My dear brothers and sisters, Advent is about newness. God acts, and he does something absolutely new. Both the first reading and the gospel today refer to this newness. And they refer to it by reference to something that's a core teaching of our Catholic Faith – the Virgin Birth of Christ.

In the book of Isaiah, King Ahaz is in dire straits. Enemies are besieging him, and God wants to help him out. He says, "Ask for a sign – any sign." But Ahaz doesn't really trust God, so he says "I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!" Rather strange since God explicitly told him to ask. But Ahaz doesn't want to rely on God.

And so, God takes matters into his own hands. He inspires Isaiah to say: "The Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, which means 'God with us.'" Why is this important? Because for a virgin to conceive means that God has done something outside the normal course of nature. It means that he will do something new.

St Augustine wrote that God makes himself a debtor to us, not because he receives anything but because he promises us so much. And in the gospel, he fulfills the promise made to Ahaz 600 years earlier.

The angel tells Joseph that it was through the Holy Spirit that Mary conceived. "She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins." Jesus was born of a virgin, and that means that God has done something new. God has acted to save us.

This child is truly God and truly one of us. He would die to save us from our sins and restore us to friendship with God. He would give us hope, peace, and joy. God has done something absolutely new.

St Therese and the Supreme Irritation

St Therese of Lisieux described a cantankerous nun in her convent. "She had the faculty of displeasing me in almost everything, in her ways, her words, her character, everything seems very disagreeable to me."

The other nuns all felt the same way about this particular sister. However, St Therese decided to do something new. She decided to love this person as much as she loved the person she liked the most.

She prayed for her often. She also tried to serve her in every possible way. When tempted to snap at her she tried to give her most agreeable smile and change the subject.

St Therese's efforts to make this sister feel loved paid off, and one day she asked Therese: "What attracts you so much towards me? Every time you look at me I see you smile."

St Therese concluded that "what attracted me was Jesus, hidden in the depths of her soul; Jesus, who makes sweet what is most bitter." St Therese cooperated with God in doing something new, and she changed the convent.

Making all things new through love

How can we cooperate with God in bringing the newness of his saving love to our homes and our workplaces?

Let's follow St Therese's lead. Who's that person who irritates me the most? God is asking me to love that person. Not to like – to love. Our spontaneous feelings are beyond our control. But love is a choice to will the good of the other person. We can pray for that person. We can try to smile at that person. We can listen.

God's power, given to us in the Mass, will enable us to do that. Let's sincerely ask him now. 

As we approach Christmas, the Church invites us to reflect on Mary and Joseph and their courageous faith. I can think of no better models for us to welcome Our Savior than our Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph. Their example invites us to accept, with openness of spirit, Jesus who is Emmanuel, God-among-us.

The Gospel tells us about two annunciations. One is the Annunciation to Joseph, and the other is the Annunciation to Mary. These two "Annunciations" are amazing announcements of the Incarnation delivered by heavenly messengers. They also involve the amazing responses, one spoken and the other unspoken, which express the obedient faith of Mary and Joseph to God's will and plan for our salvation.

The angel appeared to Mary when she was awake, and the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. In both Annunciations, the angel said: "Do not be afraid." In the case of Mary, she was troubled by the greeting of the angel, not knowing what it meant. In the case of Joseph, he was in turmoil because of Mary's pregnancy and having decided "to divorce her quietly" since he was "unwilling to expose her to shame." They were both afraid and confused, but God's revelation, which they accepted with obedient faith, filled them with peace. It was the revelation of the Incarnation, that the Son conceived by Mary is of the Holy Spirit.

The angel told Mary: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Holy Spirit will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God." The angel told Joseph: "It is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her." The angel told both Mary and Joseph that the child should be named "Jesus," a name which means "God saves."

Mary is our exemplar and model of faith in her response to the message of the angel: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Though we have no spoken words of Saint Joseph at the Annunciation to him, the Gospel tells us that "when Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home." Both Mary and Joseph responded positively to the word of God. Saint John Paul II wrote that "Joseph is the first to share in the faith of the Mother of God, the first to be placed by God on the path of Mary's pilgrimage of faith." We are called to walk that pilgrimage of faith, to walk with Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem in these final days of Advent.

I invite you in your prayer during these final days of Advent to contemplate the mystery we prepare to celebrate, maybe even having a little spiritual conversation with Mary and Joseph. Ask them to help you to live the true spirit of Christmas, to be close to their Son. I encourage you to find some quiet time for prayer during these noisy and busy days before Christmas. There is an aura of silence around Saint Joseph. Yet, that silence speaks eloquently to us of the interior life of Joseph, who, like Mary, is a model of humility and prayer. If we desire to experience the true joy of Christmas, we can learn from Mary and Joseph the secret of silence and reflection on the great mystery of the Incarnation.

Mary and Joseph teach us that the true gift of Christmas is Jesus. The best gifts we can give to others at Christmas are not expensive presents. The best gift we can share is the love, joy, and peace of the Lord. We do so by our prayers for others, kind words and gestures, forgiveness, a welcoming home, and joyful witness. Material gifts have value too when they are expressions of love and generosity. And let us not forget the poor in our gift-giving at Christmas! It is a wonderful custom in our diocese to take up a special collection for Catholic Charities at all our Christmas Masses, an opportunity to support the charitable works of the Church in our diocese, to share with our brothers and sisters in need.

I encourage you to prepare for Christmas by contemplating Mary and Joseph: "Mary, the woman full of grace who had the courage to entrust herself totally to the Word of God; and Joseph, the faithful and just man who chose to believe the Lord rather than to listen to the voices of doubt and human pride. With them, let us walk together toward Bethlehem" (Pope Francis).

May this final week of Advent be a prayerful time of joyful preparation for Christmas! Through the intercession of Mary and Joseph, may we be free of all worldliness and ready to welcome our Savior! 

Things are not going well for John the Baptist in today's gospel. We're in the middle of Advent, joy is everywhere, and what are the first lines of today's gospel? "From prison, John the Baptist heard of the works of Christ."

John the Baptist had given everything to God. He had left his home and his family. He lived in total poverty – we can get used to hearing that that he wore clothes made of camel's hair and he ate locusts and wild honey, but imagine what a camel's hair shirt would feel like… It's not exactly an Armani suit. And even if you eat them with honey, locusts are still bugs.

John the Baptist had preached the Kingdom of God; he had given everything to prepare the way for Jesus. And what's his apparent reward? He's in prison. It seems that God is hidden from him. He hears about the miracles that Jesus is doing, and yet he remains in prison.

He sends his friends to ask the most important question; everything hinges on this question. He asks Jesus: "Who are you?" "Are you the meaning of my life? Are you the mercy of God made visible? I have given everything – even my freedom – for God. Are you his face among us?"

And the answer that Jesus gives to John's question can seem a bit cryptic. He doesn't say, "Obviously… Of course, I'm the one who is to come. All your difficulties and sufferings are over!"

Jesus is not a toothpaste advertisement - he doesn't say "buy my product and all your problems will disappear." Instead, he says something rather strange. He says: "Tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed…"

Jesus is telling John, "You don't have to understand everything. You're not God. All I ask is that you listen and look at what I've done and continue to do in your life and in the lives of others."

We all have our John the Baptist moments, when nothing seems clear, when Christmas may seem far away. And in those moments, Jesus is telling us, "Look, and listen."

St John of the Cross

On December 14 we celebrate the feast of St John of the Cross, a Carmelite Spanish saint from the 16th century.

Towards the end of his life, some members of his Carmelite religious order were unhappy with the reforms he was bringing about. They kidnapped him and put him in a dungeon for almost a year.

One of his spiritual directors found out about it and wrote him a letter to express her horror. And St John's answer embodies someone who had learned to look and listen.

"Do not let what is happening to me, daughter, cause you any grief, for it does not cause me any… Men do not do these things, but God, who knows what is suitable for us and arranges things for our own good. Think nothing else but that God ordains all, and where there is no love, put love, and you will draw out love."

Learning to See

Here's one vital way to learn to look and listen to what God is doing in our lives. Thank him.

Each night before we go to bed, let's commit to thanking God for at least one thing that day.

Let's make it serious, not just "Thanks for creating Starbucks…" But let's thank him for at least one way that he acted in our lives through an event or through another person.

Christ is reminding each one of us to remember what we have seen and heard. Thanking him each day, from our hearts, will help us to grow in that. 

Throughout the year, the liturgy reminds us of the intercession of the Blessed Virgin on behalf of all the faithful, and the season of Advent is no exception. The Blessed Virgin shines on our path as "a sign of sure hope and comfort" to make Advent a true preparation for receiving the Child Jesus.

It is no coincidence that the commemoration of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated on December 8, falls during the second week of Advent. This feast reminds us that the Blessed Virgin is the image of what we are called to be: "holy and spotless" (Eph 1:4). Being conceived without original sin, Mary reflects the beauty of a life in grace, of union with God, free from sin. That beauty is an attraction that moves us to lead a clean life, detached from sin and open to grace. As Pope Francis expressed, "what was for Mary at the beginning, will be for us at the end" (Pope Francis, Angelus December 8, 2020). In this way Our Lady assists her children in the Church to follow the path of conversion to which Advent invites them.

On the other hand, Our Lady is also an example of hope: a persevering trust in God that is poured out in service to others. At the Angel's announcement, Mary responds, "Fiat! Let it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38), confidently accepting God's will: to be the mother of the Messiah for the redemption of all people. She then set out to help her relative Elizabeth who was in her sixth month of pregnancy (cf. Lk 1:39). Then, shortly before giving birth to the Child, she had to move from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and it can be inferred that she had prepared what was necessary to have everything ready when the time came (cf. Lk 2:1-7).

These are just a few scenes that delineate the hope of Holy Mary and that Advent invites us to imitate: an active hope. "So, we are in that 'sacred exchange' between God and man, between man and man, in which everything belongs to all in the 'communion of saints.' This Gospel calls us to enter the door of the fiat: that is its invitation, that is the hand of grace that the Lord extends to us in this hour of Advent." Therefore, devotion to the Blessed Virgin helps us to maintain an active hope, to say with her, "Fiat!"

Advent Customs

Popular piety manifests itself in different ways in each culture. As soon as Advent begins, the faithful put into practice various customs that help them prepare to meditate on the mysteries of this liturgical season.

One custom that is widespread is the Advent wreath. It consists of pine branches in the shape of a wreath with four candles, three purple and one pink, which are lit every Sunday of Advent. The purple ones represent the spirit of penance, conversion and vigilance that is encouraged during this liturgical season in preparation for the coming of Christ. The pink one is reserved for the third Sunday of Advent and represents the joy at the approaching birth of the Lord. In churches, the wreath is lit during the celebration of the Holy Mass. In homes, they are lit with the whole family, often with prayers or songs related to Advent.

Another way to prepare for the birth of the Lord is to put up a nativity scene. Christian families preserve the tradition of representing in their homes the mystery of the nativity of Jesus through figures. "The nativity scene is like a living Gospel rising up from the pages of Sacred Scripture. As we contemplate the Christmas story, we are invited to set out on a spiritual journey, drawn by the humility of the God who became man in order to encounter every man and woman" (Pope Francis, Apostolic Letter Admirabile Signum). In front of these scenes, families gather to pray and sing carols and it becomes the setting for other acts of piety.

"Advent is a time of preparation and an impulse for the encounter with Christ. Our journey towards Bethlehem has to be a search for Jesus in all the dimensions of our ordinary life. But to achieve this we have to 'make his paths straight.' What does it mean to 'make his paths straight'? It means, for us, removing obstacles to our Lord's coming to us, to our souls, and to our lives" (Msgr. Fernando Ocáriz, December 7, 2020). 

Christ sent John the Baptist to announce his first coming 2000 years ago, because he wanted the people of Israel to be ready to receive him. He was coming to bring them new hope, forgiveness, joy, interior peace, meaning and fruitfulness - all the benefits of Redemption and grace. In Advent, we remember that first coming, in order to thank God for it.

But we also re-live that coming in the "today" of our own lives. This Christmas, Christ wants to make a new surge of grace in the world, in the Church, and in each one of our lives. He wants to keep pouring out those benefits of Redemption. And he wants us to be ready to receive this year's new surge of grace - he doesn't want us to miss out on it. And so, through the liturgy, he sends his messenger once again to teach us how to get ready.

Clearing the way for Christ to enter more deeply into our society and our lives means, first of all, repenting. To repent is to turn away from selfish behavior patterns. To repent means to acknowledge our sins. After all, how can we have room in our hearts for the coming of a Savior unless we are aware of our need to be saved?

But that's only the first step. Preparing for Christ's coming also involves positive action, it means "bearing good fruit." Active, self-forgetful service towards our neighbor shows that our repentance is real. What good is acknowledging our selfishness and sin unless we also decide to leave that sin behind, and then make concrete actions to carry out that decision?

If we do these two things, repent and reform, we will be ready to experience the joys of the coming Kingdom in a fresh way this Christmas, just as Christ wants us to.

Benefits of His Coming - St Lawrence and Interior Peace

The First Reading reminds us of all the blessings that God has in store when we stay close to him. It uses vivid language to describe the perfect justice, peace and harmony of life in the Kingdom of God. It shows wolves and lambs entertaining each other, lions eating hay and living in peace with cattle, the utter destruction of ruthless and wicked people... These are descriptions of the world as it will be when Christ's redemption reaches its fulfilment. But it is also a description of what happens inside our souls when we let Christ rule there, as all the saints have done so well. When we look at their example, we are amazed again and again by their uncanny ability to maintain interior peace in the midst of the most stressful situations.

Take St Lawrence, for instance, a deacon in Rome in the 200's, when it was still illegal to be a Christian. During one of the waves of persecution, the emperor arrested the pope and had him put to death. Then he arrested St. Lawrence and ordered him to give all the Church's wealth to the imperial treasury.

The next day St Lawrence showed up with the poor, the widows and the orphans who the Church was supporting, and said, "Here are our treasures." The emperor, who had been expecting golden vessels and jewel- studded chalices, was furious.

He sent St Lawrence to death by being roasted alive. But even while he was burning on the grill, his heart was at peace. Eyewitnesses actually recorded him as saying to the guards soon after his torture had begun, "This side is done now; I think you can turn me over."

When we let Christ rule in our hearts, his strength, peace and wisdom become our strength, peace and wisdom.

(By the way, this is why St Lawrence is the official patron saint of football players; he died on the gridiron.) 

Advent is the time we are given to welcome the Lord who comes to encounter us, and also to verify our longing for God, to look forward and prepare ourselves for Christ's return. He will return to us in the celebration of Christmas, when we will remember his historic coming in the humility of the human condition; but he enters our heart each time we are willing to receive him; and he will come again at the end of time to 'judge the living and the dead'" (Pope Francis, Angelus December 3, 2017).

The season of Advent is the inauguration of the liturgical year, "in which the Church marks the passage of time with the celebration of the main events in Jesus' life and the story of salvation" (Pope Francis, Angelus November 29, 2020). It lasts four weeks, from the first vespers of the Sunday closest to November 30 until the first vespers of December 25. This period includes the four Sundays before Christmas. "During these four weeks we are called to leave behind a resigned and routine way of life and to go forth, nourishing hope, nourishing dreams for a new future" (Pope Francis, Angelus, December 2, 2018).

The season is divided into two parts, each highlighting an important truth of faith. The first ends on December 16 and focuses on the second coming of the Messiah. The second, from December 17 to 24, is directed towards preparing more immediately for Christmas. In this way, the Church helps the faithful to remember and reflect on the One who "assumed at his first coming the lowliness 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."

The season of Advent is considered a "high point" in the liturgical year because it helps us prepare to receive the Lord in Christmas. At the same time, it directs us to increase our hope in the second coming of Christ, and reminds us of his continual presence in the Eucharist. "When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Saviour's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor's birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: 'He must increase, but I must decrease.' (Jn 3:30)" It is an invitation to conversion and hope.

The preparation that the Church proposes to us during Advent takes the form of a journey of personal conversion. The liturgy makes this path present to us through the figure of John the Baptist. From the hand of the precursor we begin a journey of detachment from sin and worldliness, "this conversion involves suffering for sins committed, the desire to be free from them, the intention to exclude them from one's own life forever" (Pope Francis, Angelus, December 6, 2020). Only in this way will we be able to direct ourselves to the search for God and his kingdom, to friendship and communion with God, which is the true goal of the conversion of each one of us.

At the same time, it is a moment of confident hope in the Messiah. This hope is based on the fact that "the Lord always comes, He is always by our side. At times he does not make himself seen, but he always comes. He came at a precise moment in history and became man to take on our sins — the feast of the Nativity commemorates Jesus' first coming in the historical moment —; He will come at the end of times as universal judge" (Pope Francis, Angelus November 29, 2020).

My dear brothers and sisters, the passage we just heard is only part of a long conversation that St Matthew records in Chapters 24 and 25 of his Gospel. Up until this point in the conversation, Jesus has been explaining what the age of the Church, the period of history between his resurrection and his second coming will look like.

He has explained to his Apostles that the age of the Church will be marked by both wonderful growth and also painful persecution. He has explained that Jerusalem, the epicenter of the Old Covenant, will be destroyed to make a definitive way for the New Covenant.

He has explained that the world itself will eventually be destroyed to make way for the new heavens and the new earth. And then, by referring to the example of Noah, he explains that although these things definitely will happen, the Apostles can't know when: "you do not know on which day your Lord will come."

Jesus spoke about what he knew - his explanations were not mere theories. And when the Apostles heard him, they recognized the ring of truth in his voice. Why is Jesus telling them these things? Why does the Church remind us about them every year as Advent begins?

God wants us to know that our time is limited, that our lives and history itself will come to an end. He wants us to know this, because he wants us to use our limited time wisely, living as true Christians. Jesus considers this lesson to be so important that he dedicates four separate parables to it before he finishes the conversation, driving the lesson home.

Jesus knew how easily even the most faithful disciple can fall into the trap of thinking that this earthly life is the goal, and not merely the path.

Story | The Candle's Example*

Once upon a time a little candle stood in a room filled with other candles, most of them much larger and much more beautiful than she was. Some were ornate and some were rather simple, like herself.

Some were white, some were blue, some were pink, some were green. She had no idea why she was there, and the other candles made her feel rather small and insignificant.

When the sun went down and the room began to get dark, she noticed a large man walking toward her with a ball of fire on a stick. She suddenly realized that the man was going to set her on fire.

"No, no!" she cried, "Aaaaagghhh! Don't burn me, please!"

But she knew that she could not be heard and prepared for the pain that would surely follow. To her surprise, the room filled with light.

She wondered where it came from since the man had extinguished his fire stick. To her delight, she realized that the light came from herself. Then the man struck another fire stick and, one by one, lit the other candles in the room. Each one gave out the same light that she did.

During the next few hours, she noticed that, slowly, her wax began to flow. She became aware that she would soon die. With this realization came a sense of why she had been created. "Perhaps my purpose on earth is to give out light until I die," she mused. And that's exactly what she did.

Every Christmas light we see during Advent is a reminder that life on earth is the path, it is a task, a mission - it is not the goal.

Inviting Someone into the Ark

We know this. We believe in Christ, and we are constantly being reminded of this all-important truth that life on earth is only the path, not the goal.

This is why we are able to find: strength in the midst of life's difficulties, hope in the midst of life's inevitable tragedies, and courage in the midst of temptation and failure.

Today we should thank God for the great gift of this knowledge, this certainty that our lives and history itself both have a goal, an endpoint - they are going somewhere.

Without this knowledge, we would have to invent our own meaning and block out the burning question of life's purpose. We would be like children playing make-believe in a sandbox - distracting ourselves from distractions with distractions, as the poet T.S. Eliot put it.

We should be grateful, but we should also be helpful. There are people in our lives - friends, colleagues, neighbours, maybe even family members - who have never had this knowledge, or who have lost it. And because of that, they are living with a deep sense of frustration.

It may be hidden, but it is there. It is no coincidence that more suicides happen during the Christmas season than in any other period of the year. During the Christmas season there is so much hope in the air, that those who have no hope find their frustration turning into despair.

This Advent, let's share the Good News of Jesus Christ with someone who needs to hear it. Let's help someone - even just one person - arrive at Christmas this year not just distracted from their troubles, but filled with meaning for their life.

Let's invite someone into the Ark, not Noah's Ark, which perished, but the Ark of the Church, which Christ has guaranteed will make it safely through the floods of time and into the eternal harbour of heaven.

[* This illustration has been slightly adapted from "Hot Illustrations", copyright Youth Specialities, Inc., 2001] 

The first words of the Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, drawn from the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, summarize the profound meaning of the liturgical celebrations of the Church and their organization:

Holy Church celebrates the saving work of Christ on prescribed days in the course of the year with sacred remembrance. Each week, on the day called the Lord's Day, she commemorates the Resurrection of the Lord, which she also celebrates once a year in the great Paschal Solemnity, together with his blessed Passion. In fact, throughout the course of the year the Church unfolds the entire mystery of Christ and observes the birthdays of the Saints. (no. 1)

The liturgical year consists of a seasonal cycle and a sanctoral cycle, called the Proper of Time and the Proper of Saints, respectively. Both are organized and published in a liturgical calendar, which is also enriched by observances proper to local Churches, whether national, diocesan, parish-level, or religious community. The Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ—his suffering, death, and resurrection—is continuously proclaimed and renewed through celebrating the events of his life and in the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints.

Liturgical Year

The liturgical year is made up of six seasons:

1. Advent - four weeks of preparation before the celebration of Jesus' birth

2. Christmas - recalling the Nativity of Jesus Christ and his manifestation to the peoples of the world.

3. Lent - a six-week period of penance before Easter.

4. Sacred Paschal Triduum - the holiest "Three Days" of the Church's year, where the Christian people recall the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

5. Easter - 50 days of joyful celebration of the Lord's resurrection from the dead and his sending forth of the Holy Spirit

6. Ordinary Time - divided into two sections (one span of 4-8 weeks after Christmas Time and another lasting about six months after Easter Time), wherein the faithful consider the fullness of Jesus' teachings and works among his people.

The mystery of Christ, unfolded through the cycle of the year, calls us to live his mystery in our own lives. This call is best illustrated in the lives of Mary and the saints, celebrated by the Church throughout the year. There is no tension between the mystery of Christ and the celebration of the saints, but rather a marvelous harmony. The Blessed Virgin Mary is joined by an inseparable bond to the saving work of her Son, and the feasts of all the saints proclaim the wonderful works of Christ in his servants and offer the faithful fitting examples for their imitation. Each liturgical year begins on the First Sunday of Advent during the preceding calendar year .

Liturgical Calendar

The organization of each liturgical year is governed by the Church and ultimately integrated into a liturgical calendar.

The Second Vatican Council brought renewed emphasis to Sunday as a unique liturgical category: "the Lord's day is the original feast day" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 106), and it "must be observed in the universal Church as the primordial holy day of obligation" (Code of Canon Law, canon 1246 §1). Thus, only a limited number of feasts of the Lord or the saints may take the place of the scheduled Sunday celebration.

Saints and other celebrations are distinguished in accordance with the importance assigned to each one: each is a Solemnity, Feast, or Memorial. Sundays and Solemnities begin their celebration on the evening before, Feasts and Memorials are celebrated over the course of one day, and Memorials are either Obligatory or Optional.

Holy days of obligation (also known as feasts of precept) are days when the faithful are obliged to participate at Mass and abstain from unnecessary work or other activities which hinder the suitable relaxation of mind and body. Each Sunday is a holy day of obligation.

https://www.usccb.org/prayer-worship/liturgical-year

新接受派遣的11個聖言宣讀組員 Our eleven newly appointed Lectors for Chinese Mass (from left to right)

鄭惠安 Blanche Cheng 
邱雅文 Phylis Yau
鄭志英 Connie Cheng
羅慧敏 Mandy Law
楊潔蘭 Teresa Yeung
朱淑儀 Betty Chu
郭秀英 Pinky Kwok
張文綺 Monica Cheung
馬棣新 Joseph Ma
(陳若詩 Janis Chan, 蔡忠偉Louis Choy - not present in photo)

My dear brothers and sisters, the conversation in today's Gospel occurs during the last week of Jesus' earthly life. He and his followers had gone to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.

Each day between that first Palm Sunday and Holy Thursday, Jesus went with the Twelve Apostles to the Temple, to teach and preach, trying to convince the leaders and the people that he was the Messiah. At the end of the day, Jesus and his disciples would walk back to the town of Bethany, just east of Jerusalem, where they were staying.

On this occasion, they stopped and sat down to rest on the Mount of Olives, looking down upon mighty Jerusalem, with its magnificent marble Temple and stone palaces glittering in the afternoon sun.

Jesus then told his disciples about the future. He describes the coming destruction of this ancient city, and of the Temple - destruction which in 70 A.D., just forty years later, occurred just as he described. But the destruction of Jerusalem, the symbolic end of the Old Covenant, was also a foreshadowing of the end of history itself when this fallen world will be destroyed and replaced by a fully redeemed world. That is Judgment Day, the second coming of Christ.

Between Christ's conversation with his disciples and the destruction of Jerusalem, the Twelve Apostles experienced persecution, hardship, and martyrdom - just as Jesus predicted.

Between the time of the Apostles and Judgment Day, his Church will experience the same thing. And so, what Jesus tells them is meant for us too: tough times are part of his plan because they will "lead us to give our testimony."

In other words, our Christian response to the hardships of life in this fallen world will serve as advertisements for Christ and bring others to salvation.

Facing Death for Christ

There is a story before the breakup of the Soviet Union, Christians of all denominations were routinely persecuted for their faith by the Communist regime. One small group of believers used to meet in a family home every Sunday. They would arrive at different times, to avoid suspicion.

On one particular Sunday, they were all safely inside the building, with curtains drawn and doors locked. They had been singing and praying for a while when the door burst open and two armed soldiers crashed in. One shouted, "Everybody up against the wall. If you wish to renounce your faith in Jesus Christ, you can leave now and no harm will come to you."

Two people left right away, then a third and fourth straggled out. "This is your last chance!" the soldier warned. "Either turn your back on this Jesus of yours or stay and suffer the consequences!"

Two more slipped outside, crying and ashamed. No one else moved. Parents with small children trembling beside them looked down reassuringly. They fully expected to be gunned down on the spot, or imprisoned.

After a few moments of silence, the soldiers closed the door. One of them said, "Keep your hands up - but this time in praise to our Lord Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters. We, too, are Christians. We were sent to another house church like this several weeks ago, and we became believers."

The other soldier added, "We are sorry to have frightened those who left, but we have learned that unless people are willing to die for their faith, they cannot be fully trusted."

In times of trouble, our faith is tested, and we have a chance to do for Christ what he did for us: love him to the end.

Know, Love, and Follow Christ

Jesus is reminding us today that we have a mission amid life's difficulties and storms. Our mission is to "give testimony," to spread the Good News of Christ's Kingdom, and to help other people find and grow in Christ's friendship. But in order to do that, we have to have a vibrant friendship with Christ ourselves.

One reason we sometimes find that difficult is because this friendship, unlike our other companies, takes place in the mysterious atmosphere of faith. We don't see and hear Jesus the same way we see and hear other people. He works in our lives through the visual signs of the sacraments, and through the hidden action of the Holy Spirit deep in our hearts.

If that's the case, what exactly can we do to grow in this all-important friendship? We can do three things.

First, we can know Christ better, a little better every day. This happens especially in prayer, but also through reading or listening to good spiritual books about Christ, and to commentaries on the Gospel.

Second, we can love Christ better. The better we know him, the more we will love him, because he is infinitely loveable. We can show and grow this love by doing things to please him each day.

And that leads to the third thing we can do: follow Christ better, a little more closely each day. This means trying, with the help of his grace, to treat those around us as Christ would treat them if he were in our place.

Christ wants us to be his ambassadors, to "give testimony" to this passing world about his saving grace. This week, let's do so by knowing, loving, and following him a little better each day. 

148. As he begins the Eucharistic Prayer, the Priest extends his hands and sings or says, The Lord be with you. The people reply, And with your spirit. As he continues, saying, Lift up your hearts, he raises his hands. The people reply, We lift them up to the Lord. Then the Priest, with hands extended, adds, Let us give thanks to the Lord our God, and the people reply, It is right and just. After this, the Priest, with hands extended, continues the Preface. At its conclusion, he joins his hands and, together with all those present, sings or says aloud the Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) (cf. no. 79 b).

149. The Priest continues the Eucharistic Prayer in accordance with the rubrics that are set out in each of the Prayers.

If the celebrant is a Bishop, in the Prayers, after the words N., our Pope, he adds, and me, your unworthy servant. If, however, the Bishop is celebrating outside his own diocese, after the words with . . . N., our Pope, he adds, my brother N., the Bishop of this Church, and me, your unworthy servant; or after the words especially . . . N., our Pope, he adds, my brother N., the Bishop of this Church, and me, your unworthy servant.

The Diocesan Bishop, or one who is equivalent to the Diocesan Bishop in law, must be mentioned by means of this formula: together with your servant N., our Pope, and N., our Bishop (or Vicar, Prelate, Prefect, Abbot).

It is permitted to mention Coadjutor Bishop and Auxiliary Bishops in the Eucharistic Prayer, but not other Bishops who happen to be present. When several are to be mentioned, this is done with the collective formula: N., our Bishop and his assistant Bishops.

In each of the Eucharistic Prayers, these formulas are to be adapted according to the requirements of grammar.

150. A little before the Consecration, if appropriate, a minister rings a small bell as a signal to the faithful. The minister also rings the small bell at each elevation by the Priest, according to local custom.

If incense is being used, when the host and the chalice are shown to the people after the Consecration, a minister incenses them.

151. After the Consecration when the Priest has said, The mystery of faith, the people pronounce the acclamation, using one of the prescribed formulas.

At the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, the Priest takes the paten with the host and the chalice and elevates them both while pronouncing alone the doxology Through him. At the end the people acclaim, Amen. After this, the Priest places the paten and the chalice on the corporal.

152. After the Eucharistic Prayer is concluded, the Priest, with hands joined, says alone the introduction to the Lord's Prayer, and then with hands extended, he pronounces the prayer together with the people.

153. After the Lord's Prayer is concluded, the Priest, with hands extended, says alone the embolism Libera nos (Deliver us, Lord). At the end, the people acclaim, For the kingdom.

154. Then the Priest, with hands extended, says aloud the prayer Domine Iesu Christe, qui dixisti (Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your Apostles) and when it is concluded, extending and then joining his hands, he announces the greeting of peace, facing the people and saying, The peace of the Lord be with you always. The people reply, And with your spirit. After this, if appropriate, the Priest adds, Let us offer each other the sign of peace.