Traditionally, this Sunday is called Gaudete Sunday, which means ‘a day for rejoicing’. Advent is about half over, and the day of the Lord’s coming is nearer. We worship God who promises us joy without end.
John’s faith in Jesus was made strong, enabling him to stick to his guns and accept a martyr’s death.
At this time of the year, we pray for this generosity, so that we can give to others what God has given to us.
The unresponsive children reminded Jesus of some dour, unresponsive adults round about him…
What they wanted to see was a man clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt about his loins, living a lifestyle in tune with his desert environment.
Now is the time to ask the Lord to renew our active love, so that we can be channels of grace and care to others, and help them through the Winter…
Not a single one of us is discarded by God. The parable invites us to value each other just as the Lord values each of us.
1st Reading: Genesis 3:9-15, 20 Enmity between the serpent and the woman But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that…
Our preparations for Christmas always include Mary, the Mother of God. Her Advent feast is displaced from 8th December this year because of a clash with the Second Sunday of Advent, which we celebrated yesterday. Today, we honour her conception free from sin, a miracle that displays God’s power for believers. We worship God, for whom everything is posssible.
John the Baptist is the focus of the Gospel reading on the Second Sunday of Advent each year. His words challenge and inspire. We worship God who uses many messengers to call us from darkness to light.
Of course, Christmas, our preparations for it, have great aspects also. But it’s too easy to lose all sense of what we are actually celebrating and recalling.
When Jesus saw the crowds he had compassion for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd….
The two blind men repeating their petition invites us to keep on praying for what we need….
Jesus warns that all of us will at some time face the storms of life, and he wants to help us survive them…
On a hillside near the Sea of Galilee, he heals all who need healing, restoring speech to the dumb, mobility to the lame, sight to the blind….
The spirit of the Lord will rest upon the stump and the roots of Jesse, and the people of God will bloom again…
The centurion’s faith is an innspiring example for us all to follow…
The season of Advent begins today. During the next 24 days we will look forward in hope. We will watch for the end times, when Christ will come in glory, Christ whose birthday we will celebrate very soon.
The coming of the Christ was and is the best of good news, a gift beyond imagining…
