ADVENT DAILY CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS based on the Mass Readings for Year A
Waiting for Love First Sunday of Advent You also must be prepared the Son of Man will come. Matthew 24:44 Advent is a time of waiting. For what do we wait? We have several names the kingdom, heaven or the second coming. All of life is an advent in which we prepare for this final consummation. But it might be better to ask not for what do we wait, but for whom. We wait for God to come in his fullness. What will this be like? Since God is love, we are waiting for Love to come. What we await is the full consummation of divine love. The Scriptures tell us to prepare. As in any relationship of love, we prepare through a period of courtship. In life, we learn to love God, or rather, we gradually open our hearts to God s all-embracing love. Our entire life is an advent. It is a beautiful season of expectation. We are waiting, and preparing ourselves, for Love. Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti Isaiah 2:1-5 Psalm 122:1-9 Romans 13:11-14 Matthew 24:37-44
To Be With God Monday, First Week of Advent I rejoiced because they said to me, We will go up to the house of the Lord. And now we have set foot within your gates, O Jerusalem. Psalm 122:1-2 I have never been to Jerusalem. In all likelihood, I will never go. But I am always moved by this psalm and by others like it that cry out for a holy city. I love how they convey a sense of having a special destination, of being on a path to someplace sacred. Ultimately, of course, what we all yearn for is not a place on the map. We yearn for God. He is our final destination, the end of our earthly journey. During Advent, we express our longing to be with God at last as we anticipate the coming of Emmanuel, God with us. So throughout this season, let us journey as individuals and as a community, preparing ourselves to be with God. Loving God, we pray that we will be with you in your Holy City. Karla Manternach Isaiah 4:2-6 Psalm 122:1-9 Matthew 8:5-11
Celebrate Jesus With Abandon Tuesday, First Week of Advent 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. Luke 10:21 If you really want to remember how to celebrate the Christmas season, take a cue from an expert a child. I am convinced we acquire a certain amount of spiritual build up, layers that separate us from God the things we think we know, the judgments and biases we feed, the pretending we do and the truths we don t speak. All these layers distort our hearts and create distance between us, God and other people. Children don t have this build up yet; their hearts are open and pure. They say what they think, they love without expectation, they fully embrace both joy and sorrow, and they live in the present moment. This Advent let us strive to return to a more childlike state in our faith. Let s believe Jesus without reservation. Let s love him without restraint. Let s welcome him with abandon. Let s celebrate him without inhibition. Kristin Armstrong Isaiah 11:1-10 Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17 Luke 10:21-24
Holding Us Tight Wednesday, First Week of Advent he will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces. Isaiah 25:8 Despite the joy of the Christmas season, many people find it a difficult one, for it is during this time of family gatherings that we are most aware of the absence of those who have passed from our lives. So even as we celebrate God with us, we mourn for those who are no longer here. We know that Christ will come again to destroy death forever. This is the source of our Advent hope. For we believe that our life on earth is just the first step in a journey toward unity with God in a realm where all our tears will be wiped away by the loving hand of Jesus, who calls us and our loved ones by name. It is this beacon of Christ s light that guides us throughout all our difficult moments, even those cradled within a season of joy. Jesus, hold me tight when the darkness of this life s losses closes in on me. Steve Givens Isaiah 25:6-10 Psalm 23:1-6 Matthew 15:29-37
Out of the Darkness Thursday, First Week of Advent The Lord is God and he has given us light. Psalm 118:27 The other evening I was getting ready to go to a meeting when we lost the electricity in our house. Not only was it dark and difficult to see, but the electronic garage door wasn t operating so I couldn t get my car out of the garage. I was busy complaining that I would miss the meeting when my husband walked out to the garage, pulled a cord on the opener and lifted the door manually. Spiritual darkness can also enter our lives without warning. We all experience times when the right course of action isn t clear, when we must wait for more light to be shed on our situation. There are times, too, when we must pray for our hearts to be opened so that we can recognize and say yes to the greatest good. Thankfully we do not wait alone, and sometimes others can help us see things differently. At other times we simply wait together, like Mary and Elizabeth, trusting that the work God has begun in us will someday bear good fruit. Terri Mifek Isaiah 26:1-6 Ps 118:1, 8-9, 19-21, 25-27 Matthew 7:21, 24-27
ADVENT Like no other season in the Church year, Advent gives us a change of perspective. Rather than looking within or backward, we are invited to look up and ahead, up to the heavenly presences in our lives and ahead to our final destiny in Christ s kingdom. Of course, we can only really live in the present moment, but our faith tells us there is more to this present moment than we usually think. Christ is among us, having transformed the world by his Incarnation and redeemed us through his death and resurrection. Among us now, Jesus offers us the hope of eternal life. Believe it, Advent shouts. Live it. Acknowledgments Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, DC, and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All rights reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. Living Faith Advent, Year A 2016 by for the Parish, 1564 Fencorp Dr., Fenton, MO 63026. 1-800-325-9414. www.creativecommunications.com. Cover photo: Shutterstock.com. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. LF8