1 John 2:18-21 / John 1:1-18
Antichrists have
appeared; They came from our ranks
Dec 31: Christmas Octave
30th December, Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas
1 John 2 : 12-17; Luke 2 : 36-40
Shun
the world’s attractions: The
world passes; God alone remains.
Photographer David Crocket of KOMO-TV, Seattle, was caught at the foot of Mt. St. Helens when it exploded on May 18, 1980. He was nearly buried in the falling ash. Ten hours later he was miraculously spotted, picked up by a helicopter, and rushed to a hospital.
29th December, St. Thomas Becket
1 John 2:3-11 / Luke 2:22-35
A light
for all the nations; The
light is shining
If we don’t love, we are in darkness. Gnosticism was a thorn in the side of the early Church. This heresy derived its name from the Greek word for “knowledge.” Gnosticism took many twists and is difficult to define.
Jan 1: Mary, Mother of God: Stories and Illustrations
From the Collection of Fr. Tony Kadavil and Others
1: Smiling child and his mother: There is a
beautiful little story about a long, tedious train journey, made one
Christmas day by some elderly residents of a nursing home who were on
their way to a vacation spot. At one station, a young mother with a
small child entered the train. The child smiled at all the grim faces
around him and began moving from one lap to another talking, shouting with
joy and chatting with everyone. Instantly, the grim and
silent atmosphere in the train was changed to one of joy and happiness.
Today we remember with joy and gratitude, how Mary and her Divine Son
Jesus transformed a hopeless, joyless and sinful world into a place
of joy and happiness.
Dec 28-Jan 2: Christmas Season
Dec 28 Monday (Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs): https://www.franciscanmedia.org/holy-innocents/ Mt 2:13-18: 13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”
New Year: Quotes, Prayers, etc
What’s in a Name?. . . . . . . . . . . . .Complete Speaker’s Almanac, p. 22
"Here we are in a month named after the Roman god Janus, an appropriate personification of the start of the new year. This particular Roman god had two faces so that he could look ahead toward the future and back at the past at the same time. As we get rid of an old year and look forward to a new one, we all try to be a little like Janus. We know through experience what we did wrong and what we did right, and hope to do better this year. Some people make ambitious new year’s resolutions; others just take a deep breath and hope for the best.…"
December 28, Monday, Holy Innocents
1 John 1:5 - 2:2 / Matthew 2:13-18
We have been redeemed: Jesus’ blood purifies us.
Advent, 24th December, Thursday
2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16 / Luke 1:67-79
Nathan prophesies about David: “Your kingdom will last forever. ”
Advent, December 23, Wednesday
Malachi 3: 1-4, 23-24; Luke 1: 5-25
I will send my messenger; “He will prepare the way for me.”
Holy Family - Dec 27
(Liturgical Prayers of the day are included at the end)
A. In The House Of The Father
It may come as a real surprise to us to hear Jesus ask Mary and Joseph: "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be where my Father is?" Even Joseph and Mary had still to learn and to grow in their faith. Like the Holy Family, our families and each of us have also to grow in the faith. Perhaps it is through painful trials like the one of Mary and Joseph that our faith may become mature. We too are asked: Did you not know...?
Christmas - Liturgical Prayers
Greeting (See Second Reading)
In our own time God has spoken to us
through his own Son,
the radiant light of God's glory
through whom he made everything.
May this Son, Jesus the Lord, be with you.
R/ And also with you.
In our own time God has spoken to us
through his own Son,
the radiant light of God's glory
through whom he made everything.
May this Son, Jesus the Lord, be with you.
R/ And also with you.
Advent: Dec 21-24
Dec 21 Monday (St. Peter Canisius, Priest, Doctor of the Church) https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-peter-canisius : Visitation of the BVM: http://cpbcomaha.org/2020/05/visitation-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/ Lk 1:39-45: 39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, …45 USCCB video reflections http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm
Advent, 22nd December, Tuesday
1 Samuel 1: 24-28; Luke 1: 46-56
Hannah takes Samuel to the Temple; Hannah dedicated Samuel to God.
Samuel’s birth bears a similarity to Jesus’ birth. He too was born of a mother whose situation was such that people thought she couldn’t bear children. But Samuel’s mother, Hannah, had great faith in God. She prayed that God would give her a son, and God heard her prayer. Samuel grew up to give Israel leadership at a time when she needed it most.
Advent, 21st December, Monday
Songs 2:8-14 or Zephaniah 3:14-18 / Luke 1:39-45
The time is near: My lover comes leaping over the hills
A popular film scene is an aerial view of two lovers, some distance apart, running toward each other with open arms. The length of the scene can vary, depending on how far apart the lovers are. Sometimes the director heightens the tension by doing the scene in slow motion. ’Alien the two lovers finally meet, they are swept up into each other’s arms.
Christmas 2020
Jesus sells: One never tires of Jesus as a subject. The cover stories of Time, Newsweek, and US News and World Report regularly mark His nativity. One reason for featuring Him so often is that their circulation invariably increases. Born twenty centuries ago, Jesus still sells. Mel Gibson broke all records with his DVD of The Passion of the Christ.
Advent, 17th December, Thursday
Genesis
49:2, 8-10 / Matthew 1:1-17
Jacob prophesies: Judah
will hold the royal scepter.
3rd Week of Advent, Wednesday, Dec 16
Isaiah 45:6-8, 18, 21-26 / Luke 7:19-23
Isaiah prophesies: Turn to me and be saved.
In Springfield, Illinois, February 11, 1861, dawned cold and rainy. But the weather didn’t keep the crowds from lining the streets of that town. They cheered as President-elect Lincoln passed on his way to the railroad station.
Advent 4 B Homilies - Annunciation
TK Notes:
A. Any one who is into counseling knows that people come to you because of some anxiety or fear they face in life due to a) a relationship, b) a decision/choice or c) faith/ideology issue. They are all trying to find a way to cope with that situation. Mary too comes with, "How's this possible?"
Advent week: Dec 14-19
Dec 14 Monday (St. John of the Cross, Priest, Doctor of the Church)
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-john-of-the-cross : Matt: 21: 23-27: 23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said,
3rd Week of Advent, Tuesday, Dec 15
Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13 / Matthew 21:28-32
Zephaniah prophesies: I will prepare a humble people.
Charles Colson was a top Nixon aide. He went to prison in the Watergate scandal. Later he underwent a religious conversion. Today he spends all his time preaching the Gospel, especially to prisoners. Colson was deeply influenced by C. S. Lewis’s book Mere Christianity. One passage, especially, touched him. “Pride leads to every other vice. . . .As long as you are proud you cannot know God.
3rd Week of Advent, Monday, Dec 14
Numbers 26:2-7, 15-17 / Matthew 21:23-27
Balaam prophesies: A star shall advance from Jacob.
Douglas Hyde was an English journalist who disliked the Catholic Church. One day he bought an anti-Catholic book to use in his attacks against the Church. The book had just the opposite effect on him. It led him into the Church. Something similar to this happened to Balaam in today’s reading. He set out to curse Israel, but ended up blessing her instead. Early church writers considered the words about the star in today’s reading as a prophetic reference to the star that directed the Magi to Jesus.
2nd Week of Advent, Saturday, Dec 12
Ecclesiasticus 48:1-4, 9-11 / Matthew 17:10-13
Elijah is described as parting life in a fiery chariot. (2 Kings 2:11) Symbolic or not, the description gave rise to the popular belief that Elijah would return to prepare the way for the “Day of the Lord.” To this very day, Orthodox Jews put an empty chair at the seder table for Elijah. Reform Jews put a “cup of Elijah” at the table. They hope this will be the year he’ll return.
2nd Week of Advent, Friday, Dec 11
Isaiah 48:17-19 / Matthew 11:16-19
I am your God: I will show you the path to follow.
In The Upper
Room, David McIntosh tells this story about a dream his uncle
had. In the dream, his uncle’s four-year-old son had grown up to be a teenager.
The boy was walking down a road when, suddenly, he disappeared down a dark
path. As he did, he called back, “Daddy, you never showed me the right path to
follow.”
The dream was so vivid that his uncle woke up from a sound sleep. He was so disturbed by the dream that he woke his wife and told her about it. Together they knelt down on the spot and prayed for their young son. They also resolved to teach their son how to walk always in the light of God’s Word.
2nd Week of Advent, Thursday, Dec 10
Isaiah 41:13-20 / Matthew 11:11-15
Before child labor laws were enacted, a ten-year-old boy was working in a factory in Naples, Italy. He wanted to earn money for music lessons. After singing for a schoolteacher, however, he was told to save his time and money. “Forget about singing,” the teacher said;
2nd Week of Advent: Dec 7-12
Dec 7 Monday (St. Ambrose, Bishop, Doctor of the Church): https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-ambrose Lk 5: 17-26: 17 On one of those days, as he was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18 And behold, men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they sought to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; 19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20 ……. 26 .. (Cfr. Mt 9: 1-8). USCCB reflections: https://youtu.be/1aqVBJogCY4 Daily Catholic reflections: https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
Advent Sunday 3 B: Rejoice
Advent is a time of joy – joy in the waiting and this Sunday we wear the joyful rose-coloured vestment. The messenger in the first reading is the ‘joyful messenger’, and his joy is that God is near and God is coming. This would be the message of Jesus –that he was the joyful messenger of his Father’s love. He would be the shepherd – the one who cares, knows and actively looks after the sheep. John the Baptist is the voice of joy and energy, preaching the new message.
Gospel text : John 1:6-8, 19-28
2nd Week, Advent, Monday Dec 7
2nd Week of Advent, Monday, Dec 7
Isaiah 35:1-10 / Luke 5:17-26
1st Week of Advent, Saturday, Dec 5
Isaiah 30:19-21, 25-26 / Matthew 9:35 - 10:1, 6-8
Kate Drexel
came from a wealthy Philadelphia family. While riding about the city, she saw
the tragic plight of black children living in hideous slum conditions. In her
reading she learned about the plight black children in the South and of Native
American children in the West. Moved to pity, Kate founded the Sisters of the
Blessed Sacrament to work among these children. Before Mother Katherine Drexel
died at age 97, she spent nearly $20 million of her own personal fortune to
care for and educate blacks and Indians.
1st Week of Advent, Friday, Dec 4
Isaiah 29:17-24 / Matthew 9:27-31
Isaiah
talks about messianic times: Then the eyes of the blind will see.
Bob Evans had been blind since birth. When he was 50 years old, an operation gave him eyesight for the first time in his life. Suddenly his world changed beyond belief. He said in a Chicago Sun-Times interview: “It’s the most amazing thing in the world. ... I can’t wait to get up each day to see what I can see. . . .“And at night I look at the stars. . . . Everything is a constant high. You could never know how wonderful everything is.” This story gives us an insight into Isaiah’s prophecy in today’s reading, about how life will be changed for people when the Messiah comes.
Advent Sunday 2 B - Liturgical Prayers
Introduction and Litany of Praise
Option A
In today's liturgy we hear again the lonely voice
of John the Baptist urging us to prepare a way
for the Lord. Let us create a space in our minds
and hearts so that the Lord can come
to us in this Eucharist. [pause]
John began his mission with a call to repentance.
Jesus repeats his call to us today. [pause]
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