First Sunday of Advent

Lectionary: 1

Reading 1

Isaiah 2:1-5

This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz,
saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come,
the mountain of the LORD's house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
"Come, let us climb the LORD's mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths."
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
one nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
O house of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the Lord!

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
"We will go up to the house of the LORD."
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
May those who love you prosper!
May peace be within your walls,
prosperity in your buildings.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Because of my brothers and friends
I will say, "Peace be within you!"
Because of the house of the LORD, our God,
I will pray for your good.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Reading 2

Romans 13:11-14

Brothers and sisters:
You know the time;
it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.
For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;
the night is advanced, the day is at hand.
Let us then throw off the works of darkness
and put on the armor of light;
let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day,
not in orgies and drunkenness,
not in promiscuity and lust,
not in rivalry and jealousy.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

Alleluia

Cf. Psalm 85:8

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Show us Lord, your love;
and grant us your salvation.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Matthew 24:37-44

Jesus said to his disciples:
"As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
In those days before the flood,
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage,
up to the day that Noah entered the ark.
They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.
So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be out in the field;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Therefore, stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come."

 

 

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

 

Today is the First Sunday of Advent. This is where a New Liturgical Year begins in the church and we also enter into a new season, You will notice the presence of the color of violet in the preparation of the altar and Clerical vestments during mass. We also have the Advent Wreath with the four Advent Candles, three being purple and one being the color of rose. All these things serve a particular function and are meant to enrich our spiritual life and faith experience. Purple symbolizes penance, preparation, and the royalty of Christ. Purple is the main Advent color. This color represents a time of introspection, prayer, and reflection, encouraging believers to prepare their hearts for the coming of Jesus.

 

Which coming are we to prepare ourselves for? A common mistake that many Christians make is to think that Advent is a season of preparation for Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ. In actuality, Advent is a time of reflection on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. With the beginning of a new Liturgical Year, we are encouraged to take this time to reflect on the past year with an examination of conscious. We can ask ourselves what did we do right? What did we do wrong? What could we have done better? The central question from where all of these others one will stem from is the following: “Are we truly prepared and ready for Jesus Christ to come again in all of His glory to judge the living and the dead? It is through this exercise that we start to change our behaviors and examine our faith-life more closely. It is an opportunity for us to make Jesus Christ the central aspect of our lives, while making the adjustments necessary to achieve just that.

 

Penance is an important part of this season, for you cannot have any fundamental change in one’s life unless there is an acknowledgement of what was done wrong, a plea for forgiveness, and repentance (a changing of one’s ways). If approached with the proper intent, Advent can be a season that meads to a transformative experience and a betterment of oneself. This is part of the Christ Experience and should happen by being willing to encounter Jesus by focusing our mind, body, and spirit on Him in this way.

 

Each Sunday of Advent has a particular theme, which we are encouraged to meditate on for that particular day and week. Today is dedicated to HOPE, an expectation of things to come. We as Christians need to remind ourselves that we should have an expectation that Jesus Christ will return to judge to living and the dead. We should also have an expectation of eternal life with Him. If we are in right relationship with God, then we will know and expect this without any doubt. This being the case, we should then focus are lives with Jesus Christ at its center, because we truly believe in these things. Having HOPE means that the allures of this world have no power over us, because God is on our side and part of His Divine Plan and His plans for us, have already been revealed to us. Lacking HOPE will cause us to doubt, which means that we have a lot of work to do during this Advent Season.

 

God offers a vision of peace, forgiveness, and the coming of Jesus Christ through the prophet of Isaiah today. He also offers offers us an opportunity of redemption and forgiveness of sins. It comes in the form of an invitation: “

 

"Come, let us climb the LORD's mountain,

to the house of the God of Jacob,

that he may instruct us in his ways,

and we may walk in his paths."

 

God calls us to Him so as to enter into relationship with Him, whereupon we will receive the proper guidance and protection to live a fuller, more complete life. Accepting this invitation can make this a very important Advent Season indeed. It can be one filled with a renewed life with new responsibilities. The instructions we receive are ones that need to be passed on to others It becomes an responsibility of our and should not be taken lightly. Jesus had already said that the ones where who were given great responsibilities and fulfilled them, more would be expected. This goes for us also, who are well on our way pertaining to our journey of faith. Now we must interact with like-minded people and become instructors ourselves through the workings of the Holy Spirit.

 

The Gospel Reading today focused on Jesus’ warning to His disciples about Final Judgement. Between the prophet Isaiah and Jesus’ words we should have the understanding that our conduct does matter and will have a direct impact on our relationship with God: Do we push Him out or do we invite Him in?” Ultimately, we are the only ones who can answer that question and are going to be the only ones who will experience the consequences of our actions, be them good or bad. Obviously, the good consequences are better than the alternative, but ultimately the choice is up to us. The choice is offered by none other than God Himself. The type of Advent that we can experience will be reflective of what choice we decide to make.

 

Deacon Tom

 

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Lectionary: 162

Reading 1

2 Samuel 5:1-3

In those days, all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and said:
"Here we are, your bone and your flesh.
In days past, when Saul was our king,
it was you who led the Israelites out and brought them back.
And the LORD said to you,
'You shall shepherd my people Israel
and shall be commander of Israel.'"
When all the elders of Israel came to David in Hebron,
King David made an agreement with them there before the LORD,
and they anointed him king of Israel.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5

R. (cf. 1) Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
"We will go up to the house of the LORD."
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Reading 2

Colossians 1:12-20

Brothers and sisters:
Let us give thanks to the Father,
who has made you fit to share
in the inheritance of the holy ones in light.
He delivered us from the power of darkness
and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the blood of his cross
through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.

Alleluia

Mark 11:9, 10

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Luke 23:35-43

The rulers sneered at Jesus and said,
"He saved others, let him save himself
if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God."
Even the soldiers jeered at him.
As they approached to offer him wine they called out,
"If you are King of the Jews, save yourself."
Above him there was an inscription that read,
"This is the King of the Jews."

Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying,
"Are you not the Christ?
Save yourself and us."
The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply,
"Have you no fear of God,
for you are subject to the same condemnation?
And indeed, we have been condemned justly,
for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes,
but this man has done nothing criminal."
Then he said,
"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
He replied to him,
"Amen, I say to you,
today you will be with me in Paradise."

 

My Brothers and Sisters,

 

Today is the day where we recognize Jesus for who He is: The King of the Universe. Even though we should be doing this every moment of our lives, we do this today with greater emphasis, gathered to worship Him on this last Sunday in Ordinary Time. Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in 1925 with his encyclical Quas primas (“In the first”) to respond to growing secularism and atheism.  He recognized that attempting to “thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law” out of public life would result in continuing discord among people and nations. This solemnity reminds us that while governments come and go, Christ reigns as King forever. During the early twentieth century, in Mexico, Russia, and some parts of Europe, militantly secularistic regimes threatened not just the Catholic Church and its faithful but civilization itself. Pope Pius XI’s encyclical gave Catholics hope and—while governments around them crumbled—the assurance that Christ the King shall reign forever.

 

What Pope Pius spoke about then, remains true today. The same threats to the Church and to the people of God seem to gather strength and a more powerful voice, while the faithful are continuously attacked and belittled. Christians are persecuted world-wide while there is an organized attempt to reduce the influence of the Church. This Solemnity is a reminder that, even though this is occurring, we have an advocate who is more powerful than anything that can oppose us. We have our king, our God, and our creator.

 

When the Church is persecuted, it becomes stronger as a result; like iron forged in a furnace. When we suffer, we too become stronger as a result. This is because Jesus is suffering with us. He also suffered for us, so we too must suffer if we are going to live a joyous life. His experiences are intertwined with ours. It is a wonderful relationship with many different aspects to explore while we journey through this life of ours. We cannot be convinced to minimize our relationship with Jesus and follow a path that leads us away from Him. That is what the enemies of God want us to do. They want us to abandon our faith in favor of a new faith which puts selfishness and self-reliance above everything else.

 

The Church teaches us to live our faith in public and refuse to be silenced by the secular forces rooted in this world. As Jesus said,

 

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly father.”

 

This cannot be done in private. Yes, we are taught that there is a personal aspect of our relationship with God, but there is also a public one where we are commissioned to go forth and make disciples of the nations, thus glorifying God. The personal aspect of our relationship with God should motivate us to go forward doing good works and praising His name. We cannot be embarrassed or forced into silence. We also cannot selectively place our faith on the bookshelf while pursuing other things. It must be all-encompassing. If Jesus Christ is truly our king, then we must treat Him that way.

 

In his letter to the Colossians, The Apostle Paul wrote,

 

“He delivered us from the power of darkness

and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

 

We, as God’s children, have already received a birthright. It is through recognizing who Jesus is and participating in a relationship with Him that we have already achieved victory. We are victorious in all things and our sins have been forgiven. Those who reject Jesus and refuse to recognize the kingship that God has given Him, are destined for a doom of their own choosing. They have chosen a different path that eventually ends like all things that have their roots in the physicality of this earth. Jesus Christ is beyond that and so are we. With that, we must act accordingly. The chaos and the darkness that this world offers do not come from God but comes when God is purposefully removed from the thoughts and actions of those who think they know better. No one knows more than God, that is obvious, but hubris prevents many people from remembering this. Instead, there comes a pursuit of selfish gain which then leads to selfishness. There are two kingdoms and two masters: the kingdom of Heaven and God; the kingdom of the earth and Satan. We are offered a choice of which to follow. 

 

Jesus dying on the cross between the two thieves puts this choice in plain view. Through His death, Christ conquered death and brought eternal life to all who follow Him. One thief chose death above life, while the other asked for mercy. All we have to do is ask. As Jesus said,

 

“Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened.”

 

Our king is waiting for us to do just that.

 

Let us honor Him, love Him, and walk with Him, for He honors us, walks with us, and loves us.

 

Deacon Tom