Liturgy Preparation - Association Of Catholic Priests

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Tony Flannery: Responding to the Vatican statement on the ordination of women as deacons.
December 5 2025
iggy o'donovan
Tony I have nothing to add. Synodality how are you? One wonders where we are going if anywhere.
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Séamus Ahearne: “A man must not deny his manifest abilities, For that is to evade his obligations.”
December 2 2025
M G-B
I have noticed that people who have risked a deep dive surrender to God seem to find their talents, abilities and the courage to make them manifest. Our new Pope Leo is a great case in point. He said: "I was thinking of retiring but instead surrendered to God and became Pope."
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07 Dec 2025 – 2nd Sunday in Advent, A
December 7 2025
Joe O'Leary
Rerum Novarum in 1891 was an earthquake in the Catholic world, since the church addressed social justice head-on for the first time. Since then social concern has become intrinsic to the church's preaching. In today's portrait of the Messiah, we see him clothed with all the gifts of the Spirit, but also as a creator of worldwide justice and peace. The prophets generally were passionate about justice, and this is also true of John the Baptist as portrayed in the third chapters of Matthew and Luke. Can we elevate our ranting about crimes against justice and peace, which turns us into "internet warriors", to a more constructive and spiritual level by connecting it with our lives of worship? Instead of a cursory nod to Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and South Sudan, in the prayers of the faithful, could we organize a space of contemplative reflection on the evils of our time, which would enable us to think and feel together as the people of God and inspire us to raise our voices more confidently and publicly, so that we live up to our vocation to be a Light to the Nations? When the US "Secretary of War" speaks mockingly of "rules of engagement" and instead urges "lethality" and "kill them all" does he realize that scrupulous respect for the rules of engagement is what preserves a soldier's honour and prevents him or her from becoming a savage brute? In such a morally degraded environment, just pointing out obvious moral duties and values is itself a prophetic mission (as the fate of John the Baptist shows).
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07 Dec 2025 – 2nd Sunday in Advent, A
December 7 2025
Thara Benedicta
Key Message: Real repentance leads to real change!! Homily: Teacher: What do you want for Christmas? Child: I want to become a good child, so that I can become a friend of the child Jesus. Saint John the Baptist is also teaching us this, in an easy way - "Become good, so that you can become a friend of Jesus". He also did come in majestic kingly robes. He was not exactly the guy you’d expect to prepare the way for Jesus. He wasn’t polished or political. He lived in the wilderness, wore camel hair, and ate locusts. But he had a fire from God. He was not saying to do hard stuff. He was saying, "Get ready to meet God by repenting and living a just life. For God is coming to you". Till the first Christmas, God was seen either in mountain tops, or in a burning bush or in the wind or in the temple. That is why many religions in the world still see God in nature. So God sent John the Baptist to tell the people that He is coming to them and to prepare them to enjoy Him. Sometimes we think spiritual preparation to welcome the baby Jesus means repentance. And repentance means 'just feeling sorry for our sins in the confession box'. But it is not only about feeling bad for our sins inside the confession box, it's about turning around. It means living the way our Lord Jesus wants us to live in our daily life. John tells us that Jesus is coming to baptize not just with water, but with the Holy Spirit and with fire. That fire isn’t to destroy us, it's to purify us and to show us the will of God and enable us to work in the will of God. So we can stop settling for surface-level Christianity. We can live our life deeply with our Lord Jesus. Quick steps to prepare for the coming of our baby Jesus into our hearts: 1. Spend time with God every morning. Just 15–30 minutes of quiet time can change your whole day. 2. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything that’s keeping you from growing. He’s gentle, but honest. 3. Make a real choice to let go of things that don’t belong in your life anymore like rudeness, offense, fear, bitterness, jealousy. 4. Be willing to change. God can’t transform what you’re not willing to surrender. When you make a resolution to change, take any one challenge you were willing to change for a long time. If you are yet to think about it, just think about it now. You are the best person to introspect yourself, because there is no ego involved. Take a spiritual goal and work on it for the whole of the Christmas season. If you’ve been rude, ask God to help you be kind. If you’ve been stuck in comparison, ask God to help you celebrate others. If you’ve been lukewarm, ask for that fire of the Holy Spirit to burn again. Ask and it shall be given to you. You cannot change yourself unless God helps you to change. So work with God to be His friend.
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Most Recent Comments

Tony Flannery: Responding to the Vatican statement on the ordination of women as deacons.

Séamus Ahearne: “A man must not deny his manifest abilities, For that is to evade his obligations.”

07 Dec 2025 – 2nd Sunday in Advent, A

07 Dec 2025 – 2nd Sunday in Advent, A