Advent, 17th December, Thursday

 Genesis 49:2, 8-10 / Matthew 1:1-17 

Jacob prophesies: Judah will hold the royal scepter.

 Jacob was also known as Israel. He came to Egypt at the urging of his son Joseph, during a great famine. At that time Joseph held a high office in Egypt.

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 Reflection -2: Fear Not, for I'm with you

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.

4th Sunday Advent B - Shorter Version - Annunciation

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.

Advent Reflections -1: Waiting in Hope

2nd Week of Advent, Saturday, Dec 12

Ecclesiasticus 48:1-4, 9-11 / Matthew 17:10-13

 Great are you, Elijah: You are destined to return. 

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.