woman, who was found to be with child by someone other than her intended. Joseph turns empathetically towards Mary. Only when he can make her the centre of his attention, allowing himself to feel her distress, can he make the divinely directed choice that will uphold her honour at the price of his own.

In so doing, Joseph mirrors the divine action of empathy with humankind manifested in the incarnation. This is Godlike action: God rectifies broken relationship with humanity by becoming one with us. Joseph goes far beyond what the law requires and displays an ability to hear with his heart, the cries of his beloved, Mary, and the voice of our empathetic God.

Intercessions

In this Fourth week of Advent we pray:

Break through our darkness with your Advent light.

Show us how to be empathetic.

Sustain us by your ageless love.

Uphold and prosper negotiations for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Restore in all people a respect for and protection of life that includes the unborn,

the afflicted, and the elderly.

Concluding Prayer

Click here to listen to the Concluding Prayer and Blessing

Who are we Lord God,

that you should come to us?

Yet you have visited your people

and redeemed us in your Son.

As we prepare to celebrate his birth,

make our hearts leap for joy at the sound of your Word,

and move us by your Spirit to bless your wonderful works.

Grant this through him whose coming is certain,

whose day draws near:

your Son our Lord Jesus Christ

who lives for ever and ever. AMEN. 

Sunday Celebrations of the Word and Hours

Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

Blessing

May our Advent God bless the donors and supporters of Good Samaritan Ministries.

May God bring hope to all who cry for justice, peace and joy.

May the nearness of God bless us now and always. Amen.

Refrain

Text: Erica R Marshall 1997

Tune: Maranatha. Erica R Marshall © Willow Connection

All rights reserved. Reprinted under One License#A-640636

Resources used:

Diane Bergant. The Word for Every Season. Reflections on the Lectionary Readings. Paulist Press, USA 2010.

Verna A. Holyhead. Building on Rock; Welcoming the word in Year A. Australia, John Garratt Publishing 2006.

Flor McCarthy. New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies, Year A. Dublin, Dominican Publications, 2019.

Barbara Reid. Abiding Word, Sunday Reflections for Year A. LTP, Collegeville, Minnesota 2012.