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3rd December >> Fr, Martin's Gospel Homilies / Reflections on Mark 13:33-37 for the First Sunday of Advent, Cycle B: ‘Stay awake’.

First Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

Gospel (Except USA) Mark 13:33-37 If he comes unexpectedly, he must not find you asleep.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come. It is like a man travelling abroad: he has gone from home, and left his servants in charge, each with his own task; and he has told the doorkeeper to stay awake. So stay awake, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming, evening, midnight, cockcrow, dawn; if he comes unexpectedly, he must not find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake!’

Gospel (USA) Mark 13:33–37 Be watchful! You do not know when the Lord of the house is coming.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”

Homilies (6)

(i) First Sunday of Advent

I have always liked the season of Advent. It is a very short season. In fact, this year it is shorter than usual. It is only three weeks long, because the fourth Sunday of Advent coincides with Christmas Eve. Advent can easily get overlooked because Christmas is anticipated so early. The commercial world has been reminding us of Christmas for the past four weeks at least. Yet, it is worth holding on to Advent and celebrating it. Some of the Advent symbols that appear in our church this Sunday help us to do that, such as the Advent Wreath, the Jesse Tree, the colour purple and the restraint when it comes to flowers on the altar. There is a certain restraint to Advent as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the joyful feast of Christmas.

If Christmas celebrates the wonderful coming of the Lord among us as a new born child, Advent reminds us of our need for the Lord’s coming. It is a season when we try to enter more fully into our deep-seated longing for the Lord. This is our spiritual hunger and thirst which we can so easily ignore in these times when there are so many other calls on our attention and our time. Advent is a season when we are invited to slow down a little and to become more aware of this deep desire in our hearts which only the Lord can satisfy. That longing for the Lord is powerfully expressed in today’s first reading. The prophet Isaiah cries out to God, ‘Oh, that you would tear the heavens and come down’. That longing is there again in the Responsorial Psalm, ‘O shepherd of Israel, hear us, shine forth from your throne’. These are longer versions of that very short prayer to be found at the end of one of Paul’s letters, ‘Come, our Lord’. This is the Advent prayer. It gives expression to the longing in our hearts for the Lord; it calls on him to come to us. It is a very ancient prayer that was prayed by the very first Christians. We know that because the first Christians spoke Aramaic, the language of Jesus, and even though Paul wrote his letters in Greek, he quotes this prayer in the Aramaic language, ‘Marana tha’, which translated means, ‘Come, our Lord’. When we pray this prayer or a version of it like, ‘Come, Lord, Jesus’, we are entering into the prayer of the very first followers of Jesus.

Perhaps we could commit ourselves to praying this prayer a couple of times a day this Advent. It is a prayer that recognizes our need for the Lord’s coming. We are aware that we are not complete in ourselves. We need the Lord to complete us, to empower us to live fully human lives. We can perhaps identify with the very autumnal image in today’s first reading, ‘We have all withered like leaves, and our sins blew us away like the wind’. That is the sense of ourselves out of which we pray the prayer, ‘Come, our Lord’. We pray this prayer knowing that we have withered in some way, but also knowing that the Lord is faithful to us and will answer our heartfelt prayer for his coming. As Saint Paul says in today’s second reading, ‘God is faithful’. There is a striking image of the faithfulness of God in the first reading. Isaiah says, ‘And yet, Lord, you are our Father; we the clay, you the potter, we are all the work of your hand’. A potter who works on making a clay pot may not get it right first time, but he continues to work the clay until it comes out to his satisfaction. Similarly, the Lord comes to us as we are, with our many imperfections, and, yet, he can work away in our lives until we become all he desires us to be, if we give him the opportunity, the space. When we pray to the Lord, ‘Come, our Lord’, we are asking him to come and complete the good work that he began in our lives when he created us and when we were baptized. The Lord will bring his good work in us to completion in eternity, but here and now he desires to work away on us so that we become more and more like him, as loving as he is.

Sometimes we can sell ourselves short and fail to see the many ways the Lord has already come into our lives, the ways that he is already at work within us. Saint Paul reminds us of that in today’s second reading when he says, ‘I thank God that you have been enriched in so many ways… you will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus to be revealed’. As well as calling on the Lord to come, we also need to be alert, awake, to the ways that the Lord has been coming to us and enriching us. This is the call of Jesus in the gospel reading, ‘Stay awake’. We are like the doorkeeper in the little parable who is told to stay away, The Lord is already knocking on the door of our lives, in many different ways. Advent is a time to be attentive to the knock of the one whose faithful love continues to shape us.

And/Or

(ii) First Sunday of Advent

The first Sunday of Advent has come round again. The Jesse tree and the Advent wreath are in place. The green of ordinary time has given way to the more sombre violet of Advent. The liturgical mood has changed a little. We drop the Gloria from our Sunday Mass for this season. Liturgically, the church holds itself in reserve somewhat, until the great outbreak of joy at the feast of Christmas. Advent is a quiet, reflective, prayerful season. We are in a waiting, expectant mode. It is the season when we wait for the Lord, when we pray Maranatha, Come Lord.

We wait for the Lord’s coming because we know that we need the Lord’s coming. People who are waiting usually have a sense of something or someone missing. That is the case whether it is a parent waiting for their son or daughter to come through the arrival gate at the airport, or a couple waiting for their child to be born, or a sick person in hospital waiting for an expected visitor. The experience of waiting brings home to us that we are incomplete. It reminds us that at some deep level of our lives we are in need, we need others.

The season of Advent reminds us of our need of the Lord. It is the season when we stand with open hearts and invite the Lord to come and to bring us to completion. We begin Advent acknowledging our need of that completion, our need of the Lord’s coming. The first reading of the first Sunday of Advent this year gives us words to express that need, ‘We have all withered like leaves and our sins blew us away like the wind’. We have all become familiar with the withered leaves of autumn these recent months. The words of the prophet Isaiah this morning suggest that these withered leaves are symbols of all that is withered in our lives. This autumn, more than other autumns, we have become more aware of the withered areas of our church’s life. As a church, we have felt more keenly our need of the Lord’s coming. Out of that sense of need we pray with greater vigour than usual this Advent, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’, or we might pray the prayer of today’s responsorial psalm, ‘Visit this vine and protect it, the vine your right hand has chosen’. The vine is an image of the people of God, an image of the church. We pray for a fresh visitation of the Lord to his church, and a greater openness on all our parts to receive the Lord’s visitation.

That first reading of Advent this morning is a lament, a communal cry to the Lord, out of a shared sense of having failed the Lord. Yet, at the end of the reading there is the conviction that the Lord is the potter who can make something new out of his flawed people. He can take material that looks unpromising and with it create a work of art. That is also our conviction as we begin Advent. We invite the Lord to come and shape us anew. To acknowledge how out of shape we are is itself to create an opening for the Lord to come. Recognizing what is wrong, acknowledging our need, therefore, does not leave us discouraged. We are full of hope in the Lord who does not give up on his people but continues to shape and mould them. Advent is a hopeful season, a time when we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

This hopeful waiting is not in any sense a sitting back and do nothing approach, as if the Lord is going to do it all for us. People who are waiting for someone dear to them are anything but laid back. If you watch people at airports waiting for loved ones to arrive, their faces are full of alertness. That is the kind of waiting that is associated with Advent, and that Jesus calls for in the gospel reading today. ‘Be on your guard, stay awake’ he says. As we wait, we are alert and attentive. We are attentive to the task the Lord has given us. We each have been given the task of growing in our relationship with the Lord, being in prayerful communion with him, witnessing to him in our daily lives. The Lord asks us to keep to that task as we wait for him, to stay at our post as it were, not to get discouraged or to lose heart. We have the assurance of St. Paul in the second reading that as we keep to our task, the Lord provides us with the help we need to do that task well. Paul tells us: ‘You will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ’. The Lord gifts us for the task he gives to us, while inviting us to wait in joyful hope for his coming which is assured. That is the spirit of Advent. We pray that in the coming four weeks, we would show ourselves to be Advent people.

And/Or

(iii) First Sunday of Advent

The Season of Advent falls in the darkest time of the year, when the days are coming towards their shortest. The shortest day of the year occurs in the last few days of the Advent Season. As the light begins to diminish towards its weakest point, we might find ourselves looking forward to the days when the light begins to increase again. We start to hope for longer days and signs of new life in nature. Advent is very much a season which invites us to touch into our deeper longings also, the yearnings that we all experience within ourselves for life, light, love, truth and joy. These deep yearnings are, ultimately, a longing for God. St. Augustine said that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. Advent is a season when we are called to enter more fully into our longing for God.

The first reading of the first Sunday of Advent gives expression to this deeper longer in our hearts for God, for a life that is more in keeping with God’s will for our lives. That reading from the prophet Isaiah is a heartfelt cry of God’s people for a deeper relationship with God. They cry to God, ‘Oh that you would tear the heavens and come down’. They acknowledge that there is a lack in their lives that only God can fill, and, so, making use of an autumn/winter image, they cry out, ‘We have all withered like leaves and our sins blew us away like the wind’. It is as if they are crying out in the winter of their spirit for God’s coming. They know that they have not been living as God intended them to live, that much of what was good in them has withered. Yet, they also know that God remains faithful to them, that God can renew them. Like the potter, God can make something new out of the mess of their lives.

This is the frame of mind and heart in which we too are invited to begin Advent. We begin Advent acknowledging the winter of our own spirit, recognizing that in ways we have become like withered leaves blown about by the wind. More importantly, we begin Advent in the conviction that God is constantly coming towards us, and is only waiting for our call. God is coming towards us as one who can refashion our lives, and change us for the better. We begin Advent, calling on God the potter to remake us, so that we shine forth more clearly as the work of his hands. In that sense, Advent is a hopeful season, because it is a time when we celebrate the good news that God’s coming will respond to the winter of our spirit.

God comes to renew what God has already given to us rather than to give us what we have never received. Another image, this time from the New Testament, expresses this well. God comes to fan into a living flame the gifts that we have been given through his Son, Jesus. We have been graced and greatly blessed in Christ, but sometimes what we have been given comes to lie dormant within us. What St. Paul says to the Corinthian church in today’s second reading could be said to all of us here this morning. ‘I never stop thanking God for all the graces you have received through Jesus Christ. I thank him that you have been enriched in so many ways… you are not without any of the gifts of the Spirit while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to he revealed’. As we begin Advent, we recognize all the ways that God has graced us through his Son. But we also acknowledge that we have allowed these gifts to die back, to wither like leaves, and, so we long for God to come and fan these gifts into living flames. Advent is a time when we cry to God out of the winter of our spirit, ‘Let your face shine on us and we shall be saved’. We long for the warmth and light of God’s presence to bring to life whatever good has died within us. Our lighting of the Advent wreath over the next four weeks gives expression to that longing within us.

Advent is a time when we are invited to become more spiritually alert – alert to how we have allowed what is best in us to wither, and alert to the Lord whose fuller coming into our lives can renew and remake us. The call to be alert is the call we hear from Jesus in the gospel reading today. Advent calls us to an alertness of the spirit. We know that certain forms of behaviour can work against that kind of alertness, such as excessive drinking and the misuse of drugs. We also know that other forms of behaviour can enhance the kind of alertness to ourselves and to the Lord that Jesus calls for. In particular, taking time and space for prayer in our lives will make us more spiritually alert.

Advent is a season when we might give a little more time to prayer than we would normally do. It is a prayerful, contemplative season, when we are invited to enter into a spirit of prayerful waiting, when we are called to make the simple Advent prayer an integral part of our lives, ‘Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus’. This prayer is the Christian version of the prayer of the people of Israel in the first reading, ‘tear the heavens and come down’. It is one of the earliest prayers of the church, and is prayed by Paul at the end of this first letter to the Corinthians. In making this prayer our own, we will find ourselves entering into that spirit of Advent longing and waiting which is the essence of this season.

And/Or

(iv) First Sunday of Advent

As we enter the month of December, as we pass from Autumn to Winter, the trees have lost most of their lives by now. There has been a lot of sweeping up of leaves in recent weeks. Trees can be beautiful when they are in full leaf, but they have a different kind of beauty when they have shed all their leaves. It is only then that the full extent of the trees’ branches can be seen, with their intricate shapes. I have a rather large shrub at the end of the garden. It is lovely when it is in full leaf. Yet, even now when all the leaves are gone, it has a different kind of beauty. The dark red colour of its many small branches becomes visible, as does the movement of the birds within it as they hop from branch to branch. When we think of Winter’s impact on nature, we generally think in terms of loss, the loss of foliage, the loss of colour, the loss of texture. Yet, all of that loss reveals other attractive qualities and features of nature that are not so evident when nature is in full bloom.

Just as nature has its seasons, our own lives can have their seasons as well. What could be termed a winter of the spirit can come over us. It can often be associated with some experience of failure or loss. The first reading today from the prophet Isaiah seems to reflect a kind of communal winter of the spirit. It springs from an awareness of personal and communal failure before God. ‘We have all withered like leaves, and our sins blew us away like the wind’. The image of personal failure or sin blowing us away like withered leaves is quite striking. There are times when we may feel that there is something withered about us; we are not as alive as we sense we could be. We may be quite well physically but our spirit seems poorly. Whenever we have that sense of ourselves, what matters is how we respond to it. We can allow the realization that we are not as spiritually alive as we desire to be to get us down. We get discouraged about ourselves. However, today’s readings invite us to respond rather differently to that sense of ourselves as withered leaves.

Just as nature’s winter can have its own beauty, so the winter of our spirit can contain within it reasons for hope and, even, joy. Our winter of our spirit can create an opening for God to work within us in new and creative ways. In our first reading, after the prophet Isaiah acknowledges, ‘we have all withered like leaves, and our sins blew us away like the wind’, he then immediately goes on to proclaim, ‘and yet, Lord, you are our Father, we the clay, you the potter, we are all the work of your hands’. He has shifted his field of imagery from the withered leaves of winter to the potter’s workplace. Isaiah’s message is clear. When we seem to be at our weakest, when our spirit is at its most withered, when we are most aware of our failings, the Lord remains our loving Creator who can create something new out of what appears to be very unpromising. We are being invited to begin Advent with that sense of our need of the Lord’s creative coming into our lives, prompting us to pray the simple Advent prayer, Come Lord Jesus.

And/Or

(v) First Sunday of Advent

Isaiah concludes that reading with the declaration, ‘We are all the work of your hand’. It goes without saying that we are all a work in progress. We remain a work in progress until that eternal day when we see the Lord face to face and the Lord brings to completion the good work he has begun in us. In the meantime, we acknowledge to ourselves and before the Lord those areas of our lives that are somewhat withered, but we also recognize the ways that the Lord is, nevertheless, creatively at work in our lives. In today’s second reading, Saint Paul tells the church in Corinth, ‘I never stop thanking God for all the graces you have received through Jesus Christ’. It is clear from the rest of the letter that all was not well in this church. There was much about this church that could be categorized as a winter of the spirit. Yet, Paul begins his letter to them by thanking God for all the graces they have received and he goes on to assure them in that reading, ‘you will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed’. We too will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit. Even in our winter of the spirit, we lack no spiritual gift, because the Lord is always coming towards us to renew us. That is why the refrain of Jesus in the gospel reading is ‘Stay awake’. We are to be awake, alert, to the Lord’s coming, the Lord’s presence. We are to be like the doorkeeper in the parable in today’s gospel reading, attentive to the familiar footsteps of the returning beloved.

And/Or

(vi) First Sunday of Advent

Earlier in the autumn, I was walking along Vernon Avenue and I came upon a chestnut tree, with its leaves all withered. It was a rather sad sight. The tree still had a lot of its leaves but they were lifeless and dried up. A gale force wind and the tree would be rendered bare. Yet, as I looked at this rather sorry sight, it struck me that the tree had to get to this point if it is to teem with new life in five months’ time. I remembered the same tree in the spring with its buds ready to burst into fresh green leaves.

In today’s first reading, the people of Israel compare themselves to the withered leaves of a tree, ready to be blown away at the first strong wind. ‘We have all withered like leaves and our sins blew us away like the wind’. There is a recognition that they are far from being the people that God wants them to be. There can be times in our own lives when we feel a little like withered leaves. We sense that we are not as alive with the life of the Spirit as we could be. On Pentecost Sunday we pray to the Holy Spirit, ‘On our dryness pour thy dew; wash the stains of guilt away’. We can sometimes feel that our spiritual sap has dried up somewhat. Yet, in that first reading, the people’s sense of themselves as withered leaves did not leave them despondent. They knew that the Lord can always breathe new life into them. The reading concludes with the hopeful image of God as the potter, ‘we the clay, you the potter, we are all the work of your hand’. Just as a potter sitting at their potter’s wheel can make something beautiful out of what at first seems shapeless, the Lord can take our lives as they are, and reshape them through the power of the Spirit. We are always a work in progress and the Lord is always working on us.

Advent is a season when we invite the Lord to come afresh into our lives to bring to life what has become withered in us, to moisten what has dried up and to reshape us according to his loving purpose for our lives. In the gospels Jesus often says ‘Come’ to people, ‘Come and see’, ‘Come, follow me’. Advent is the season when the focus is more on our saying ‘Come’ to the Lord. The primary Advent prayer is ‘Come, Lord, Jesus’. We pray this prayer out of a sense of our need for the Lord’s coming, just as in that first reading the people of Israel spoke out of a strong sense of their need for the Lord’s coming. That call to the Lord to ‘come’ is graphically expressed towards the beginning of the reading, ‘Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down’. That prayer captures the mood, of Advent. Advent is a very short season and it can easily get overshadowed by the approaching feast of Christmas. Yet, it is worth holding on to that Advent mood, entering into it, because it is one of the core moods of the life of faith. That mood is beautifully expressed in one of the psalms, ‘my soul thirsts for you, like a dry, weary, land without water’. Advent is a season when we are invited to rediscover our spiritual thirst, our longing for the one who can truly satisfy our deepest thirst.

The Advent prayer, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’, gives expression to that spiritual longing within us. It is a prayer that also expresses a sense of waiting. We invite the Lord to come afresh into our lives, and we wait for his coming. It is not a passive waiting, a kind of hanging around for the Lord. It is an alert, attentive, waiting that reaches towards the one for whom we wait. It is like the waiting of the father for his son in the parable of the prodigal son. That alert waiting is what Jesus refers to in the gospel reading when he calls on his disciples to ‘Be on your guard, stay awake’. One of the ways we give expression to this wakefulness, this alert waiting, is through prayer. Advent is a very prayerful season. It is not necessarily a season when we say more prayers than we usually do, but it is a season when we try to become more prayerful people. It is a season when we are invited to find a space to give expression to our longing for the Lord’s coming. It is a time to pray, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’ with all our heart and soul. If we enter into that deep spiritual longing within us for the Lord’s coming, the Lord will not disappoint us. As Paul says in today’s second reading, ‘you will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ’. In response to our prayerful longing for the Lord, he will fan into a living flame the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we have already received. Then in the power of the Spirit we will be able to attend faithfully to whatever tasks the Lord is giving us, like the faithful servant in the gospel reading.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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roman-catholic-mass-readings · 2 years

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26th November >> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Saturday, Thirty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Saturday, Thirty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Colour: Green)

First Reading

Apocalypse 22:1-7

The Lord God will shine on them; it will never be night again.

The angel showed me, John, the river of life, rising from the throne of God and of the Lamb and flowing crystal-clear down the middle of the city street. On either side of the river were the trees of life, which bear twelve crops of fruit in a year, one in each month, and the leaves of which are the cure for the pagans.

The ban will be lifted. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in its place in the city; his servants will worship him, they will see him face to face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. It will never be night again and they will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will be shining on them. They will reign for ever and ever.

The angel said to me, ‘All that you have written is sure and will come true: the Lord God who gives the spirit to the prophets has sent his angel to reveal to his servants what is soon to take place. Very soon now, I shall be with you again.’ Happy are those who treasure the prophetic message of this book.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 94(95):1-7

R/ Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!

Come, ring out our joy to the Lord; hail the rock who saves us. Let us come before him, giving thanks, with songs let us hail the Lord.

R/ Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!

A mighty God is the Lord, a great king above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his. To him belongs the sea, for he made it and the dry land shaped by his hands.

R/ Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!

Come in; let us bow and bend low; let us kneel before the God who made us: for he is our God and we the people who belong to his pasture, the flock that is led by his hand.

R/ Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!

Gospel Acclamation

Matthew 24:42,44

Alleluia, alleluia! Stay awake and stand ready, because you do not know the hour when the Son of Man is coming. Alleluia!

Or:

Luke 21:36

Alleluia, alleluia! Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to stand with confidence before the Son of Man. Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 21:34-36

That day will be sprung on you suddenly, like a trap.

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will be sprung on you suddenly, like a trap. For it will come down on every living man on the face of the earth. Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

---------------------------------------------

Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(Liturgical Colour: White)

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Saturday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

Either:

First Reading

Genesis 3:9-15,20

The mother of all those who live.

After Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’

Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,

‘Be accursed beyond all cattle, all wild beasts. You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust every day of your life. I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. It will crush your head and you will strike its heel.’

The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

OR: --------

First reading Genesis 12:1-7 All the tribes of the earth shall bless themselves by you

The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.

‘I will bless those who bless you: I will curse those who slight you. All the tribes of the earth shall bless themselves by you.’

So Abram went as the Lord told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had amassed and the people they had acquired in Haran. They set off for the land of Canaan, and arrived there. Abram passed through the land as far as Shechem’s holy place, the Oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘It is to your descendants that I will give this land.’ So Abram built there an altar for the Lord who had appeared to him.

OR: --------

First reading 2 Samuel 7:1-5,8-11,16 The Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House

Once David had settled into his house and the Lord had given him rest from all the enemies surrounding him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘Look, I am living in a house of cedar while the ark of God dwells in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go and do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.’ But that very night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: ‘Go and tell my servant David, “Thus the Lord speaks: Are you the man to build me a house to dwell in? I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader of my people Israel; I have been with you on all your expeditions; I have cut off all your enemies before you. I will give you fame as great as the fame of the greatest on earth. I will provide a place for my people Israel; I will plant them there and they shall dwell in that place and never be disturbed again; nor shall the wicked continue to oppress them as they did, in the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel; I will give them rest from all their enemies. The Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House. Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established for ever.”’

OR: --------

First reading 1 Chronicles 15:3-4,15-16,16:1-2 They brought in the ark of God and put it inside the tent that David had pitched for it

David gathered all Israel together to bring the ark of God up to the place he had prepared for it. David called together the sons of Aaron and the sons of Levi. And the Levites carried the ark of God with the shafts on their shoulders, as Moses had ordered in accordance with the word of the Lord. David then told the heads of the Levites to assign duties for their kinsmen as cantors, with their various instruments of music, harps and lyres and cymbals, to play joyful tunes. They brought the ark of God in and put it inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and they offered holocausts before God, and communion sacrifices. And when David had finished offering holocausts and communion sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.

OR: --------

First reading Proverbs 8:22-31 Before the earth came into being, Wisdom was born

The Wisdom of God cries aloud:

The Lord created me when his purpose first unfolded, before the oldest of his works. From everlasting I was firmly set, from the beginning, before earth came into being. The deep was not, when I was born, there were no springs to gush with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I came to birth; before he made the earth, the countryside, or the first grains of the world’s dust. When he fixed the heavens firm, I was there, when he drew a ring on the surface of the deep, when he thickened the clouds above, when he fixed fast the springs of the deep, when he assigned the sea its boundaries – and the waters will not invade the shore – when he laid down the foundations of the earth, I was by his side, a master craftsman, delighting him day after day, ever at play in his presence, at play everywhere in his world, delighting to be with the sons of men.

OR: --------

First reading Ecclesiasticus 24:1-4,8-12,18-21 From eternity, in the beginning, God created wisdom

Wisdom speaks her own praises, in the midst of her people she glories in herself. She opens her mouth in the assembly of the Most High, she glories in herself in the presence of the Mighty One: ‘I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and I covered the earth like a mist. I had my tent in the heights, and my throne in a pillar of cloud. Then the creator of all things instructed me, and he who created me fixed a place for my tent. He said, “Pitch your tent in Jacob, make Israel your inheritance.” From eternity, in the beginning, he created me, and for eternity I shall remain. I ministered before him in the holy tabernacle, and thus was I established on Zion. In the beloved city he has given me rest, and in Jerusalem I wield my authority. I have taken root in a privileged people, in the Lord’s property, in his inheritance. Approach me, you who desire me, and take your fill of my fruits, for memories of me are sweeter than honey, inheriting me is sweeter than the honeycomb. They who eat me will hunger for more, they who drink me will thirst for more. Whoever listens to me will never have to blush, whoever acts as I dictate will never sin.’

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 7:10-14,8:10 The maiden is with child

The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’ Then Isaiah said:

‘Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men without trying the patience of my God, too? The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a sign. It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel, a name which means “God-is-with-us.”’

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 9:1-6 A Son is given to us

The people that walked in darkness has seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone. You have made their gladness greater, you have made their joy increase; they rejoice in your presence as men rejoice at harvest time, as men are happy when they are dividing the spoils.

For the yoke that was weighing on him, the bar across his shoulders, the rod of his oppressor, these you break as on the day of Midian.

For all the footgear of battle, every cloak rolled in blood, is burnt, and consumed by fire.

For there is a child born for us, a son given to us and dominion is laid on his shoulders; and this is the name they give him: Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace.

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 61:9-11 I exult for joy in the Lord

Their race will be famous throughout the nations, their descendants throughout the peoples. All who see them will admit that they are a race whom the Lord has blessed.

‘I exult for joy in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God, for he has clothed me in the garments of salvation, he has wrapped me in the cloak of integrity, like a bridegroom wearing his wreath, like a bride adorned in her jewels.

‘For as the earth makes fresh things grow, as a garden makes seeds spring up, so will the Lord make both integrity and praise spring up in the sight of the nations.’

OR: --------

First reading Micah 5:1-4 He will stand and feed his flock with the power of the Lord

The Lord says this:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, out of you will be born for me the one who is to rule over Israel; his origin goes back to the distant past, to the days of old. The Lord is therefore going to abandon them till the time when she who is to give birth gives birth. Then the remnant of his brothers will come back to the sons of Israel. He will stand and feed his flock with the power of the Lord, with the majesty of the name of his God. They will live secure, for from then on he will extend his power to the ends of the land. He himself will be peace.

OR: --------

First reading Zechariah 2:14-17 'I am coming', says the Lord

Sing, rejoice, daughter of Zion; for I am coming to dwell in the middle of you – it is the Lord who speaks. Many nations will join the Lord, on that day; they will become his people. But he will remain among you, and you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me to you. But the Lord will hold Judah as his portion in the Holy Land, and again make Jerusalem his very own. Let all mankind be silent before the Lord! For he is awaking and is coming from his holy dwelling.

-------- ________

EITHER: --------

Responsorial Psalm 1 Samuel 2:1,4-8

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

My heart exults in the Lord. I find my strength in my God; my mouth laughs at my enemies as I rejoice in your saving help.

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

The bows of the mighty are broken, but the weak are clothed with strength. Those with plenty must labour for bread, but the hungry need work no more. The childless wife has children now but the fruitful wife bears no more.

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

It is the Lord who gives life and death, he brings men to the grave and back; it is the Lord who gives poverty and riches. He brings men low and raises them on high.

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

He lifts up the lowly from the dust, from the dungheap he raises the poor to set him in the company of princes to give him a glorious throne. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, on them he has set the world.

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Judith 13:18a-19

You are the highest honour of our race!

May you be blessed, my daughter, by God Most High, beyond all women on earth; and may the Lord God be blessed, the Creator of heaven and earth.

You are the highest honour of our race!

The trust you have shown shall not pass from the memories of men, but shall ever remind them of the power of God.

You are the highest honour of our race!

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 44(45):11-12,14-17

Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.

Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words: forget your own people and your father’s house. So will the king desire your beauty: He is your lord, pay homage to him.

Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.

The daughter of the king is clothed with splendour, her robes embroidered with pearls set in gold. She is led to the king with her maiden companions.

Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.

They are escorted amid gladness and joy; they pass within the palace of the king. Sons shall be yours in place of your fathers: you will make them princes over all the earth.

Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words.

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 112(113):1-7

May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore! or Alleluia!

Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord! May the name of the Lord be blessed both now and for evermore!

May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore! or Alleluia!

From the rising of the sun to its setting praised be the name of the Lord! High above all nations is the Lord, above the heavens his glory.

May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore! or Alleluia!

Who is like the Lord, our God, who has risen on high to his throne yet stoops from the heights to look down, to look down upon heaven and earth? From the dust he lifts up the lowly, from the dungheap he raises the poor

May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore! or Alleluia!

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Luke 1:46-55

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name! or Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour.

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name! or Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

He looks on his servant in her nothingness; henceforth all ages will call me blessed. The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy his name!

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name! or Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

His mercy is from age to age, on those who fear him. He puts forth his arm in strength and scatters the proud-hearted.

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name! or Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

He casts the mighty from their thrones and raises the lowly. He fills the starving with good things, sends the rich away empty.

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name! or Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

He protects Israel, his servant, remembering his mercy, the mercy promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his sons for ever.

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name! or Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

-------- ________

Gospel Acclamation cf.Lk1:28

Alleluia, alleluia! Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women. Alleluia!

Or: cf.Lk1:45

Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled. Alleluia!

Or: cf.Lk2:19

Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who treasured the word of God and pondered it in her heart. Alleluia!

Or: Lk11:28

Alleluia, alleluia! Happy are those who hear the word of God and keep it. Alleluia!

Or:

Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise, for the sun of justice, Christ our God, was born of you. Alleluia!

Or:

Alleluia, alleluia! Happy is the Virgin Mary, who, without dying, won the palm of martyrdom beneath the cross of the Lord. Alleluia!

________

EITHER: --------

Gospel Matthew 1:1-16,18-23 The ancestry and conception of Jesus Christ

A genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham:

Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, Tamar being their mother, Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon was the father of Boaz, Rahab being his mother, Boaz was the father of Obed, Ruth being his mother, Obed was the father of Jesse; and Jesse was the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Azariah, Azariah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah; and Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers. Then the deportation to Babylon took place.

After the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob; and Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called Christ.

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel,

a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’

OR: --------

Gospel Matthew 1:18-23 How Jesus Christ came to be born

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel,

a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’

OR: --------

Gospel Matthew 2:13-15,19-23 The flight into Egypt and the return to Nazareth

After the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:

I called my son out of Egypt.

After Herod’s death, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, went back to the land of Israel. But when he learnt that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as ruler of Judaea he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he left for the region of Galilee. There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way the words spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled:

‘He will be called a Nazarene.’

OR: --------

Gospel Matthew 12:46-50 My mother and my brothers are anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven

Jesus was speaking to the crowds when his mother and his brothers appeared; they were standing outside and were anxious to have a word with him. But to the man who told him this Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’ And stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.’

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 1:26-38 'I am the handmaid of the Lord'

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 1:39-47 Blessed is she who believed the promise

Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’ And Mary said:

‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my saviour.’

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 2:1-14 'In the town of David a saviour has been born to you'

Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a census of the whole world to be taken. This census – the first – took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria, and everyone went to his own town to be registered. So Joseph set out from the town of Nazareth in Galilee and travelled up to Judaea, to the town of David called Bethlehem, since he was of David’s House and line, in order to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to a son, her first born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn. In the countryside close by there were shepherds who lived in the fields and took it in turns to watch their flocks during the night. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone round them. They were terrified, but the angel said, ‘Do not be afraid. Listen, I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people. Today in the town of David a saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. And here is a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly with the angel there was a great throng of the heavenly host, praising God and singing:

‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to men who enjoy his favour.’

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 2:15-19 The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem and found the baby lying in the manger

Now when the angels had gone from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they hurried away and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about him, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds had to say. As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 2:27-35 'A sword will pierce your soul too'

Prompted by the Spirit Simeon came to the Temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:

‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace, just as you promised; because my eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared for all the nations to see, a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel.’

As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 2:41-52 Mary stored up all these things in her heart

Every year the parents of Jesus used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual. When they were on their way home after the feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it. They assumed he was with the caravan, and it was only after a day’s journey that they went to look for him among their relations and acquaintances. When they failed to find him they went back to Jerusalem looking for him everywhere. Three days later, they found him in the Temple, sitting among the doctors, listening to them, and asking them questions; and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies. They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, ‘My child, why have, you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.’ ‘Why were you looking for me?’ he replied. ‘Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?’ But they did not understand what he meant. He then went down with them and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority. His mother stored up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and men.

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 11:27-28 'Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!'

As Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, ‘Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!’ But he replied, ‘Still happier those who hear the word of God and keep it!’

OR: --------

Gospel John 2:1-11 'My hour has not come yet' - 'Do whatever he tells you'

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. When they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the wedding was all finished, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said ‘Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not come yet.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ There were six stone water jars standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’, and they filled them to the brim. ‘Draw some out now’ he told them ‘and take it to the steward.’ They did this; the steward tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from – only the servants who had drawn the water knew – the steward called the bridegroom and said, ‘People generally serve the best wine first, and keep the cheaper sort till the guests have had plenty to drink; but you have kept the best wine till now.’ This was the first of the signs given by Jesus: it was given at Cana in Galilee. He let his glory be seen, and his disciples believed in him.

Or:

Gospel

John 19:25-27

'Woman, this is your son'.

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.’ Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home.

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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winter-came · 2 years

Note

YOU ASKED AND I AM HERE TO DELIVER. For the writer ask:

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end.

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

37. If you were to be remembered only by the words you’ve put on the page, what would future historians think of you?

friend, you are about to get very chaotic and half-coherent answers

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

- I don't think I have a ritual. Ritual is something you repeat right? Well, I have a random burst of writing energy between 11pm and 3am. That's the cursed part. I absolutely demolish my sleeping schedule.

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

- martyr

-gone

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

- a piece of writing 100% haunted me but you could put my hand into a fire rn and I won't tell you a quote

- and my own writing haunted me too. There are two quotes that just live rent-free in my head, you know which one I'm talking about

["take care of the world for me." & "when you look over your shoulder, what do you see? do I haunt you? to haunt. what a terrible word for missing someone."

- what does it mean for me? that no matter how loud my impostor syndrome can get, those pieces of my writing are undeniable proof I have it in me and it's GOOD.

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you to write about? What is easy?

- hard is good family dynamics, or in general writing nice/comfortable scenes [my other friend once said: you can't write about what you never experience and frankly I was speechless]

- I also can't write about romantic/sexual relationships. thas is just beyond my skills and appetite tbh

- easy is a tragedy [wink] and just pure unleashed angst

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end.

- friend? you are literally the first-hand witness to all of my passages and all "how it started, how it's going"

- but for someone who ISN'T...

“But why him?! He had nothing to do with it! ” tears rolled down his cheeks, glittering diamonds.

“Because it’s Hadia. Because it’s personal. All this could’ve been avoided if you just didn't lie.” Marana took out a vial with small orange beads inside of it. She unscrew a lid and reached through the bars. With a firm grip, she forced Roman’s mouth open. Emptying a bottle. “There.'' She let him go.

Roman spat out but the beads already melted. The bitter taste reminded him of cracked black pepper. “Really? A poison? You know that I am already dying!”

“Oh but that wasn't poison. It was an antidote.”

Marana looked straight into his eyes. “Death would be a mercy for you. But to live with a burden of guilt? Far better. More corrupting. Trust me, I know.” she leaned closer. “You will live out your days knowing that you cost them their lives. And for what? A bit of money. But don’t worry, I will secure that for you too.”

“You are a monster.”

“I might be. How do they call me in those rats-filled streets you call home?”

“Marana The Black.”

“Indeed, and there is a reason for it. You had a chance to not find out. And you fucking wasted it.”

this one started widely different. Roman was supposed to die because of the poison, and I held out, insisting on it for a very long time. Then I got an idea of how to keep him alive but make it worse. Marana was supposed to meet him only once and then be done with him. And it ended up looking like this. Honestly, I don't think this answer make sense but-

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

- no organization. I just have one large google doc for each story where I dump quotes, ideas, names, and written-down chapters.

-but I have also a folder in my computer with finished pdf versions

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

- hm I'm not sure what is being asked here. I don't prepare much? When I need to know something (e.g.which wood is durable but also very light) I just google it as I'm writing.

- I do think a lot about the ideas and plot connections, or how the characters move and talk and just what kind of person they are

- but in generally I sit down with very vague idea of what I want to happen in the scene and then I let the chaos reign

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

- Marcus Mercar has a cold allergy.

-Hadia has three cats - Sunny, Pumpkin, and Cleo [fun fact: I asked my very good friend to name those cats]

-Roman Bass HATES cabbage

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

- I will have to get back to you on this one.

but oof, something from the top of my head?

"I like to call myself a wound, but I will answer to a knife."

I saw this one once on Pinterest and just OUCHIE

what it means for me? just that sort of self-view that I pity myself often and think of how much I've been hurt but I fail to see myself as someone who had done damage.

BUT more often than not, it's actually reverse. That I see myself as the knife all the time [bad, cold, merciless, cruel] and refuse to see myself as the wound. ANYWAYS

37. If you were to be remembered only by the words you’ve put on the page, what would future historians think of you?

- this bitch was sadistically obsessed with tragedy

#thanks #enjoy this insane chaos answers #literally put no filter

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elperegrinodedios · 2 years

Text

🗝 Marana tha. Aramaico significa "il Signore sta arrivando" o anche "vieni presto Signore".

E lo spirito e la sposa dicono: "Vieni!" E chi ode dica: "Vieni". E chi ha sete, venga; e chi vuole, prenda in dono dell'acqua della vita. 📖

Ap. 22:17

E Colui che testimonia queste cose, dice: "Si, vengo presto. Amen". Si, vieni, Signore Gesù.

Ap. 22:20 🙏

📷 Finisterrae, l'ultimo scoglio sull'Oceano Atlantico.

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christophe76460 · 2 months

Text

Maranatha est la transcription grecque d’une expression araméenne. Elle est employée une seule fois dans le Nouveau Testament (1 Co 16,22). Il s’agit d’une acclamation liturgique utilisée par les premières communautés chrétiennes en Israel s’exprimant en araméen.

Il y a deux façons de traduire l’expression selon la place ou on coupe les deux expressions d’origine. La traduction habituelle est un vœu ou une prière : marana tha! viens Seigneur! C’est ce premier sens qui est privilégié dans la finale du livre de l’Apocalypse : « Celui qui atteste cela dit : Oui, je viens bientôt. Amen, vient Seigneur Jésus! (22,20) Ce texte grec est la transposition de la formule araméenne maranatha qui exprime l’espérance du retour du Christ à la fin des temps.

Par ailleurs, on peut aussi y voir maran atha qui serait une affirmation de foi : notre Seigneur est venu. C’est la façon de comprendre l’expression pour plusieurs des pères de l’Église ,un écrit chrétien de la fin du premier siècle, maranatha est une expression de salutation entre chrétiens qui est employée dans l’usage liturgique.

Maranatha est l’une des cinq expressions araméennes préservées dans le Nouveau Testament à cause de son usage liturgique. Les autres sont abba, alléluia, amen et hosanna.

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fr-martin-gospel-reflections · 6 months

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3rd December - ‘Stay awake’, Reflection on the readings for First Sunday of Advent (Mk 13:33-37)

First Sunday of Advent

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cmcsmen · 6 months

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Catholic Manhood Nuggets - Our Conscience and God's Mercy - Doing our best to be his loyal subjects here on earth

November 26, 2023 The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112623.cfm Matthew 25:31-46: The Son of Man will sit upon his glorious throne and he will separate them one from another.

"Though already present in his Church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled "with power and great glory" by the King's return to earth. This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ's Passover. Until everything is subject to him, 'until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God.' That is why Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ's return by saying to him: Marana tha! 'Our Lord, come!'" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 671)

On this feast of Christ our King, let us renew our pledge of loyalty to him, and so that this pledge will not be an empty formula, let each one of us resolve to study once more the spiritual and corporal works of mercy and see how well we put them into practice. If we have failed in the past, let us resolve to begin again today. Let us help one another.

Christ asks of us to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is the most basic and fundamental commandment. If we truly love our neighbor, we will do what is best for them, even if it means sacrificing our own desires. We will also be grateful for what our neighbor has done for us, and we will show our gratitude by doing something nice for them in return. When we meet Christ on our last day, He will judge us based on how we have treated our neighbor. If we have loved them and done what was best for them, we will be rewarded with eternal life. If we have not loved our neighbor, we will be punished with eternal death.

Christ is our king in this world. Let us make sure that he will be our king for all eternity by doing our best to be his loyal subjects here on earth.

#christ the king #conscience #god's mercy #chicago #catholicism #frank j casella #male catholic spirituality #catholic manhood nuggets

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catolinewsdailyreadings · 2 years

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Saturday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of Saturday, November 26, 2022

Reading 1

RV 22:1-7

John said: An angel showed me the river of life-giving water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the street, On either side of the river grew the tree of life that produces fruit twelve times a year, once each month; the leaves of the trees serve as medicine for the nations. Nothing accursed will be found anymore. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will look upon his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true, and the Lord, the God of prophetic spirits, sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon.” “Behold, I am coming soon.” Blessed is the one who keeps the prophetic message of this book.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 95:1-2, 3-5, 6-7AB

R./ Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!

Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD; let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us joyfully sing psalms to him. R./ Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!

For the LORD is a great God, and a great king above all gods; In his hands are the depths of the earth, and the tops of the mountains are his. His is the sea, for he has made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed. R./ Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!

Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD who made us. For he is our God, and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides. R./ Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!

Gospel

LK 21:34-36

Jesus said to his disciples: “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”

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kisahpedia · 2 years

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Kalender Liturgi 26 Nov 2022

Sabtu Pekan Biasa XXXIV

Warna Liturgi: Hijau

Bacaan I: Why 22:1-7

Mazmur Tanggapan: Mzm 95:1-2.3-5.6-7

Bait Pengantar Injil: Luk 21:36

Bacaan Injil: Luk 21:34-36

Bacaan I

Why 22:1-7

Malam takkan ada lagi, sebab Tuhan Allah akan menerangi mereka.

Bacaan dari Kitab Wahyu:

Aku, Yohanes, mendapat penglihatan sebagai berikut:

Malaikat Tuhan menunjukkan kepadaku sungai air kehidupan.

Airnya jernih bagaikan kristal,

dan mengalir ke luar dari takhta Allah dan takhta Anak Domba.

Di tengah-tengah jalan kota itu, yaitu seberang-menyeberang sungai itu,

ada pohon-pohon kehidupan yang berbuah dua belas kali,

tiap-tiap bulan sekali.

Dedaunan pohon itu dipakai untuk menyembuhkan bangsa-bangsa.

Maka takkan ada lagi laknat.

Takhta Allah dan takhta Anak Domba akan ada di dalamnya

dan hamba-hamba-Nya akan beribadah kepada-Nya.

Mereka akan melihat wajah-Nya,

dan nama-Nya akan tertulis di dahi mereka.

Malam takkan ada lagi di sana,

dan mereka takkan memerlukan lagi cahaya lampu dan cahaya matahari,

sebab Tuhan Allah akan menerangi mereka,

dan mereka akan memerintah sebagai raja sampai selama-lamanya.

Lalu Ia berkata kepadaku,

"Semua perkataan ini tepat dan benar.

Tuhan Allahlah yang memberi roh kepada para nabi

dan telah mengutus malaikat-Nya

untuk menunjukkan kepada hamba-hamba-Nya

apa yang harus segera terjadi.

Sungguh Aku datang segera.

Berbahagialah orang yang menuruti perkataan nubuat kitab ini!"

Demikianlah sabda Tuhan.

Mazmur Tanggapan

Mzm 95:1-2.3-5.6-7

R:Why 21:20b

Marana tha! Datanglah, ya Tuhan Yesus!

*Marilah kita bernyanyi-nyanyi bagi Tuhan,

bersorak-sorak bagi Gunung Batu keselamatan kita.

Biarlah kita menghadap wajah-Nya dengan lagu syukur,

bersorak-sorak bagi-Nya dengan nyanyian mazmur.

*Sebab Tuhan adalah Allah yang besar,

Raja Agung yang mengatasi segala dewata.

Lembah dan palung bumi ada di tangan-Nya,

puncak-puncak gunung pun kepunyaan-Nya.

Milik-Nyalah laut, Dia yang menjadikannya,

milik-Nyalah daratan, tangan-Nyalah yang membentuknya.

*Masuklah, marilah kita sujud menyembah,

berlutut di hadapan Tuhan yang menjadikan kita.

Sebab Dialah Allah kita;

kita ini umat gembalaan-Nya serta kawanan domba-Nya.

Bait Pengantar Injil

Luk 21:36

Berjaga-jaga dan berdoalah selalu,

agar kalian layak berdiri di hadapan Anak Manusia.

Bacaan Injil

Luk 21:34-36

Berjaga-jagalah,

agar kalian terluput dari malapetaka yang akan terjadi.

Inilah Injil Suci menurut Lukas:

Pada waktu itu Yesus berkata kepada murid-murid-Nya,

"Jagalah dirimu,

jangan sampai hatimu sarat dengan pesta pora dan kemabukan

serta kepentingan-kepentingan duniawi,

dan jangan sampai hari Tuhan tiba-tiba datang jatuh ke atas dirimu seperti suatu jerat.

Sebab ia akan menimpa semua penduduk bumi ini.

Berjaga-jagalah senantiasa, sambil berdoa,

agar kalian mendapat kekuatan

untuk luput dari semua yang akan terjadi itu,

dan agar kalian tahan berdiri di hadapan Anak Manusia."

Demikianlah sabda Tuhan.

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marana-tha-przyjdz-panie · 6 years

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#papież Franciszek #marana tha #Bóg #milosc #droga #prawda #zycie

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sophiechorus · 5 years

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youtube

Marana tha, przyjdź Jezu Panie,

w Swej chwale do nas zejdź!

Marana tha, usłysz wołanie,

gdy się wypełnią wieki!

#marana tha #hymns #polska

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roman-catholic-mass-readings · 2 years

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26th November >> Mass Readings (USA)

Saturday, Thirty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Saturday, Thirty Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Colour: Green)

First Reading

Revelation 22:1-7

Night will be no more, for the Lord God shall give them light.

And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true, and the Lord, the God of prophetic spirits, sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon.” “Behold, I am coming soon.” Blessed is the one who keeps the prophetic message of this book.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 95:1-2, 3-5, 6-7ab

R/ Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!

Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD; let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us joyfully sing psalms to him.

R/ Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!

Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD who made us. For he is our God, and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.

R/ Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!

Gospel Acclamation

Luke 21:36

Alleluia, alleluia. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you may have the strength to stand before the Son of Man. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Luke 21:34-36

Be vigilant that you may have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent.

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

-----------------------------------

Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary

(Liturgical Colour: White)

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Saturday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

Either:

First Reading

Genesis 3:9-15, 20

I will put enmity between your offspring and the offspring of the woman.

After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me– she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.” The LORD God then asked the woman, “Why did you do such a thing?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.” Then the LORD God said to the serpent:

“Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.”

The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

OR: --------

First reading Genesis 12:1-7 The Lord spoke to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants for ever (Luke 1:55).

The LORD said to Abram: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.

”I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.”

Abram went as the LORD directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai, his brother’s son Lot, all the possessions that they had accumulated, and the persons they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land as far as the sacred place at Shechem, by the terebinth of Moreh. (The Canaanites were then in the land.) The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.

OR: --------

First reading 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-11, 16 The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father (Luke 1:32).

When King David was settled in his palace, and the LORD had given him rest from his enemies on every side, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God dwells in a tent!” Nathan answered the king, “Go, do whatever you have in mind, for the LORD is with you.” But that night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said: “Go tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Should you build me a house to dwell in?’ “‘It was I who took you from the pasture and from the care of the flock to be commander of my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you went, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. And I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth. I will fix a place for my people Israel; I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place without further disturbance. Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old, since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.’”

OR: --------

First reading 1 Chronicles 15:3-4, 15-16; 16:1-2 They brought in the ark of God and set it within the tent which David had pitched for it.

David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring the ark of the LORD to the place which he had prepared for it. David also called together the sons of Aaron and the Levites. The Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders with poles, as Moses had ordained according to the word of the LORD. David commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brethren as chanters, to play on musical instruments, harps, lyres, and cymbals to make a loud sound of rejoicing. They brought in the ark of God and set it within the tent which David had pitched for it. Then they offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings to God. When David had finished offering up the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD.

OR: --------

First reading Proverbs 8:22-31 Mary, seat of Wisdom.

The Wisdom of God says:

“The LORD begot me, the first-born of his ways, the forerunner of his prodigies of long ago; From of old I was poured forth, at the first, before the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no fountains or springs of water; Before the mountains were settled into place, before the hills, I was brought forth; While as yet the earth and fields were not made, nor the first clods of the world.

“When he established the heavens I was there, when he marked out the vault over the face of the deep; When he made firm the skies above, when he fixed fast the foundations of the earth; When he set for the sea its limit, so that the waters should not transgress his command; Then was I beside him as his craftsman, and I was his delight day by day, Playing before him all the while, playing on the surface of his earth; and I found delight in the sons of men.”

OR: --------

First reading Sirach 24:1-2, 3-4, 8-12, 18-21 Mary, seat of Wisdom.

Wisdom sings her own praises and is honored in God, before her own people she proclaims her glory; In the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth, in the presence of his power she declares her worth.

“From the mouth of the Most High I came forth the first-born before all creatures. I made that in the heavens there should arise light that never fades and mistlike covered the earth. In the highest heavens did I dwell, my throne on a pillar of cloud.

“Then the Creator of all gave me his command, and he who formed me chose the spot for my tent, Saying, ‘In Jacob make your dwelling, in Israel your inheritance and among my chosen put down your roots.’ Before all ages, in the beginning, he created me, and through all ages I shall not cease to be. In the holy tent I ministered before him, and in Zion I fixed my abode. Thus in the chosen city he has given me rest, in Jerusalem is my domain. I have struck root among the glorious people, in the portion of the LORD, his heritage and in the company of the holy ones do I linger.

“Come to me, all you that yearn for me, and be filled with my fruits; You will remember me as sweeter than honey, better to have than the honeycomb my memory is unto everlasting generations. Whoever eats of me will hunger still, whoever drinks of me will thirst for more; Whoever obeys me will not be put to shame, whoever serves me will never fail.”

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10 The virgin shall conceive and bear a son.

The LORD spoke to Ahaz: Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky! But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!” Then Isaiah said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel which means “God is with us.”

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 9:1-6 A son is given us.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing, As they rejoice before you as at the harvest, as people make merry when dividing spoils. For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, And the rod of their taskmaster you have smashed, as on the day of Midian. For every boot that tramped in battle, every cloak rolled in blood, will be burned as fuel for flames.

For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, From David’s throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains By judgment and justice, both now and forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!

OR: --------

First reading Isaiah 61:9-11 I rejoice heartily in the Lord.

Thus says the LORD:

Their descendants shall be renowned among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; All who see them shall acknowledge them as a race the LORD has blessed.

I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul; For he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, Like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels. As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, So will the Lord GOD make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.

OR: --------

First reading Micah 5:1-4a Until the time when she who is to give birth has borne.

The LORD says:

You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; Whose origin is from of old, from ancient times. (Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time when she who is to give birth has borne, And the rest of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel.) He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock by the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD, his God; And they shall remain, for now his greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth; he shall be peace.

OR: --------

First reading Zechariah 2:14-17 Rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming.

Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD. Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day, and they shall be his people, and he will dwell among you, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land, and he will again choose Jerusalem. Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD! for he stirs forth from his holy dwelling.

-------- ________

EITHER: --------

Responsorial Psalm 1 Samuel 2:1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd

My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

“My heart exults in the LORD, my horn is exalted in my God. I have swallowed up my enemies; I rejoice in my victory.”

My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

“The bows of the mighty are broken, while the tottering gird on strength. The well-fed hire themselves out for bread, while the hungry batten on spoil. The barren wife bears seven sons, while the mother of many languishes.”

My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

“The LORD puts to death and gives life; he casts down to the nether world; he raises up again. The LORD makes poor and makes rich, he humbles, he also exalts.”

My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

“He raises the needy from the dust; from the dung heap he lifts up the poor, To seat them with nobles and make a glorious throne their heritage.”

My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Judith 13:18bcde, 19

You are the highest honor of our race.

“Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, above all the women on earth; and blessed be the LORD God, the creator of heaven and earth.”

You are the highest honor of our race.

“Your deed of hope will never be forgotten by those who tell of the might of God.”

You are the highest honor of our race.

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 45:11-12, 14-15, 16-17

Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.

Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear, forget your people and your father’s house. So shall the king desire your beauty; for he is your lord, and you must worship him.

Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.

All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters; her raiment is threaded with spun gold. In embroidered apparel she is borne in to the king; behind her the virgins of her train are brought to you.

Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.

They are borne in with gladness and joy; they enter the palace of the king. The place of your fathers your sons shall have; you shall make them princes through all the land.

Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear.

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 113:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever. or Alleluia.

Praise, you servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. Blessed be the name of the LORD both now and forever.

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever. or Alleluia.

From the rising to the setting of the sun is the name of the LORD to be praised. High above all nations is the LORD; above the heavens is his glory.

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever. or Alleluia.

Who is like the LORD, our God, who is enthroned on high and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever. or Alleluia.

He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill he lifts up the poor To seat them with princes, with the princes of his own people.

Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever. or Alleluia.

OR: --------

Responsorial Psalm Luke 1:46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 52-53, 54-55

The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. or O Blessed Virgin Mary, you carried the Son of the eternal Father.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. or O Blessed Virgin Mary, you carried the Son of the eternal Father.

“For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name.”

The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. or O Blessed Virgin Mary, you carried the Son of the eternal Father.

“He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit.”

The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. or O Blessed Virgin Mary, you carried the Son of the eternal Father.

“He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.”

The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. or O Blessed Virgin Mary, you carried the Son of the eternal Father.

“He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.”

The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. or O Blessed Virgin Mary, you carried the Son of the eternal Father.

-------- ________

Gospel Acclamation see Luke 1:28

Alleluia, alleluia. Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or: see Luke 1:45

Alleluia, alleluia. Blessed are you, O Virgin Mary, who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or: see Luke 2:19

Alleluia, alleluia. Blessed is the Virgin Mary who kept the word of God and pondered it in her heart. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or: Luke 11:28

Alleluia, alleluia. Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or:

Alleluia, alleluia. Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, deserving of all praise; from you rose the sun of justice, Christ our God. Alleluia, alleluia.

Or:

Alleluia, alleluia. Blessed are you, O Virgin Mary; without dying you won the martyr’s crown beneath the Cross of the Lord. Alleluia, alleluia.

________

EITHER: --------

Gospel Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23 For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse, Jesse the father of David the king. David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asaph. Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah. Uzziah became the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amos, Amos the father of Josiah. Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylonian exile. After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us.”

OR: --------

Gospel Matthew 1:18-23 For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us.”

OR: --------

Gospel Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt.

When the magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, Out of Egypt I called my son. When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, He shall be called a Nazorean.

OR: --------

Gospel Matthew 12:46-50 Stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, here are my mother and my brothers.

While Jesus was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.” But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 1:26-38 Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son.

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 1:39-47 Blessed is she who believed.

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” And Mary said:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 2:1-14 She gave birth to her firstborn son.

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 2:15b-19 Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.

The shepherds said to one another, “Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 2:27-35 You yourself a sword will pierce.

Simeon came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:

“Lord, now let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled; my own eyes have seen the salvation which you prepared in the sight of every people: a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 2:41-52 Your father and I have been looking for you.

Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.

OR: --------

Gospel Luke 11:27-28 Blessed is the womb that carried you.

While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

OR: --------

Gospel John 2:1-11 The mother of Jesus was there.

There was a wedding in Cana at Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from although the servers who had drawn the water knew, the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.

Or:

Gospel

John 19:25-27

Behold, your son. Behold, your mother.

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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eternal-echoes · 3 years

Text

Catechism of the Catholic Church

VII. The Eucharist - "Pledge of the Glory To Come"

1402 In an ancient prayer the Church acclaims the mystery of the Eucharist: "O sacred banquet in which Christ is received as food, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the soul is filled with grace and a pledge of the life to come is given to us." If the Eucharist is the memorial of the Passover of the Lord Jesus, if by our communion at the altar we are filled "with every heavenly blessing and grace,"239 then the Eucharist is also an anticipation of the heavenly glory.

1403 At the Last Supper the Lord himself directed his disciples' attention toward the fulfillment of the Passover in the kingdom of God: "I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."240 Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist she remembers this promise and turns her gaze "to him who is to come." In her prayer she calls for his coming: "Marana tha!" "Come, Lord Jesus!"241 "May your grace come and this world pass away!"242

1404 The Church knows that the Lord comes even now in his Eucharist and that he is there in our midst. However, his presence is veiled. Therefore we celebrate the Eucharist "awaiting the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ,"243 asking "to share in your glory when every tear will be wiped away. On that day we shall see you, our God, as you are. We shall become like you and praise you for ever through Christ our Lord."244

1405 There is no surer pledge or dearer sign of this great hope in the new heavens and new earth "in which righteousness dwells,"245 than the Eucharist. Every time this mystery is celebrated, "the work of our redemption is carried on" and we "break the one bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, and the food that makes us live for ever in Jesus Christ."246

#Catholic #Christianity #Catechism

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lawrenceop · 3 years

Text

HOMILY for 2nd Sunday of Advent (EF)

Rom 15:4-13; Matt 11:2-10

“Excita… Domine.” For the last two Sundays, and again today, the Collect of the Mass has begun with these words: “Rouse up, we beseech you, O Lord…” And we will hear it again on the fourth Sunday of Advent. So, four times over this time of year and in this season of Advent, the Mass opens with this word Excita, meaning excite, rouse up, arise, stir up. It is an allusion, perhaps, to psalm 80:2, “Stir up thy might, and come to save us!”, calling upon God to come and rescue us. The allusion is clearer in last Sunday’s Collect: “Stir up Thy power, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and come”, and it is a prayer addressed directly to God the Son, asking Christ our Lord to come into our world as our Deliverer, to protect and save us from sin. What is implicit in this prayer, though, is made more explicit in today’s Collect.

For how is it that Christ will come to save and protect us from sin? If our focus is simply on his historical first coming at Advent, then we are speaking about the objective reality of what Christ has accomplished by his incarnation and his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Christ, in coming as Man has rescued Man from the sin of Adam. However, Advent, as I noted last Sunday, is concerned with the second coming of Christ as our Judge. So, Christ comes, definitively at the end of time, to deliver the Elect, his chosen ones, his holy Church, and to put an end to sin and its effects. The Collect, then, becomes a prayer suffused with eschatological hope, looking forward to Christ’s return in glory. And this, of course, is fitting for Advent. Indeed, the cry of the early Church, Marana tha, (Come, Lord!) is echoed in last Sunday’s Collect, “Stir up Thy power… Lord, and come!”

However, this Sunday’s Collect, deepens our understanding of precisely the manner in which we desire Christ to come and save us: it isn’t historical, in the past, nor something visible in the future. Rather, we ask the Lord to come here and now to us. Christ comes to us unseen and invisibly but truly through grace. Thus St Bernard of Clairvaux says that between the two comings of the Lord in the flesh there is an “intermediate coming [which is] a hidden one; in it only the elect see the Lord within their own selves, and they are saved.” Today’s Collect alludes to the coming of divine grace into our own selves; a prevenient grace, one might say, meaning, a grace that goes before in order to prepare us to be receptive to the Lord. So we said in the Collect: “Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the ways of Thine only-begotten Son”.

This means that, even before we can pray, even before we can do anything good, anything that has merit in God’s sight, we need God’s grace to move us, to prepare us, to cause us to be receptive. It is God, therefore, who first acts to choose us as his own; it is he who gives us our vocation, we might say, and so it is he who, foreseeing all things, has predestined us for glory, and so he gives us his grace to accomplish this. In a nutshell, this is the vital aspect of Catholic teaching on grace, on divine predestination, that safeguards the sovereignty and utter necessity of God’s grace for us human beings. For as Jesus says in St John’s Gospel, “without me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). Without the grace of God moving us, preparing us, supporting our good actions, and bringing them to perfection, we can do nothing good, including pray, assent to God’s Word in the Scriptures, obey the moral law, and so on.

A contrary notion, and sadly very common these days, would hold that we human beings can still do good and turn towards God and be saved purely through our own wills and natural reasoning, independent of God’s graced first moving us. There is in modernity, therefore, this idea that Man’s reason and will is sovereign, and seemingly on a par with God’s. And yet, the Council of Trent corrected this kind of thinking. It said: “God touches the heart of man with the illumination of the Holy Spirit, but man himself is not entirely inactive while receiving that inspiration, since he can reject it; and yet, without God’s grace, he cannot by his own free will move toward justice in God’s sight.” In other words, no human being can, simply by his own power and will, resist sin and be saved.

In today’s Collect, therefore, the Church prays for that which we had not been able to ask for ourselves, namely, for God’s prevenient grace that prepares one for conversion, and that brings a person to faith and trust in the Saviour. So we, in praying this in the Church’s Liturgy today, are praying for the countless others who have not yet heard the Gospel, who do not yet believe, and who are not yet Saints, just as, since the 8th-century when this prayer began to be said in the Advent Liturgy, the Church has been praying for you and for me. We pray, therefore, that God’s grace will stir up our hearts and prepare us to serve the Lord when he comes, and so to be protected and kept safe from sin. Hence scholars say that today’s Collect is a correlative of last week’s Collect. Because last Sunday we asked Jesus to come and save us from sin, and today, we pray that God the Father will save us from sin by first moving our hearts, inclining us towards the good, preparing us to be open to divine grace, and to say “Yes” to the Father’s will. In fact, the coming feast of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception shows us the primacy of God’s grace and the astonishing power of prevenient grace in the lives of the elect. For it is God’s prevenient grace that sanctifies Mary from the moment of her conception, choosing her and causing her to be the predestined Mother of God. So, too, God’s grace has been at work in us, even before we were baptised, even before our conversion to faith in Christ. Today’s Collect points to the primacy of God’s grace, and the Liturgy prays for all those who are still to join us in worshipping the one true God.

Moreover, we pray today for ourselves. During this season of Advent, we ask God for the grace of a deeper conversion to his ways, a greater authenticity in our Christian lives; we pray God’s grace to come invisibly to excite our hearts; to rouse us from the slumbers of sin, and to stir us up from our complacency. Thus St Bernard says, “Let [God’s Word, ie: Jesus Christ] enter into your very being, let it take possession of your desires and your whole way of life. Feed on goodness, and your soul will delight in its richness. Remember to eat your bread [ie: sacred Scripture], or your heart will wither away. Fill your soul with richness and strength.” For it is only through this coming of Christ within our selves, as St Bernard says – through the coming of God, through grace active in us – that we are thus kept from sin and saved.

Today’s Collect, therefore, is a prayer for now, and indeed for every day, that the Lord will stir up our hearts with his grace, and so prepare us for salvation and good works, even as St John the Baptist had been sent to prepare the world through repentance and miracles for the Son’s first coming.

#prevenient grace #grace #salvation #preparation #premotion #divine premotion

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