Fourth Sunday of Advent - 18th December 2016

Sorry for the late posting. Was a bit tied up over the weekend. Here you go.

Reading: (from Universalis)
Gospel

	Matthew 1:18-24 ©

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son

and they will call him Emmanuel,

a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.

Reflection:
As humans, we like control. We like to think we can plan out everything and we tend to wish our lives to follow through series of well thought-out plans. However, I've said this to people many times, "if you want to make God laugh, tell Him all your plans!". The reason is because, a lot of the time, we cannot see the bigger picture. We do not know the full perspective. Only God knows what is really going on. Just as Joseph wanted to divorce Mary because she was found with child before they were to marry, but then did not, we should also consider what God's hand is doing in our lives. Sometimes, we fail to understand what is really going on and how the Lord is using us to bring about His kingdom. Therefore, as we reflect on this Gospel, let us remember that it is not our plan that should prevail, but God's plan.

Advent Advantage:
Let us practice surrendering to God and allowing His plan to prevail, by letting go of our control and handing all things over to God, so that His plan, which is beyond anything we could ever imagine, can prevail.


Contributors:
Kim Lee

Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday) - 11th December 2016

Reading:

Gospel MT 11:2-11

When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ,
he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question,
“Are you the one who is to come,
or should we look for another?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
As they were going off,
Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John,
“What did you go out to the desert to see?
A reed swayed by the wind?
Then what did you go out to see?
Someone dressed in fine clothing?
Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces.
Then why did you go out? To see a prophet?

Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom it is written:
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way before you.

Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”


Reflection: 

Advent is a season of anticipation and hope. The 3rd Sunday of Advent is known as Gaudate Sunday meaning rejoice. It is indeed a time to rejoice and to receive Jesus in our heart's, our minds and our midst. We wait for the Lord's coming full of hope, love and joy. Let's not get tired of waiting. Patience is the key to a good Christian life. We wait and hope only in the Lord. We can emulate our heavenly Mother who was a vessel of patience. She patiently followed the will of the Father. She listened to the words of the prophet Simeon and exercised patience. During the wedding at Cana, she patiently told the servants "Do whatever he tells you" even though Jesus tells her that his hour had not arrived yet. She waited patiently for God's divine plan in her life in spite of all the trials, sufferings and pain she had to go through.

Jesus does not tell Johns' disciples directly on who he is. He asks them to observe what is happening around them and report it to John for him to decipher himself. Likewise Jesus is calling us to fix on the ''Jesus antenna', block out the noises surrounding us and hear and listen to what he is telling us. For his promptings are soft and the noise of this world can distract us. He invites us to seek him with a calm demeanour. As St. Francis de Sales says "Have patience with all things, but first of all with yourself". So let us be patient and not anxious. "Anxiety is the greatest evil that can befall a soul except sin. God command you to pray, but he forbids you to worry". St. Francis de Sales.

Advent Advantage:

Let us move closer to Christmas by letting go of all anxieties and worries and learn to seek him. "Seek by reading and you will find by meditating. Knock by praying and it will be opened to you in contemplation"- St.John of the Cross.


Contributors:

Shanti Caroline

Second Sunday of Advent - 4th December 2016

Reading:

Gospel MT 3:1-12

John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea
and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:
A voice of one crying out in the desert,
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
John wore clothing made of camel’s hair
and had a leather belt around his waist.
His food was locusts and wild honey.
At that time Jerusalem, all Judea,
and the whole region around the Jordan
were going out to him
and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River
as they acknowledged their sins.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees
coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.
And do not presume to say to yourselves,
‘We have Abraham as our father.’
For I tell you,
God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees.
Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit
will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
I am baptizing you with water, for repentance,
but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I.
I am not worthy to carry his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in his hand.
He will clear his threshing floor
and gather his wheat into his barn,
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Reflection:

John the Baptist is described as the "voice of one crying in the desert". Two lessons can be taken even from this one line.

Firstly, a lesson of humility. To only describe yourself as a voice crying out, you really need to be humble in order to seek in such a way. We know that the Lord hears the cry of the poor, and that blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall see God.

The second lesson we can take here is of being in the desert. Desert implies being alone, but also of being somewhere supposedly no other person can hear you. When we go into the desert in the spiritual sense, we seek an interior silence, a silence in our hearts that allows us to listen to the voice of God leading us to do His will.

It is only in this complete abandonment, as we submit to God in humility, when we find Him in the desert, that we can truly learn to trust Him and prepare our hearts to receive Him.

Advent Advantage:

Take some time to be in silence with the Lord. Go to the spiritual desert and humbly ask Him to help you to prepare yoyr heart for His coming.
As St Benedict wrote in his rule (Regula Sancti Benedicti), listen with the ear of your heart.

Contributors:

Kim Lee

First Sunday of Advent - 22nd November 2016

Reading:

Gospel: Matthew 24:37-44

³⁷ 'As it was in Noah's day, so will it be when the Son of man comes.
³⁸ For in those days before the Flood people were eating, drinking, taking wives, taking husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark,
³⁹ and they suspected nothing till the Flood came and swept them all away. This is what it will be like when the Son of man comes.
⁴⁰ Then of two men in the fields, one is taken, one left;
⁴¹ of two women grinding at the mill, one is taken, one left.
⁴² 'So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming.
⁴³ You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house.
⁴⁴ Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.


Reflection:

Advent is a time of waiting, waiting for our Saviour Jesus Christ to come. We spend our lives waiting for people, for things to happen, to be paid, in line, queueing up etc. We spend MOST of our lives waiting. This time of Advent is a time of expectant joy, of waiting for the coming of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We wait during Advent not just in remembrance of His first coming, but also of His second coming, though we know not the time or the day. We are given two analogies - the first of the flood of Noah's ark, and the second of the thief in the night. As we reflect on how both of these come at the most unexpected times, we must prepare our souls to be ready to go with the Lord when He comes.

During this season of Advent, as Catholic, we are recommended to approach the Sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. We are reminded that during this time, we need to be especially attentive to what the Lord has in mind for us, and pray and discern His will in our lives, because ultimately, His will is actually our deepest heart's desire, even if we don't know it ourselves yet.

Time and again God invites us to go to the mountain of the Lord. He invites us-all of us-babies or adolescents; young or old; rich or poor; sinner or righteous. In spite of all our brokenness, He invites us. He looks not on our sins, but gazes lovingly beyond that. All He focuses is on us! In the second reading too, Jesus invites us through St. Paul to do away with evil and return to the light. Again He does not focus on our darkness but encourages us to move to the light and make Jesus our armour.

Jesus is constantly calling us-time and again tirelessly. All that He wants is for us to return to Him with a heart, contrite and humble. He, in turn, will change our hearts of stone to hearts of gold. He reminds us to be ready to meet him! So, the question we must ask is,  are we ready to meet Him yet? If not, what can we do to be more ready to meet Him, so that we are not caught out when the time comes?

Advent Advantage:

Rather than growing impatient in moments of waiting, try to use the time instead to offer up a prayer and speak to our Lord. Pray for the grace of patience. Thank God for the moments He has given you to allow you to stop and think and pray. Prepare your soul by trying to listen more to the voice of the Lord and asking Him what His will is for your life.

Contributors:
Kim Lee
Shanti Caroline