Advent 2015 Meditations: Daily Scripture, and passages from Pope Francis Letter on the Year of Mercy

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1 Advent 2015 Meditations: Daily Scripture, and passages from Pope Francis Letter on the Year of Mercy November 29, st Sunday of Advent Jeremiah 33:14-16 Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, Thess 3:12 4:2 Luke 21:25-28, Today s Scripture: Ps 25:10 All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth toward those who honor his covenant and decrees. From Pope Francis 2: We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. 1st Week of Advent Monday St. Andrew Rom 10:9-18 Ps 19:8-11 Matt 4: Mt 4:18-19 As he 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, Come after me, I will make you fishers of men. From Pope Francis 1: Jesus Christ is the face of the Father s mercy. 1st Week of Advent Tuesday Isa 11:1-10 Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17 Luke 10:21-24 Luke 10: 21 At that very moment Jesus rejoiced [in] the holy Spirit and said, I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. From Pope Francis 3: At times we are called to gaze even more attentively on mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father s action in our lives. For this reason I have proclaimed an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy as a special time for the Church, a time when the witness of believers might grow stronger and more effective. 1st Week of Advent Wednesday Isa 25:6-10a Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 Matt 15:29-37 Psalm 23:6 Indeed, goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the LORD for endless days. From Pope Francis 6: In a special way the Psalms bring to the fore the grandeur of his merciful action: He forgives all your iniquity, he heals all your diseases, he redeems your life from the pit, he crowns you with steadfast love and mercy (Ps 103:3-4). 1st Week of Advent Thursday St. Francis Xavier Isa 26:1-6 Ps 118:1+8-9, 19-21, Matt 7:21, Matt 7: Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. From Pope Francis 9: In these parables, God is always presented as full of joy, especially when he pardons. In them we find the core of the Gospel and of our faith, because mercy is presented as a force that overcomes everything, filling the heart with love and bringing consolation through pardon. 1st Week of Advent Friday St. John Damascene Isa 29:17-24 Ps 27:1, 4, Matt 9:27-31 Matt 9: 27 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed [him], crying out, Son of David, have pity on us! From Pope Francis 8: Jesus, seeing the crowds of people who followed him, realized that they were tired and exhausted, lost and without a guide, and he felt deep compassion for them (cf. Mt 9:36). On the basis of this compassionate love he healed the sick who were presented to him (cf. Mt 14:14), and with just a few loaves of bread and fish he satisfied the enormous crowd (cf. Mt 15:37). What moved Jesus in all of these situations was nothing other than mercy, with which he read the hearts of those he encountered and responded to their deepest need. 1st Week of Advent Saturday Isa 30:19-21, Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 Matt 9:35 10:1, 5a, 6-8 Matt 10:7-8 Jesus said, As you go, make this pro- clamation: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give. From Pope Francis 9: The mercy of God is his loving concern for each one of us. He feels responsible; that is, he desires our wellbeing and he wants to see us happy, full of joy, and peaceful. This is the path which the merciful love of Christians must also travel. As the Father loves, so do his children. Just as he is merciful, so we are called to be merciful to each other. December 6 2nd Sunday of Advent Bar 5:1-9 Ps 126:1-2a, 2b-3, 4-5, 6 Phil 1:4-6, 8-11 Luke 3:1-6 Luke 3:2-3 The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert. He went throughout [the] whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins From Pope Francis 12: The Church s first truth is the love of Christ. The Church makes herself a servant of this love and mediates it to all people: a love that forgives and expresses itself in the gift of oneself. Consequently, wherever the

2 Church is present, the mercy of the Father must be evident. In our parishes, communities, associations and movements, in a word, wherever there are Christians, everyone should find an oasis of mercy. 2nd Week of Advent Monday St. Ambrose Isa 35:1-10 Ps 85:9ab+10, 11-12, Luke 5:17-26 Luke 5:24-26 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins he said to the man who was paralyzed, I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home. He stood up immediately before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God, and, struck with awe, they said, We have seen incredible things today. From Pope Francis 16: Jesus, on the Sabbath, went back to Nazareth and, as was his custom, entered the synagogue. They called upon him to read the Scripture and to comment on it. The passage was from the Book of Isaiah where it is written: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to those in captivity; to proclaim the year of the Lord s favour (Is 61:1-2). A year of the Lord s favour or mercy : this is what the Lord proclaimed and this is what we wish to live now. This Holy Year will bring to the fore the richness of Jesus mission echoed in the words of the prophet: to bring a word and gesture of consolation to the poor, to proclaim liberty to those bound by new forms of slavery in modern society, to restore sight to those who can see no more because they are caught up in themselves, to restore dignity to all those from whom it has been robbed. The preaching of Jesus is made visible once more in the response of faith which Christians are called to offer by their witness. May the words of the Apostle accompany us: he who does acts of mercy, let him do them with cheerfulness (cf. Rom 12:8) Tuesday Dec. 8 Immaculate Conception of Mary Jubilee Year of Mercy Begins Genesis 3:9-20 Ps 98:1-4 Eph 1:3-6,11-12 Luke 1:26-38 Luke 1:34-35 Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I have no relations with a man? And the angel said to her in reply, The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. From Pope Francis 3: The Holy Year will open on 8 December 2015, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. This liturgical feast day recalls God s action from the very beginning of the history of mankind. After the sin of Adam and Eve, God did not wish to leave humanity alone in the throes of evil. And so he turned his gaze to Mary, holy and immaculate in love (cf. Eph 1:4), choosing her to be the Mother of man s Redeemer. I will have the joy of opening the Holy Door on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. On that day, the Holy Door will become a Door of Mercy through which anyone who enters will experience the love of God who consoles, pardons, and instils hope. 2nd Week of Advent Wednesday St. Juan Diego Isa 40:25-31 Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8+10 Matt 11:28-30 Isaiah 40:31 They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar on eagles wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint. From Pope Francis 3: When faced with the gravity of sin, God responds with the fullness of mercy. Mercy will always be greater than any sin, and no one can place limits on the love of God who is ever ready to forgive. 2nd Week of Advent Thursday Isa 41:13-20 Ps 145:1+9, 10-11, 12-13ab Matt 11:11-15 Isaiah 41:13-14 For I am the LORD, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to you, Do not fear, I will help you. Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you maggot Israel; I will help you oracle of the LORD; the Holy One of Israel is your redeemer. From Pope Francis 6: It is proper to God to exercise mercy, and he manifests his omnipotence particularly in this way. St. Thomas Aquinas words show that God s mercy, rather than a sign of weakness, is the mark of his omnipotence. 2nd Week of Advent Friday St. Damasus I Isa 48:17-19 Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4+6 Matt 11:16-19 Isaiah 48:17-18 Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the LORD, your God, teaching you how to prevail, leading you on the way you should go. If only you would attend to my commandments, your peace would be like a river. From Pope Francis 19: May the message of mercy reach everyone, and may no one be indifferent to the call to experience mercy. I direct this invitation to conversion even more fervently to those whose behaviour distances them from the grace of God. I particularly have in mind men and women belonging to criminal organizations of any kind. For their own good, I beg them to change their lives. I ask them this in the name of the Son of God who, though rejecting sin, never rejected the sinner. Do not fall into the terrible trap of thinking that life depends on money and that, in comparison with money, anything else is devoid of value or dignity. This is nothing but an illusion! We cannot take money with us into the life beyond. Money does not bring us happiness. Violence inflicted for the sake of amassing riches soaked in blood makes one neither powerful nor immortal. Everyone, sooner or later, will be subject to God s judgment, from which no one can escape.

3 2nd Week of Advent Saturday Our Lady of Guadalupe Rev 11:19, 12:1-6,10 Judith 13:18-19 Luke 1:26-38 Rev 12:1-2 A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth From Pope Francis 24: My thoughts now turn to the Mother of Mercy. May the sweetness of her countenance watch over us in this Holy Year, so that all of us may rediscover the joy of God s tenderness. 3rd Sunday of Advent 10:30 AM Mass, Opening of the Holy Door at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Zeph 3:14-18a Isa 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6 Phil 4:4-7 Luke 3:10-18 Phil 4:5 Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near! From Pope Francis 9: we are called to show mercy because mercy has first been shown to us. Pardoning offences becomes the clearest expression of merciful love, and for us Christians it is an imperative from which we cannot excuse ourselves. At times how hard it seems to forgive! And yet pardon is the instrument placed into our fragile hands to attain serenity of heart. To let go of anger, wrath, violence, and revenge are necessary conditions to living joyfully. Let us therefore heed the Apostle s exhortation: Do not let the sun go down on your anger (Eph 4:26). Above all, let us listen to the words of Jesus who made mercy an ideal of life and a criterion for the credibility of our faith: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Mt 5:7): the beatitude to which we should particularly aspire in this Holy Year. 3rd Week of Advent Monday St. John of the Cross Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17a Ps 25:4-5,6-9 Mt 21:23-27 Psalm 25: 6-7 Remember your compassion and your mercy, O LORD, for they are ages old. Remember no more the sins of my youth; remember me according to your mercy, because of your goodness, LORD. From Pope Francis 15: We cannot escape the Lord s words to us, and they will serve as the criteria upon which we will be judged: whether we have fed the hungry and given drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger and clothed the naked, or spent time with the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-45). Moreover, we will be asked if we have helped others to escape the doubt that causes them to fall into despair and which is often a source of loneliness; if we have helped to overcome the ignorance in which millions of people live, especially children deprived of the necessary means to free them from the bonds of poverty; if we have been close to the lonely and afflicted; if we have forgiven those who have offended us and have rejected all forms of anger and hate that lead to violence; if we have had the kind of patience God shows, who is so patient with us; and if we have commended our brothers and sisters to the Lord in prayer. In each of these little ones, Christ himself is present. His flesh becomes visible in the flesh of the tortured, the crushed, the scourged, the malnourished, and the exiled to be acknowledged, touched, and cared for by us. Let us not forget the words of St. John of the Cross: as we prepare to leave this life, we will be judged on the basis of love. 3rd Week of Advent Tuesday 15 December Diocesan Day of Mercy Zeph 3:1-2, 9-13 Ps 34:2-3, 6-7, 17-18, Mt 21:28-32 Matt 21:31-32 Jesus said to them, Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him. From Pope Francis 22: In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God forgives our sins, which he truly blots out; and yet sin leaves a negative effect on the way we think and act. But the mercy of God is stronger even than this. It becomes indulgence on the part of the Father who, through the Bride of Christ, his Church, reaches the pardoned sinner and frees him from every residue left by the consequences of sin, enabling him to act with charity, to grow in love rather than to fall back into sin. 3rd Week of Advent Wednesday Isa 45:6c-8, 18, 21c-25 Ps 85:9-14 Luke 7:18b-23 Luke 7:22 Jesus said to them in reply, Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. From Pope Francis 15: It is my burning desire that, during this Jubilee, the Christian people may reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. It will be a way to reawaken our conscience, too often grown dull in the face of poverty. And let us enter more deeply into the heart of the Gospel where the poor have a special experience of God s mercy. Jesus introduces us to these works of mercy in his preaching so that we can know whether or not we are living as his disciples. Let us rediscover these corporal works of mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead. And let us not forget the spiritual works of mercy: to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offences, bear patiently those who do us ill, and pray for the living and the dead. 17 December Thursday Gen 49:2, 8-10 Ps 72:1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8, 17 Matt 1:1-17 Psalm 72: 17 May his name be forever; as long as the sun, may his name endure.

4 From Pope Francis 22-23: To live the indulgence of the Holy Year means to approach the Father s mercy with the certainty that his forgiveness extends to the entire life of the believer. To gain an indulgence is to experience the holiness of the Church, who bestows upon all the fruits of Christ s redemption, so that God s love and forgiveness may extend everywhere. Let us live this Jubilee intensely, begging the Father to forgive our sins and to bathe us in his merciful indulgence. There is an aspect of mercy that goes beyond the confines of the Church. It relates us to Judaism and Islam, both of which consider mercy to be one of God s most important attributes. 18 December Friday Jer 23:5-8 Ps 72:1-2, 12-13, Matt 1:18-24 Matt 1:19-20 Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. From Pope Francis 25 In this Jubilee Year, let us allow God to surprise us. He never tires of casting open the doors of his heart and of repeating that he loves us and wants to share his love with us. The Church feels the urgent need to proclaim God s mercy. Her life is authentic and credible only when she becomes a convincing herald of mercy. She knows that her primary task, especially at a moment full of great hopes and signs of contradiction, is to introduce everyone to the great mystery of God s mercy by contemplating the face of Christ. The Church is called above all to be a credible witness to mercy, professing it and living it as the core of the revelation of Jesus Christ. 19 December Saturday Judges 13:2-7, 24-25a Ps 71:3-4a,5-6ab, 16-7 Lk 1:5-25 Luke 1:13-17 the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of [the] Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the holy Spirit even from his mother s womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 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. From Pope Francis 10: Perhaps we have long since forgotten how to show and live the way of mercy. The temptation, on the one hand, to focus exclusively on justice made us forget that this is only the first, albeit necessary and indispensable step. But the Church needs to go beyond and strive for a higher and more important goal. On the other hand, sad to say, we must admit that the practice of mercy is waning in the wider culture. However, without a witness to mercy, life becomes fruitless and sterile, as if sequestered in a barren desert. The time has come for the Church to take up the joyful call to mercy once more. It is time to return to the basics and to bear the weaknesses and struggles of our brothers and sisters. Mercy is the force that reawakens us to new life and instils in us the courage to look to the future with hope. 4th Sunday of Advent 11:00 AM Mass, Opening of the Holy Door at St. Charles Church in St.Francis, SD Micah 5:1-4a Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, Heb 10:5-10 Luke 1:39-45 Luke 1:41-42,45 When Elizabeth heard Mary s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. From Pope Francis 24: No one has penetrated the profound mystery of the incarnation like Mary. Her entire life was patterned after the presence of mercy made flesh. The Mother of the Crucified and Risen One has entered the sanctuary of divine mercy because she participated intimately in the mystery of His love. Chosen to be the Mother of the Son of God, Mary, from the outset, was prepared by the love of God to be the Ark of the Covenant between God and man. She treasured divine mercy in her heart in perfect harmony with her Son Jesus. Her hymn of praise, sung at the threshold of the home of Elizabeth, was dedicated to the mercy of God which extends from generation to generation (Lk 1:50). We too were included in those prophetic words of the Virgin Mary. This will be a source of comfort and strength to us as we cross the threshold of the Holy Year to experience the fruits of divine mercy. 21 December Monday St. Peter Canisius Zephanaiah 3:14-18a Ps 33:2-3,11-12,20-21 Lk 1:39-45 Zephaniah 3:14-15 Shout for joy, daughter Zion! sing joyfully, Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, daughter Jerusalem! The LORD has removed the judgment against you, he has turned away your enemies From Pope Francis 21: This is why God goes beyond justice with his mercy and forgiveness. Yet this does not mean that justice should be devalued or rendered superfluous. On the contrary: anyone who makes a mistake must pay the price. However, this is just the beginning of conversion, not its end, because one begins to feel the tenderness and mercy of God. God does not deny justice. He rather envelops it and surpasses it with an even greater event in which we experience love as the foundation of true justice. We must pay close attention to what Saint Paul says if we want to avoid making the same mistake for which he reproaches the Jews of his time: For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified (Rom 10:3-4). God s justice is his mercy given to everyone as a grace that flows from the

5 death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus the Cross of Christ is God s judgement on all of us & on the whole world, because through it he offers us the certitude of love and new life. 22 December Tuesday 1 Sam 1: Sam 2:1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd Luke 1:46-56 Luke 1:49-50 Mary said, The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. From Pope Francis 22: The Church lives within the communion of the saints. In the Eucharist, this communion, which is a gift from God, becomes a spiritual union binding us to the saints and blessed ones whose number is beyond counting (cf. Rev 7:4). Their holiness comes to the aid of our weakness in a way that enables the Church, with her maternal prayers and her way of life, to fortify the weakness of some with the strength of others. 23 December Wednesday St. John of Kanty Malachi 3:1-4, Ps 25:4-5ab, 8-9, Luke 1:57-66 Ps 25:14 Make known to me your ways, LORD; teach me your paths. Guide me by your fidelity and teach me, for you are God my savior, for you I wait all the day long. From Pope Francis 25: In this Jubilee Year, may the Church echo the word of God that resounds strong and clear as a message and a sign of pardon, strength, aid, and love. May she never tire of extending mercy, and be ever patient in offering compassion and comfort. May the Church become the voice of every man and woman, and repeat confidently without end: Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old (Ps 25:6). 24 December Thursday (morning Mass) 2 Sam 7:1-5,8-12,14,16 Ps 89:2-3,4-5,27,29 Luke 1:67-79 Luke 1:76-79 Zechariah said, And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God by which the daybreak from on high will visit us to shine on those who sit in darkness and death s shadow, to guide our feet into the path of peace. From Pope Francis 11: Let us not forget the great teaching offered by St. John Paul II in his second Encyclical, Dives in Misericordia. First, St. John Paul II highlighted the fact that we had forgotten the theme of mercy. The word and the concept of mercy seem to cause uneasiness in man, who, thanks to the enormous development of science and technology, never before known in history, has become the master of the earth and has subdued and dominated it (cf. Gen 1:28).. Furthermore It likewise obliges me to have recourse to that mercy, and to beg for it at this difficult, critical phase of the history of the Church and of the world.