Introduction by
the Celebrant:
C. Watchful, but
not Afraid: Much of the world is sitting in the dark of
hunger and suffering and violence, and yet if we are God's people we keep up the
indestructible hope that truth and goodness and justice will prevail. For we
believe that Christ our Lord has come and is alive among us. We struggle, we
know the road is rough, but the Lord goes with us and he tells us: Come with
me, serve with me, love with me, give and share yourself with me and you will
be better, and the Church and the world will be better.
Penitential Act
Opening Prayer
Intercessions:
- For Christians everywhere, that they may not be ashamed of the gospel but speak its message of hope in the language of their own lives, let us pray:
- For all of us here, that we may not be self-satisfied but that we may remain vigilant to let God renew us in Christ and to make us live for others, let us pray:
Prayer over the
Gifts
Reflection:
* we forgive a long-standing hurt.
* we discover that one of our children is on drugs;
* we fall into a sin we thought we had overcome.
But, somehow or other, that moment, terrible as it is, brings its own grace:
* we find we have more courage than we thought;
* our family finds a new unity;
* we forgive a long-standing hurt.
Jesus comes into our lives with power and great glory.
We have learnt now that we need never panic.
When these things begin to take place, we can stand erect, hold our heads high,
because a moment of grace and liberation is near at hand.
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops—at all—.
The end is the gathering of
all the little pieces of our scattered and fragmented lives, all our joys, all
our collaborations with the grace of God, all the goodness we have sought to
create, the peace we have fostered, the reconciliation that we have sought, the
acts of kindness and mercy, the attempts to witness to the truth in the face
of falsehood or injustice. All these scattered actions are gathered into a new
existence that the Christ can offer to the Father in the Spirit.
A. Happy New Year! Yes, advent marks the beginning of the Church’s
calendar. The Church once again invites us to a period of waiting, hope and
expectation.
B. Waiting in
Tension: "Stand erect, hold your heads high."
This is the message the Lord speaks to us on this First Sunday of Advent. There
are terrible civil wars, there is famine in many parts of the world, and there
are millions of refugees seeking safety. Yet our Lord assures us that we should
keep up our hope and expectations, for he is still with us and near to us. Be
attentive to his presence, not only here in the Eucharist but also in the life
of every day.
-Lord Jesus, make us
recognize that you are near in the people who are hungry and needy. Liberate us
with your love. Lord, have mercy.
-Jesus Christ, make
us discover you in those who search for peace for themselves and for their
country. Bring them your lasting peace. Christ, have mercy.
-Lord Jesus, reveal
yourself to us in those who grope in their night of suffering. Let your light
shine on them and on us: Lord, have mercy.
Lord our God, we are
your people on the march who try to carry out the task of giving shape to your
kingdom of love and peace. When we are discouraged and afraid, keep us going
forward in hope. Make us vigilant in prayer, that we may see the signs of your
Son's coming. Let Jesus walk with us already now on the road he has shown us,
that he may lead us to you, our living God for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
Priest: In his love, our Father in heaven sent his Son into
the world to fulfill all our hopes and to give us an eternal future.
Let us pray to him: R/ Lord, you are all our hope.
- For the community of the Church,
that we may make the gospel credible by our commitment to justice and love, let
us pray:
- For people without hope or
courage, for those suffering from hunger and wars, that we may revive their
hopes by building a better world with them, let us pray: - For Christians everywhere, that they may not be ashamed of the gospel but speak its message of hope in the language of their own lives, let us pray:
- For all of us here, that we may not be self-satisfied but that we may remain vigilant to let God renew us in Christ and to make us live for others, let us pray:
Priest: Lord our God, you love us and so you expect us to
make your goodness and justice visible to all. Let your Son stay with us, that
your and our expectations may come true, now and forever. R/ Amen.
Intercessory
Conclusion
Lord our God, you
love us and so you expect us to make your goodness and justice visible to all.
Let your Son stay with us, that your and our expectations may come true, now
and for ever. R/ Amen.
Lord our God, as a
pledge of your promises you give us your Son Jesus Christ in these signs of
bread and wine. We do not ask you for a life without problems and risks, but
for your Son's vision of a world in which you are present and for your Son's
courage to answer with our own lives your call to build up a new world, in
which your Son can be our Lord now and for ever. R/ Amen.
PREFACE I
(Advent)
It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and
everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.
For he assumed at his first coming the lowliness of human flesh, and so
fulfilled the design you formed long ago, and opened for us the way to eternal
salvation, that, when he comes again in glory and majesty and all is at last
made manifest, we who watch for that day may inherit the great promise in which
now we dare to hope.
And so, with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominions, and with
all the hosts and Powers of heaven, we sing the hymn of your glory, as without
end we acclaim:
All: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts…
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord,
from every evil. Wake us up from our sluggishness and help us to hasten the
coming of your Son among people, that we may live in a world of justice without
division and fear, as we prepare with joyful hope for the coming in glory of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Prayer after
Communion
Lord our God,
merciful Father, you have spoken to us your word of hope and renewed our
strength with the bread of life of your Son. Free our faith from banality and
routine and send us out with your Son to restore integrity and love and the trust
that with him we can give shape to a future beyond all human expectations, for
the future belongs to you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit one God for ever and
ever. R/ Amen.
It seems
that as the world becomes supposedly less complicated through technological
advances, we still find ourselves waiting. Waiting for
that postman to arrive for an interview. Waiting in line at the checkout
counter at the supermarket, designed to eliminate the evils of waiting. Waiting
for the phone to ring. Waiting for that great job to come along. Or waiting for
that elusive perfect relationship. It never ends. Researchers tell us
that the average person will spend 5 years of his or her life waiting in line
and six months sitting at red lights. That is over 5 and a half years of
waiting, at best doing nothing, or at worst experiencing great aggravation! The
bottom line is that even in our fast-paced world, with postmodern conveniences,
we are all waiting for something. However, as strange as it sounds, during the
Advent season, we discover a purpose to our waiting.
A basic ingredient in
the attainment of freedom: adversity that brings awareness. Awareness of
reality. Awareness of how God works in our lives. Meeting God in strange ways
because he does come into our lives in ways that are often not our ways.
Yes, our God is a coming God. That’s what “advent”
means. He comes in many different ways. He comes in the silence of
contemplative prayer. He comes in the sacraments. He comes in the people we
encounter and with whom we form relationships. He comes in the events of our
lives.
Sometimes God comes in the beautiful. He comes in ways
which impress us, in ways which sweep us off our feet, which fill us with hope
and joy. In his beautiful manifestations, God can leave us gasping for breath
and gaping in awe.
But, somehow or other, that moment, terrible as it is,
brings its own grace:
* we find we have more courage than we thought;
* our family finds a new unity;* we forgive a long-standing hurt.
Sometimes God comes in the ugly, in the tragic. He
comes in ways which shake us, cause terror, scathe our souls and crush our
hearts. He sometimes comes in ways which leave us angry, hostile, almost on the
edge of despair, or on the verge of disbelief.
Lord, great tragedies befall us from time to time:
* we lose our job;
* a spouse proves unfaithful;* we discover that one of our children is on drugs;
* we fall into a sin we thought we had overcome.
Very often God comes in ways which are a mixture of
both. Apparent blessings can turn out to be tragedies because God has other
plans, or because we do not understand the gift he really gave. Seeming
tragedies can turn out to be blessings because they spared us from some greater
ill or because we discerned a special message in them for us from God.
Sometimes there are blessings which come our way and tragedies which befall us
simultaneously, all because something entirely new and fresh is to emerge from
the ashes of our spoiled dreams and the pain of our broken hearts.
---------
These are moments of great distress. It is as if the sun and moon and
stars are no longer there in the heavens. We feel as if we are drowning, the
ocean and its clamorous waves overwhelming us. The powers of heaven have been
shaken and we are dying of fear as we await the future which menaces us.But, somehow or other, that moment, terrible as it is, brings its own grace:
* we find we have more courage than we thought;
* our family finds a new unity;
* we forgive a long-standing hurt.
Jesus comes into our lives with power and great glory.
We have learnt now that we need never panic.
When these things begin to take place, we can stand erect, hold our heads high,
because a moment of grace and liberation is near at hand.
==========
Hope' is the thing with feathers—That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops—at all—.
Emily Dickinson's definition of hope captures what many of us have a
hard time defining. Hope is not blind optimism, nor arrogant certainty, nor
wishful thinking. Hope, the theme of Advent and Christmas, is the knowledge
that God would not desert us, that we will endure difficult times to see a
better day. Hope gives us the strength to seek peace and demand justice, and to
envision the world as God intended it to be.
The word 'End' is a
word with many sad connotations for us: the end of a relationship, the end of a
film or a moment of enjoyment, the pain that is a common part of the ending of
a life. We look forward to the consummation, the completion of the universe;
Thus can we read in the gospel: 'then [we] will see the Son of Man coming in a
cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place,
look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near'
--------------------
