Advent - Daily Reflections - 2

Daily Advent Reflections

Longing for Peace

Advent is when peace becomes something visible. All year, of course, we long for peace, but Christians spend these four weeks preparing for the coming of the Messiah, the Prince of Peace. We long not solely for peace on earth, the absence of conflict, but also, more deeply, for the peace of Christ, “peace that surpasses all understanding” (see Phil 4:7). When we celebrate Mass each Sunday, we pray for this peace and even exchange a sign of it before we approach the table of the Eucharist.

Advent - Meaning and Symbols

The Season of Advent
Anticipation and Hope 

The Colors of Advent 
The Spirit of Advent  Evergreens and The Advent Wreath Celebrating Advent An Advent Reflection Music for Advent

Advent - Weekday Reflections -3

First Sunday of Advent

Time to wake up

Today’s Gospel calls us to enter into a time of watchful waiting, of preparation or keen awareness. Let us resolve to hold off the holidays for a bit, to tune in to the gospel, to prepare our hearts for the mystery of the Incarnation, the coming of the Prince of Peace.

See! The ruler of the earth shall come; the Lord who will take from us the heavy burden of our exile The Lord will come soon, will not delay. The Lord will make the darkest places bright. We must capture that urgency today in the small flame of our candle. We light the candle because we know that the coming of Christ is tied to our building of the kingdom. Lighting the flame, feeding the hungry, comforting the sick, reconciling the divided, praying for the repentant, greeting the lonely and forgotten – doing all these works hastens His coming. 

Waiting

 We light a candle today, a small dim light against a world that often seems forbidding and dark. But we light it because we are a people of hope, a people whose faith is marked by an expectation that we should always be ready for the coming of the Master. The joy and anticipation of this season is captured beautifully in the antiphons of hope from the monastic liturgies:

Advent 1 C

1st Advent C from Padir Neylu

 
Michel DeVerteuil

Textual Comments
The gospel readings for Advent each year invite us to meditate on the mystery of waiting, and they do it by presenting us with stories of great people who knew how to wait. On the first Sunday, Jesus himself is the model as he taught his followers the spirituality of “waiting in joyful hope”.

Christ the King 2015

Christ the King from Padir Neylu

Introduction: It was Pope Pius XI who brought the Feast of Christ the King into the liturgy in 1925, to bring Christ, his rule and Christian values back into lives of Christians, into society and into politics. The Feast was also a reminder to the totalitarian governments of Mussolini, Hitler and Stalin that Jesus Christ is the only Sovereign King. Although Emperors and Kings now exist mostly in history books, we still honor Christ as the King of the Universe by enthroning Him in our hearts and allowing Him to take control of our lives. This feast challenges us to see Christ the King in everyone, especially those whom our society considers the least important, and to treat each person with love, mercy and compassion as Jesus did.

33 Sunday B - End Times

33rd Sunday B from Padir Neylu

by Fr. Tommy Lane

After the Gulf War in 1991 black snow fell in parts of the Middle East caused by the smoke from all the burning oil in Kuwait. With nuclear weapons humanity possesses the power now to create a nuclear winter where the sun’s light would be blotted out due to so much smoke in the atmosphere. It is sobering to think that we now have the power to fulfill Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel when he said the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, stars will fall and the powers in the heavens will be shaken (Mark 13:24-25). Jesus made that statement not to frighten us but to remind us that there is nothing permanent in this world and to live with an eye on the End because when he comes again the world and the cosmos will be dissolved. Jesus said those words to give us a second chance, a second chance at living as he asks, a second chance at preparing for judgment, a second chance at preparing for our death.

A Little on the Lighter Side - Quotes