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CHRISTMAS - Illustrations
Advent 4 A
Thomas O’Loughlin
Introduction to the Celebration
Michel de Verteuil
General Comments
Introduction to the Celebration
We are beginning the
celebration of God coming to us, God being with us, we being brought into the
presence of God. This is the great mystery of Christmas: it is the feast of
Emmanuel which means ‘God is with us.’ This is our special celebration this
Sunday, but each time we gather here we remember the words of Jesus: ‘When two
or three are gathered here in my name, I am there among them’. So, let us spend
time reminding ourselves that Jesus is among us, we are in his presence in this
gathering, and recalling that we are the people who proclaim him as Emmanuel:
God is with us.
--------------Michel de Verteuil
General Comments
Advent: Cardinal Luis Antonio (Chito) Tagle
We are in the
holy season of Advent, a time to prepare for the coming of the Messiah through
prayer, penance and good works. A few days ago a friend told me that my coming
into the Archdiocese of Manila as its 32nd Archbishop is truly Advent. “You are
the one who is to come,” he declared. The remark made me laugh. It also made me
think. Is this occasion really about me? I know many people are asking “who is
this new archbishop of Manila? What is he like? What are his vision and plans?”
But like John the Baptist I am inviting you to focus on the One mightier than
all of us, Jesus Christ, the Risen One and the True Shepherd of the Church. My
Episcopal motto says it plainly, “Dominus Est! It is the
Lord!”
Advent 3A - John the Baptist: What do you see and hear?
Thomas O’Loughlin
Introduction to the Celebration
General comments
The passage is clearly in two sections:
Verses 2 to 6: The meeting between John’s disciples and Jesus.
Verses 7 to 11: Jesus speaks of John.
You can read verses 2 to 5 as a journey into a deeper faith which John the Baptist made, letting your meditation guide you to interpret this journey from your own experience. What was John’s prison? Why did he send disciples? What was the purpose of his question?
Introduction to the Celebration
In these weeks before
Christmas our reflection and prayer as a community focus on the various ways
that the Lord is near to us:
he is the One who is continually coming into our world with his good news of liberation and joy; we are the people who welcome him and become his hands, and mouth, and feet. So we can now reflect on the joyfulness that is ours because we are in Christ’s presences — he is near to us; but we must regret the times when our actions have been far from him.
he is the One who is continually coming into our world with his good news of liberation and joy; we are the people who welcome him and become his hands, and mouth, and feet. So we can now reflect on the joyfulness that is ours because we are in Christ’s presences — he is near to us; but we must regret the times when our actions have been far from him.
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Michel de Verteuil General comments
The passage is clearly in two sections:
Verses 2 to 6: The meeting between John’s disciples and Jesus.
Verses 7 to 11: Jesus speaks of John.
You can read verses 2 to 5 as a journey into a deeper faith which John the Baptist made, letting your meditation guide you to interpret this journey from your own experience. What was John’s prison? Why did he send disciples? What was the purpose of his question?
Tagore's Beautiful Poems
Gitanjali: Selected Poems
"Song Offerings"
Translations made by the author from the original Bengali.
Mind Without Fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Translations made by the author from the original Bengali.
Mind Without Fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
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