Second Week of Advent
The
Second Sunday of Advent
We re-light the candle of hope and
now also light the Second Purple
candle of love. We know that God is
love. We remember with thankful hearts
the gift of Jesus, who came as a babe in
a manger, lived and loved among us, was
killed on a cross, and arose! Love
endures forever.
Advent
2 Sunday
As this second week of
Advent we must think of Mary and her
anticipation as she awaited the birth of
Our Lord and Savior. In a similar manner
we should be anticipating and preparing
the way of the Lord. We hear John the
Baptist calling us to prepare our hearts
to greet the Lord.
We read from the beginning of the gospel
of Mark: Mark: 1:1-8
Here begins the gospel of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God. In Isaiah the prophet ,
it is written: "I send my messenger
before
you to prepare your way: a herald's
voice in the desert, crying, "Make
ready the way of the Lord, clear his a
straight path."
Thus it was that John the Baptizer
appeared in the desert proclaiming a
baptism of repentance which led to the
forgiveness of sins. All the Judean
countryside and the people of
Jerusalem
went out to him in great numbers. They
were being baptized by him in the Jordan
River as they confessed their sins. John
was clothed in camel's hair, and wore a
leather belt around his waist. His food
was grasshoppers and wild honey. The
theme of his preaching was: "one
more powerful than I is to come after
me. I am not fit to stoop and untie his
sandal straps. I have baptized you in
water; he will baptize you in the Holy
Spirit."
Ps. 85 I will hear what God proclaims;
the Lord -- for he proclaims peace to
his people. Near indeed is his salvation
to those who fear him, glory
dwelling in our land. Lord, let us see
your kindness, and grant us your
salvation.
Carol: "O
Come, All Ye Faithful."
Advent
2 Monday
Mary, the Mother of Jesus
Dear Faithful God, you gave Mary, Jesus'
mother a special gift: salvation from
the first moments of her life. Help us
to be like her and do whatever You ask
of us in our lives.
ary
listened to what God asked and then did
what He requested of her.
Luke 1:26-38 In the sixth month, God
sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a
town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to
be married to a man named Joseph, a
descendant of David. The virgin's name
was Mary. The angel went to her and
said, "Greetings, you who are
highly favored! The Lord is with
you." Mary was greatly troubled at
his words and wondered what kind
of greeting this might be. But the
angel said to her, "Do not be
afraid, Mary, you have found favor
with God.
You will be with child and give birth to
a son, and you are to give him the
name Jesus.He will be great and will be
called the Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him the
throne of his father David, and he will
reign over the house of Jacob forever;
his kingdom will never end."
"How will this be," Mary asked
the angel, "since I am a
virgin?"
The angel answered, "The Holy
Spirit will come upon you, and
the power of the Most High will
overshadow you. So the holy one to be
born will be called the Son of God.
Even Elizabeth your relative is going to
have a child in her old age, and
she who was said to be barren is in her
sixth month. For nothing is impossible
with God."
"I am the Lord's servant,"
Mary answered. "May it be to me as
you have said." Then the angel
left
her.
Mary was willing to do whatever God
wanted of her. She is a
good example for us to follow. Who
are some of the other good examples
in our lives? May we always Thank God
for being there to help us along
our way in this life.
Psa 96:1 Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Advent
2 Tuesday
GIVE YOUR BURDENS TO
THE LORD
Lord God, You sent us your only Son,
Jesus so that we might have life in the
fullest. Help us to follow the
invitation to follow Him.
Jesus invited us to bring all of our
troubles to Him.
Mat 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you
who are weary and burdened, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest
for your
souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden
is light."
Sometimes even getting ready for the
wonderful celebration of Christmas
can become a burden;
there seems to be too much to do, we
can't find the perfect gift, plans
change and get more complicated.
Jesus reminds us today that we don't
have to make Christmas the perfect
celebration, all we have to do is
welcome him into our hearts. How are we
going to welcome the Lord today?
Psa 103:8 The LORD is compassionate and
gracious, slow to anger, abounding in
love.
HOPE IN THE LORD
We encounter an insistent invitation to
the virtue of Hope. Our hearts shall be
filled with joy at the coming of our
Lard to save all the nations of the
world. According to St. Paul, all the
sacred writers were inspired by our Lord
to encourage the virtue
of Hope.
Isa. 30, 30 People of Sion, behold the
Lord shall come to save the nations; and
the Lord shall make the glory of His
voice to be heard, in the joy of your
heart.
Rom 15: 4-13 Whatever things have been
written have been written for our
instruction, that through the patience
and the consolation afforded by the
Scriptures we may have hope. May then
the god of patience and of comfort grant
you to be of one
mind towards one another according to
Jesus Christ; that, one in
spirit, you may with one mouth glorify
the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive one
another, even as Christ has received you
to the honor of god. For I say that
christ Jesus has been a minister of the
circumcision in order to show
God's fidelity in confirming the
promises made to our fathers, but that
the Gentiles glorify God because of His
mercy, as it is written, "Therefore
will I praise Thee among the Gentile,
and will sing to Thy name." And
again He says, " Rejoice, you
Gentiles, with His people.: And again,
"Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
and sing His praises, all you
peoples." And again Isaiah says,
"There shall be the root of Jesse,
and He Who shall arise to rule the
Gentiles.; in Him the Gentiles shall
hope." Now may the God of hope fill
you all joy and peace in believing, that
you may abound in hope and in the power
of the Holy Spirit.
Ps. Give ear, O You Who rules Israel:
You Who leads Joseph like a sheep.
Advent
2 Wednesday
GIVE YOUR BURDENS TO
THE LORD
Lord God, You sent us your only Son,
Jesus so that we might have life in the
fullest. Help us to follow the
invitation to follow Him.
Jesus
invited us to bring all of our troubles
to Him.
Mat 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you
who are weary and burdened, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest
foryour souls. For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light."
Sometimes even getting ready for the
wonderful celebration of Christmas can
become a burden;
there seems to be too much to do, we
can't find the perfect gift, plans
change and get more complicated.
Jesus reminds us today that we don't
have to make Christmas the perfect
celebration, all we have to do is
welcome him into our hearts. How are we
going to welcome the Lord today?
Psa 103:8 The LORD is compassionate and
gracious, slow to anger, abounding in
love.
Advent
2 Thursday
Consolation
The following reading
from Isaiah is to a large extent one of
consolation. It reflects a tone of mercy
. Sometimes we think of the coming of
the Lord and the final judgment as a
negative prospect. There is hope for
those who follow the Lord and look for
his coming with longing, for his coming
will establish justice and liberate the
oppressed.
This is the message of today's passage,
which ws written during the Babylonian
exile. the Jewish nation had been
destroyed and the people had been taken
as slaves to Babylon. It is a word of
hope addressed not to the city of
Jerusalem but to its people in a time of
great distress.
Isaiah 40: 1-5
Comfort, give comfort to my people, says
your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her that her service is
at an end, her guilt is expiated;
Indeed, she has received from the hand
of the Lord double for all her sins.
A voice cries out: In the desert prepare
the way of the Lord! Make straight in
the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in, every
mountain and hill shall be made low;
The rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley. Then
the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all mankind shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald
of glad tiding; Cry out at the top of
your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good
news!
Fear not to cry out and say to the
cities of Judah' Here is your God! Here
comes with power the Lord God,who rules
by his strong arm; Here is his reward
with him,his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in
his arms he gathers the lambs, Carrying
them in his bosom, and leading the ewes
with care.
Ps. 145:9 The Lord is good to all,
compassionate to every creature.
Advent
2 Friday
WATCHFUL WAITING
This reading expresses on of the basic
themes of advent, waiting for the Lord.
Paul responds to the objections of those
who said that the delay in Christ's
return proved that he was not coming at
all. They lived in sinful ways and did
not anticipate the day of judgment. Paul
reminds us that our view of time is
different form that of God. He suggests
that the Lord's delay is deliberate and
is intended to give people time to
repent and prepare for his coming. The
Lord will come when we least expect it.
2
Peter 3:8-14
This point must not be overlooked, dear
friends.
In the Lord's eyes, one day is as a
thousand years and a thousand years are
as a day.
The Lord does not delay in keeping his
promise -- though some consider it
"delay". Rather, he shows you
generous patience, since he wants none
to perish but all to come to repentance.
The day of the Lord will come like a
thief, and on that day the heavens will
vanish with a roar; the elements will be
destroyed by fire, and the earth and all
its deeds will be made manifest. Since
everything is to be destroyed in this
way, what sort of men must you not be!
How holy in your conduct and devotion,
looking for the coming of the day of God
and trying to hasten it! Because of it,
the heavens will be destroyed in flames
and the elements will melt away in a
blaze.
What we await are new heavens and a new
earth where, according to his promise,
the justice of God will reside. So,
beloved, while waiting for this, make
every effort to be found without stain
or defilement, and at peace in his
sight.
Ps. 119:1 Happy those whose way is
blameless, who walk by the teaching of
the Lord.
Advent
2 Saturday
Be
Prepared
Luke is restating what
we have read in Paul, that we must be
prepared for the coming of the Lord for
we know not the hour or the day. He also
tells us that we should not fear the
Lord, but rather be joyful in the coming
of the Lord.
Luke
21:25-33
21:25 "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.
21:26 People will die of fright in
anticipation of what is coming upon the
world, for the powers
of the heavens will be shaken.
21:27 And then they will see the Son of
Man coming in a cloud with power and
great glory.
21:28 But when these signs begin to
happen, stand erect and raise your heads
because your
redemption is at hand."
21:29 He taught them a lesson.
"Consider the fig tree and all the
other trees.
21:30 When their buds burst open, you
see for yourselves and know that summer
is now
near;
21:31 in the same way, when you see
these things happening, know that the
kingdom of God
is near.
21:32 Amen, I say to you, this
generation will not pass away until all
these things have taken
place.
21:33 Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.
Ps. 80:1 For the leader; according to
"Lilies." Eduth. A psalm of
Asaph.
This day is also the feast of St. John
of the Cross, a Spanish mystic of the
16th Century. John is known for his
devotion to the cross and his teaching
about the "dark night of the
soul." John exhorts us to be
faithful in prayer, even when we don't
feel God's presence. Reflect on your own
experiences and remember that Christ's
light is shining even when we do not see
it.
