Are you prepared for the Second Coming? As Advent approaches, let's embark on a deeply spiritual journey, reflecting on this season divided into two significant parts. The first stage, from the first Sunday of Advent to December 16th, calls for our vigilance as we anticipate the day of the Lord, echoing John the Baptist's plea for conversion. With December 17th marking the shift to the second stage, our hearts and minds are steered towards the joyful celebration of the Nativity of the Lord. Through the readings from Isaiah, Corinthians, and Mark, we are reminded of the essence of the Second Coming and the need for constant vigilance. Also, we delve into the profound significance of the Eucharistic preface during Advent, a powerful affirmation of God's promise fulfilled through Christ's coming.
But, Advent isn't merely a season of anticipation; it's a call to action. In the spirit of the season, we're all summoned to bring Christ into the world, spreading His love far and wide. In our everyday interactions and relationships, we have the divine opportunity to function as instruments of God's will. Advent extends beyond the festive preparations and gift exchanges; it's a time for us to prepare for Christ's glorious return. We're invited to embrace the guidance of the Holy Spirit, whose essential role in enlightening our path and steering our actions during this period cannot be overstated. Let's open our hearts to this divine guidance and recommit to live as children of God in this world. Join us on this transformative journey through Advent.
Have something you'd love to hear Fr. Stephen and John talk about? Email us at myfriendthefriar@gmail.com or click here!
Are you prepared for the Second Coming? As Advent approaches, let's embark on a deeply spiritual journey, reflecting on this season divided into two significant parts. The first stage, from the first Sunday of Advent to December 16th, calls for our vigilance as we anticipate the day of the Lord, echoing John the Baptist's plea for conversion. With December 17th marking the shift to the second stage, our hearts and minds are steered towards the joyful celebration of the Nativity of the Lord. Through the readings from Isaiah, Corinthians, and Mark, we are reminded of the essence of the Second Coming and the need for constant vigilance. Also, we delve into the profound significance of the Eucharistic preface during Advent, a powerful affirmation of God's promise fulfilled through Christ's coming.
But, Advent isn't merely a season of anticipation; it's a call to action. In the spirit of the season, we're all summoned to bring Christ into the world, spreading His love far and wide. In our everyday interactions and relationships, we have the divine opportunity to function as instruments of God's will. Advent extends beyond the festive preparations and gift exchanges; it's a time for us to prepare for Christ's glorious return. We're invited to embrace the guidance of the Holy Spirit, whose essential role in enlightening our path and steering our actions during this period cannot be overstated. Let's open our hearts to this divine guidance and recommit to live as children of God in this world. Join us on this transformative journey through Advent.
Have something you'd love to hear Fr. Stephen and John talk about? Email us at myfriendthefriar@gmail.com or click here!
Speaker 1:
Welcome to our podcast, friends. Thank you so much for listening. If you like our podcast and want to support us, please subscribe or follow us, and please don't forget to click the notification bell so you will be notified when new episodes release. Thank you and God bless. Greetings, friends, and welcome to our podcast. This is my first solo flight.
Speaker 1:
We were going to drop our follow-up episode on the Synod, but we decided to interrupt our scheduled program to speak of the approaching season of Advent, or John may decide that this will be a bonus episode. It will be totally up to him. I would ask you to please listen to our previous podcast on Advent entitled Getting the Most Out of Advent for Foundation, which to place today's podcast on this Sunday's readings, which will be the first Sunday of Advent for this year. As I stated in the podcast I just referred to, liturgically, advent is divided into two sections. The first part is from the first Sunday of Advent until the 16th of December, and the second section of Advent is from the 17th of December to the 24th of December. The principal readings during Advent that are read at our Sunday liturgies deal with the themes of vigilance for the day of the Lord. They also speak of John the Baptist calling us to conversion, and the following Sunday preparing the way of the Lord, and the last Sunday in preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of the Lord. Because our liturgical year is divided into cycles year A, year B and year C the themes are the same for each year but the scripture read is from different sacred authors or different chapters of the same sacred authors, usually Isaiah for the first couple of Sundays.
Speaker 1:
The readings for the first two weeks of Advent focus on the prophetic literature. During the first week and a half, isaiah for the daily readings, and these point to the coming of the Messiah. And the Gospel readings point to how these prophecies of the Old Testament are fulfilled in the incarnation of Christ or in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. But for us as Catholics, they not only point to the birth of Christ but also to his second and definitive coming at the end of time. So in preparation for the Nativity, or rather the incarnation is also a celebration of the beginning of the end times. With the incarnation we enter into the last age of man. So before I cite the readings for this Sunday, let me read the Eucharistic preface for this part of Advent, which is for the first and second Sunday of Advent up until December 16th, for he assumed at his first coming the loneliness of human flesh and so fulfilled the design you formed long ago and opened for us the way to eternal salvation that, when he comes again in glory and majesty and all is at last made manifest, we who watch for that day may inherit the great promise in which, now, we dare to hope.
Speaker 1:
This year, december 3rd is the first Sunday of Advent and we find ourselves beginning the liturgical year in the B cycle of readings. The first reading is taken from the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 63, and we have Isaiah's lament, and in that lament we see the desire for the coming of the promised one, or the coming of the Messiah, the anointed one. I'll just read the verses I would like to focus on Again. This is from Isaiah, chapter 63. You, lord, are our Father, our Redeemer. You are named forever. Why do you let us wander, o Lord, from your ways and harden our hearts so that we fear you not Return, for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage? O, that you would rend the heavens and come down with the mountains quaking before you while you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for, such as they had not heard from of old.
Speaker 1:
Historically, the prophet is giving voice to the immensely complicated situation that Israel finds itself in. They have returned from exile and are amid the difficult and demanding orc of reconstructing Jerusalem. The task at hand seems titanic to their abilities and the prophet verbalizes this heart-rending supplication. Trusting in the fatherhood of God. Taking the situation to heart, we now look for the eternal truth that is found in God's word. We can see that the Herculanean effort of humanity to find its way to God is beyond our unaided human capacity, even though many have tried throughout history time and again. We as Christian Catholics see that Isaiah's plea O, that you would rend the heavens and come down while you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for, such as they had not heard from of old, is the plea that is answered, and answered in a way most awesome and unexpected, in the incarnation of God's very word. The heavens have been rent and God has come down to dwell among us in Christ Jesus. But besides being awesome, what does this mean?
Speaker 1:
The second reading, taken from St Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 1, verses 3 to 9, speaks of the Second Coming. According to the community, paul says you lack no spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel reading is taken from the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 13, verses 33 to 37,. This reading speaks of the necessary vigilance of the disciple Be constantly on the watch, stay awake. You do not know when the appointed time will come. Do not let him come suddenly and catch you asleep.
Speaker 1:
The section of the Gospel read for Sunday's reading, this first Sunday of Advent of the year B, deals with Mark's final discourse on the day of the Lord, or the Second Coming, and the need for vigilance. So we see, then, that Isaiah's plea is answered in the Christ event and that the community of disciples is given the assistance of the Holy Spirit in its vigilance. But the assistance of the Holy Spirit does not mean that we be complacent. Yes, we must trust that our heavenly Father desires our good and our fullness, but there is a responsibility that we must take as we try to live as the Father's children through the Spirit and in Christ. The question to us would be a question that probes our genuine desire to grow in virtue and holiness, to live as the new creatures we have become through the grace of baptism.
Speaker 1:
The question, then, is we enter our Advent preparation for the celebration of the Nativity, but also considering the Second Coming of Christ, that final and glorious coming and the judgment of all things? We ask ourselves have I entered into the struggle of rending the heavens and allowing Christ to manifest Himself to the world through me? The vigilance that is asked of us is the vigilance of this fidelity. Yes, we're all broken, we're all human, we all sin. But the question that is asked is am I entering into that struggle? Am I willing to commit to my own conversion? Am I willing to commit to my struggle to allow Christ to manifest Himself in me and through me to those around us?
Speaker 1:
It's easy for us to complain, it's easy for us to wring our hands, it's easy for us to proclaim how broken the world is and it is. It is broken, but we, as a community of faith, as we celebrate Advent, we ourselves need to ask ourselves what am I doing to bring Christ into the world? What am I doing to bring Christ into my marriage, into my family, into my relationships? Am I willing to consider my role? What are the ways in which I commit to being this instrument, to allowing Christ to reach out to those around me through my own efforts? So I would ask that, as you move forward in your Advent time, that you consider these things.
Speaker 1:
It's not just about Christmas, it's not just about sales. It's about the fact that we all have to stand before Christ when he comes in glory. And am I prepared for that? So, taking consolation on the fact that the Holy Spirit dwells in us, with us, and guides us and enlightens us, what do I have to do during this time of Advent to open myself up to that guidance, that enlightenment and that recommitment, to live as God, the Father's child, in the world, and to manifest that in the way I interact with others. God bless you during this time. Thank you.