Please come and join the Christian meditation meeting every Tuesday from 7:00 - 7:35 PM inside the church. Before the meeting, we listen to some meditative music to quiet down. At 7 PM sharp we will listen to a teaching on meditation (<10 minutes), then we meditate for 25 minutes, and finish with a prayer. Instruction on meditation will be given. For more information, contact Vivian Lee, mobile & WhatsApp: 6100 0880.

St Luke tells us that at the time of Jesus' baptism, which marked the beginning of his public ministry, the people were "filled with expectation."

There were two reasons for this. First, rumor had it that according to the prophecies of Daniel, the time was ripe for the arrival of the promised Messiah, the King anointed by God to restore the independence and greatness of the long-suffering people of Israel.

Scholars at the time didn't agree about the actual characteristics and identifying marks of that Messiah, but a sense that the time had come was widespread.

Second, no true prophet had arisen in Israel in over two centuries. And so, when John the Baptist came onto the scene, they knew something big was afoot. Many hoped that he himself was the Messiah.

The prophecy of Daniel and the preaching of John the Baptist, then, were clear, dramatic signs sent by God to indicate the coming of Jesus.

Even so, Christ found a welcome in only a few hearts; the majority gave him up to be crucified.

Why? Could it be that the people of Israel were expecting one kind of Lord, and God wanted to give them another?

We often fall into the same trap; we know clearly the things we want, but God sends us others, and we resent it. But if Jesus is truly the Lord, and if the greatest prophet of all time was not even worthy to "loosen the thongs of his sandals" (a job reserved to slaves at the time), why do we expect him to do things our way?

Why do we expect him to adjust to our schedule? Isn't it possible that he knows better? God often acts in unexpected ways, so it's up to us to adjust our expectations, or else we may miss his grace altogether.

Taking a Daily Spiritual Vitamin

It's true: God often acts in unexpected ways. And if we aren't humble and flexible, we may, like so many at the time of Christ, miss out on his grace, fail to recognize his action, or reject it even when we do recognize it. And that's exactly what the devil wants.

He wants us to evaluate God's activity not in accordance with God's own standards – the unexpected, surprising standards – but in accordance with the limited, prejudiced, self-centered standards of our fallen human nature.

How can we avoid playing into the devil's hand? There are many things, but one of the most essential is to make sure that we take at least one spiritual vitamin every single day.

Spiritual vitamins keep our faith healthy, so that our minds see reality the way it really is, not the way the devil wants us to think it is.

Spiritual vitamins take many forms, here are some examples.

• Reading and studying the Bible for fifteen or twenty minutes every day is an excellent spiritual vitamin – if we use truly Catholic resources to help us do so. We will do bible study at our parish.
• Learning how to do a daily Christian meditation (not just transcendental or yoga meditations) is a great way to get your spiritual vitamin. Our parish has regular weekly Christian Meditation every Tuesday evening.
• Spending a few minutes at night to prayerfully reflect on whether we acted like faithful Christians during the day is a good one.
• Reading regularly from the lives of the saints and other good spiritual books is a strong spiritual vitamin.
• Trying to have a meal as a family every day, and starting and ending that meal with a family prayer is another spiritual vitamin.
• Dropping by a Catholic church on the way home from work or school to spend a few minutes praying in the presence of the Eucharist – another good one.

If we want to stay tuned to God and be ready to recognize and welcome his action in our lives, we have to administer a daily antidote to the poisonous world view that popular culture is constantly feeding into our imaginations.

Today, as Jesus renews his commitment to us in this Mass, let's renew our commitment to him, and identify specifically which spiritual vitamins we will take during the coming week.

Obligation of Infant Baptism

"Baptism, the gateway to the sacraments, is necessary for salvation, either by actual reception or at least by desire. By it, people are freed from sins, are born again as children of God and, made like to Christ by an indelible character, are incorporated into the Church" (can. 849). The Catholic Church has been baptizing babies ever since Christ commanded His apostles to baptize all people in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (see Mt 28:18-20).

Parents bring their babies to the waters of baptism by professing a belief in Christ on behalf of the child, and promising to raise him or her in the faith.Because baptism confers saving grace, the earlier a person comes to baptism, the better.

In infant baptism, then, though the child is too young to have faith, the parents extend their faith on the child's behalf. On what basis does the Church believe that the faith of one person may be effective on behalf of someone else? The Scriptures are full of examples in which Jesus extends healing grace to people based on the faith of others.

For example, Jesus forgives the sins of the paralytic based on the faith of those who brought him (see Mt 9:2; Mk 2:3-5).Jesus heals the centurion's servant based on the faith of the centurion (Mt 8:5-13).Jesus exorcises the child's unclean spirit based on the father's faith (Mk 9:22-25).We might also note that in the Old Testament, God spares the firstborn child's life during the Passover based n the parent's faith (see Ex 12:24-28).Given these examples, then, we must ask ourselves:If God is willing to effect spiritual and physical cures for children based upon the faith of their parents, how much more will He give the grace of baptism to children based upon the faith of their parents?

Infant Baptism – no violation of the child's freedom

In recent years, some people have objected that baptizing infants is an obstacle to their freedom.They say it is contrary to the dignity of children as persons to impose on them future religious obligations that they may perhaps later reject.In this view, they insist, it would be better to confer the sacrament only at an age when free commitment has become possible; until then parents and teachers should restrain themselves and avoid exercising any pressure.

Rejecting this view, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in the "Instruction on Infant Baptism" which it issued on 20 October, 1980, pointed out that "there is no such thing as pure human freedom, immune from being influenced in any way. Even on the natural level, parents make choices for their child that are essential for its life and for its orientation towards true values. A so-called neutral attitude on the part of the family with regard to the child's religious life would in fact be a negative choice that would deprive the child of an essential good" (n. 22).

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm.

• There will be a Youth Group Meeting on Fri, 14 Jan from 8:00-9:00 PM at the parish hall upstairs.  All youth are welcome. 
• There will be No Adoration held on 2 January (Sun) from 2:00-3:30 PM in our church.
• Bishop Ha will be celebrating the 10:00 AM Mass at St. Anne's Church on 13 Feb (Sun).  
  

From His Fullness We Have Received Mercy

In a homily, St Bernard of Clairvaux said that when we look at the Baby Jesus, it's as though God the Father sent a purse full of his mercy. It was a very small purse, but it was very full. Jesus is that purse of God's mercy. And we need to receive the money of God's mercy before we can offer him anything in return.

The gospel we just read tells us that the wise men opened their treasures. They opened their hearts to receive Christ's mercy. From his fullness, we have received mercy. Before the wise men could offer anything, they had to open their treasures. They had to open their history to Jesus; they had to allow his mercy to fill their hearts with joy.

They had to experience, as the psalm today put it, that "God shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him… The lives of the poor he shall save." God's mercy reveals his reverence for the human person –for each human person, --created in his image and likeness.

We need to experience this again and again in our lives. When we experience the merciful love of Jesus, it becomes a gift for others too

We're able to help them experience the transforming power of God's mercy, and share it with others. Like the wise men, we have received mercy from the fullness of God's love.

Death on the Field

They tell the story of two soldiers together on the battlefield. In the midst of a firestorm of bullets, one soldier saves the other's life by stepping in front of him and taking a bullet in his place.

As he's dying, the other man says, "What can I ever do to thank you?" He replies: "Take my dog tags. My name is now yours. My life is yours. Live in a manner worthy of the sacrifice I've made for you."

That's a glimpse into what Christ did for each one of us on the Cross. He died for us; he took on the fate of our shattered love, as Pope Benedict XVI put it, and he gives us his name and his life.

The greatness of God's mercy is beyond our grasp; from his fullness, in Christ, we have all received more than we could have ever asked or imagined.

Receiving Mercy in the Mass

In the Mass, we're present at Calvary, where Jesus lays down his life for us.

The one sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is made present in real time, here on the altar, each time Mass is celebrated. Christ offers us his name (we are Christians) and his life in the Eucharist.

Do we prepare our hearts for this? Let's do this today. During the offertory, let's say these words: "Jesus, I want to receive your mercy. Jesus, I want to receive your mercy."

We're about to receive the Gift of all gifts. God's merciful love brings him to give himself to us in the Eucharist. With joy and with gratitude, we prepare to receive him. 

Nazareth is a kind of school where we may begin to discover what Christ's life was like and even to understand his Gospel. Here we can observe and ponder the simple appeal of the way God's Son came to be known, profound yet full of hidden meaning. And gradually we may even learn to imitate him.

Here we can learn to realize who Christ really is. And here we can sense and take account of the conditions and circumstances that surrounded and affected his life on earth: the places, the tenor of the times, the culture, the language, religious customs, in brief, everything which Jesus used to make himself known to the world. Here everything speaks to us, everything has meaning. Here we can learn the importance of spiritual discipline for all who wish to follow Christ and to live by the teachings of his Gospel.

How I would like to return to my childhood and attend the simple yet profound school that is Nazareth! How wonderful to be close to Mary, learning again the lesson of the true meaning of life, learning again God's truths. But here we are only on pilgrimage. Time presses and I must set aside my desire to stay and carry on my education in the Gospel, for that education is never finished. But I cannot leave without recalling, briefly and in passing; some thoughts I take with me from Nazareth.

First, we learn from its silence. If only we could once again appreciate its great value. We need this wonderful state of mind, beset as we are by the cacophony of strident protests and conflicting claims so characteristic of these turbulent times. The silence of Nazareth should teach us how to meditate in peace and quiet, to reflect on the deeply spiritual, and to be open to the voice of God's inner wisdom and the counsel of his true teachers. Nazareth can teach us the value of study and preparation, of meditation, of a well-ordered personal spiritual life, and of silent prayer that is known only to God.

Second, we learn about family life. May Nazareth serve as a model of what the family should be. May it show us the family's holy and enduring character and exemplify its basic function in society: a community of love and sharing, beautiful for the problems it poses and the rewards it brings, in sum, the perfect setting for rearing children – and for this there is no substitute.

Finally, in Nazareth, the home of a craftsman's son, we learn about work and the discipline it entails. I would especially like to recognize its value – demanding yet redeeming – and to give it proper respect. I would remind everyone that work has its own dignity. On the other hand, it is not an end in itself. Its value and free character, however, derive not only from its place in the economic system, as they say, but rather from the purpose it serves.

In closing, may I express my deep regard for people everywhere who work for a living. To them I would point out their great model, Christ their brother, our Lord and God, who is their prophet in every cause that promotes their wellbeing.

The angels announced to the shepherds that a Savior was born for them. They called this "news of great joy," since this Savior was going to bring "peace to those on whom his favor rests."

The peace that Christ brings is the source of that joy. The two always go together. Joy is the emotion we feel when we come into the possession of good things. But unless we have peace, we cannot really have possession of anything.

Without peace there is conflict, and conflict means that someone is trying to take away the good things we possess.That aggression causes turbulence, instability - the opposite of peace.

Without peace, there is no joy. Christ was born to give us true, lasting joy, because he came to establish true, lasting peace.

Christ is a King, all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-good. When someone becomes his subject, they no longer need to fear anything, because God is now their protector.

But Christ's Kingdom is not a material Kingdom. It is a spiritual Kingdom. He was born in a stable, not a palace.

The peace Christ brings is the interior, spiritual peace that comes from a conscience cleansed by his forgiveness and a heart which knows that our heavenly Father loves us. No one can take away a clean conscience or the knowledge that we are loved by God. That's why Christ's peace is lasting - it is unassailable.

This interior peace can also overflow into political peace when enough people in a community are filled with it. But, from Christ's perspective, that's secondary.

The earthly kingdoms and conflicts of this world will all pass away. But Christ's Kingdom, the community of his followers, the Church, will last forever.

And so the angels don't hesitate to announce their "good news of great joy," because they know that Jesus Christ truly does bring lasting peace to everyone who lets him be their King.

Following Mary's Example

We all believe in Jesus - at least to some extent. So why don't we experience his joy and peace as deeply and constantly as we would like to?

The saints give constant testimony through the centuries that a real friendship with Christ makes it possible to experience deep fulfillment and joy even in the midst of life's worst sufferings. Why don't we experience the same thing?

It's because we don't trust God enough. We are afraid to let Christ rule our lives completely - we are afraid to let him be the King that he was born to be, that he truly is.

We are like the innkeeper in the Gospel passage.Our lives are crowded –filled with personal pleasures and hopes, maybe even with unhealthy relationships and habits.And Jesus comes knocking on the door of our hearts and wants us to let Him in.But we are afraid that if we do, there won't be enough room for our little idols.

So we let him stay in the stable, out back, where we can keep an eye on him, where we can be sure he doesn't clean out our closets and junk drawers. But unless we give Jesus free rein, he cannot give us his true peace and joy.

Instead of being like the innkeeper, we need to be like Mary. When Jesus knocked on the door of her life, she put all her plans aside. She risked her reputation and her engagement; she opened every closet and every junk drawer to Christ.

Today, of all days, let's let Jesus bring us his joy and peace. With Mary's help, let's pray Mary's prayer, saying to Jesus in Holy Communion: "Lord, let it be done to me according to your word - Thy will be done, not mine."

The earliest uses of a crib in worship date back to fourth-century Rome. Of the three masses observed at Christmas, one was called AdPraesepe (meaning "to the crib"). This mass took place in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, at a shrine built from boards believed to have come from the original stable of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Churches throughout Italy and Europe gradually adopted the custom of saying mass over a crib at Christmas time.

St. Francis of Assisi (c. 1181-1226) generally receives the credit for popularizing the Nativity scene as we know it. It is said that at Christmas time in 1224 he recreated the manger scene using real people and animals in a cave near the Italian village of Greccio. Mass was said in this novel setting and St. Francis preached about the humble birth of the newborn King. Onlookers enjoyed this reenactment of Christ's birth so much that the custom soon spread throughout Italy and Europe.

Saint Bonaventure, Francis's biographer, said of the scene, "Many brothers and good people came at Francis's bidding, and during the night the weather also was beautiful. Many lights were kindled, songs and hymns were sung with great solemnity so that the whole wood echoed with the sound, and the man of God stood by the manger, filled with the utmost joy, and shedding tears of devotion and compassion. By his order the manger had been so arranged that Mass was celebrated on it, and blessed Francis ... sang the gospel and preached to the people on the Nativity of Christ our King, and whenever he pronounced His name with infinite tenderness, he called Him the 'little Babe of Bethlehem'".

In a society where few could read, the explanations of theologians and the beautiful Latin chant of the Christmas liturgy passed over the heads of ordinary people. Who would explain to them what it meant that God became human, that Jesus felt at home among the poorest and loved them above all? They needed something visible, something they could see, touch, and so adore the beauty of the newborn child among the hay. So they came, saw, understood, and remembered.

Through the centuries Catholic people have continued the tradition, and it is the most wonderful affirmation of what our faith is about. The Christmas crib is a ringing proclamation about the kind of God we worship—a God who lives with the poor and ordinary and welcomes them.

We need the Christmas crib. Ours is the God who is vulnerable, who needs love, who waits and welcomes. The Christmas crib doesn't need to be great art; it just needs to be tender, human, and full of joy. If we have crib scenes in our churches, they too should be homely, full of the awe and ordinariness of a God who lived with poor, treated their sick, made friends with women and other despised people, felt comfortable with children, and preached liberation for the poor.

The Christmas crib is a precious heritage, and if we lose or trivialize it or make it a sophisticated work of art to be admired, we are in danger of losing touch with the very heart of the Christmas mystery. The model of the child in the manger with all his loving and delighted attendants reminds us of the joy at the heart of the universe, of God who touches us and lives in us bodily—a God who is incarnate.

The Christmas crib is a sign of defiance in the face of what is greedy and cruel in our society and a sign of hope that the goodness is in us and near us as we greet the newborn child

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm.

The wait is almost over. Christmas is only 5 days away. Maybe your Advent has flown by, and you can't believe that Christmas is already just around the corner. You're asking yourself, where did Advent go? Or maybe Advent has been very fruitful for you this year.

Either way, today is a moment to recommit. The Church gives us this 4th Sunday of Advent as a last reminder that Christ is coming.

The first reading, from the book of Micah, reminds us that Christ is coming. "Bethlehem, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel."

The Psalm says: "Rouse your power and come to save us." And then the gospel gives us the meeting of Elizabeth and Mary. The wait is almost over, and Elizabeth realizes it. She says: "How is it that the Mother of my Lord comes to me?"

There's a sense of anticipation, someone is coming. And he is The Prince of Peace.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of peace in the world. Terrorist attacks abound. We have shootings in our own country. Evil and injustice can appear overwhelming. Is peace possible? On our own, no it's not. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes said that human life is nasty, brutish, and short. And if we look at life without Christ, Hobbes is right.

But in the first reading today, Micah tells us something more. The first reading ends with these powerful words: "He shall be peace." Who's he talking about? Jesus Christ. Isn't that interesting? It doesn't say that the Savior will bring peace, but that He is peace.

Why is He peace? Because peace means wholeness. If we are not OK with God, then we can't be at peace with ourselves or with others. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta used to say: "I'm not ok, and you're not ok, and that's why Jesus came."

But in Jesus, in the sacraments that make him present here today, we come to be at peace with God. In the sacrament of Reconciliation, our sins are forgiven and we're at peace with God. In the Eucharist, we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and we're united to God. And that experience brings an awareness of the great story into which all our individual stories fit. We start to see others with the eyes of Christ. So Christ himself is Peace

Chris is our peace. How does he ask us to respond to this reality? Let's get practical here. St Gregory of Nyssa gives us some wonderful advice.

He is our peace, for he has made both one. Since we think of Christ as our peace, we may call ourselves true Christians only if our lives express Christ by our own peace. We must never allow grudges to be rekindled in us in any way… may we never risk the life of our souls by being resentful or by bearing grudges.

Am I bearing a grudge against someone? Ask God to free me from that. Am I resentful against God, against someone else, or about a particular situation in my life? Let that go.

And do you want to know the best way to do that? By giving thanks to God. St Paul has this to say in the letter to the Philippians: "With thanksgiving, present your petitions to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Do we want that peace? Do we want to let go of grudges and resentment that chain us down and don't allow us to experience the glorious freedom of the sons of God? Then give thanks to God. A grateful heart sets us free to experience the peace of Christ.

So instead of harboring grudges against someone, I could thank God for the good things about that person. I can release that grudge or that resentment to God.

And the perfect moment to do this is at the offertory in the Mass. The priest offers the bread and wine and says these words: "Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you… Through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you…"

And in that moment each one of us offers our own life to God. We offer him the good and the bad. As we do that, we experience more fully that Christ is our peace. 

At the fourth week of Advent, we light the fourth of the four candles in the Advent wreath: the candle of faith. As we enter into the fourth week of Advent, we are given our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph to reflect upon. Though our Blessed Mother was perfect, and St. Joseph was a deeply virtuous man, they were both still fully human and would have walked through Mary's pregnancy and Jesus' birth with every human emotion and experience.

St. Joseph was faced with an extraordinary mystery as he discovered his wife was pregnant. He knew her to be a woman of exceptional virtue and holiness and had to reconcile that with her surprising pregnancy. Even after the angel appeared to him in a dream, he would have had questions arise in his mind as he faced this situation.

Our Blessed Mother was also invited by God to face her pregnancy in faith. Her response was perfect, "Let it be done to me according to your word." She could not explain nor understand what was happening but, nonetheless, she knew deep in her soul that God was in charge leading all to His glory.

Both Mary and Joseph are wonderful models of faith and obedience. They were obedient to the will of God despite the fact that the will of God drew them into an incredible and unfathomable mystery. They were first-hand witnesses to the salvation of the world and to the greatest act ever known. And they both embraced this mystery and accepted it in faith.

Reflect, today, upon your own invitations from God to embrace the mysteries of life. God's ways are often more than we can comprehend and figure out. Mary and Joseph give us the witness of how we are to handle every mystery God invites us to participate in. Say "Yes" to the will of God just as this holy couple did.

Dearest Mother Mary and Saint Joseph, pray for me that I may have the faith you both lived. When questions arise in my heart, help me to respond generously to God as you did. May I trust in all that God has spoken in imitation of each one of you. Jesus, I trust in You.

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm.

Once again today, as happens so frequently during Advent, St John the Baptist takes center stage. Often, in paintings and movies, for example, John the Baptist is depicted as an ill-tempered, fire-and-brimstone preacher who scared people into repentance.

There's something wrong with that picture. First, such a conception fails to explain how he was able to attract such huge crowds and win over so many hearts. And second, it misses the main point of his message: that salvation is at hand!

That message is just the opposite of dark, ominous, and foreboding. In fact, when we truly understand and accept it, it is the source of a deeper joy than any other we can experience in this life. And that's the whole point of today's celebration.

The Third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete [gow-DAY-tay] Sunday, the Sunday of rejoicing. That's why today's readings mention the word "joy" twelve times.

Jesus didn't come to intimidate and oppress us; he came to save us. Salvation, friendship with God, the fullness and security of living in communion with our Creator and Redeemer, of being "gathered into the barns" of his eternal and sublime Kingdom…

This is the message of Christmas, the message we have been thinking about during these weeks of Advent.

In today's Second Reading, St Paul actually commands us to "rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS." And just in case we thought he was exaggerating, in the very next sentence he says, "I say it again, rejoice!"

We can only rejoice "always" if our joy is based on something that goes deeper than the passing pleasures of this world. What is that deeper thing? Salvation; friendship with God; something that never ends, and something no one can take away from us.

That is the source of a Christian's joy, and that is the gift Jesus brings us.

The Difference of Christian Joy

The joy of Christ the Savior is different from the joys of the world in three ways.

First, it doesn't wear out. This is because it comes from something that is alive: our relationship with Christ. This is why the Christmas tree is an evergreen tree. In winter, the other trees are leafless and dormant. But the evergreen tree is still green and fragrant. The evergreen symbolizes hope amid winter's lifeless, cold, and dark days.

Second, Christ's joy gets more and more intense as we advance in our journey of faith. This is why the vestments for today's Mass are rose-colored. They remind us of the color of the sky at the very brink of morning, when the sun is just beginning to come up. The horizon takes on a pale rose color that gradually gets redder and brighter as the sun rises. For faithful Christians, life is like a long sunrise, and death is the entrance into the bright, everlasting day of eternal life.

Third, the more we give this joy to others, the more we will have for ourselves. And this, of course, is why we have the tradition of exchanging gifts on Christmas. Jesus himself told us that "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).

We have all experienced that when we do something for others, even if it is costly or uncomfortable for us, we experience true fulfillment and satisfaction. But when we give into our selfish, self-centered tendencies, we shrivel up, like Scrooge. Like the candle-light service on Christmas Eve, by lighting someone else's candle with ours, we lose nothing, and gain more light and warmth than we had before.

This is the joy Jesus wants to bring to us: a lasting, growing, self-multiplying joy that comes from accepting God's gift of our Savior.

Imitating Jesus Better

If friendship with Jesus Christ is the source of lasting joy, then the deeper and more mature this friendship is, the more fully we will experience lasting joy. The Church's best spiritual writers all agree that this friendship depends on three things: knowing, loving, and imitating Jesus Christ.

The fact that we are here today shows that all of us, at least to some extent, already know and love Jesus Christ. But what about imitating him? If someone were to follow us around with a video camera from the moment we left today's Mass to the moment we arrive for next Sunday's Mass, what kind of behavior would they record? Would our daily, weekday lives reflect a conscious, concerted effort to imitate our Lord's honesty, integrity, purity, and self-forgetful, self-sacrificial love?

Advent still has two weeks left. Let's make this our goal: to strive to be imitating Jesus better at the end of these two weeks than we do today. And I think we all know exactly how to make that happen:

First of all, we need to start out each day in prayer, because without God's help, we can do nothing. Then we simply need to make a decent effort to treat our neighbors as we would like them to treat us – family members first, then friends, colleagues, teammates, and strangers.

We wouldn't want them to criticize and gossip about us behind our backs. We wouldn't want them to ignore our needs and problems. We wouldn't want them to harbor anger and resentment against us, even if we deserved it.

If we strive to know, love, and imitate Christ just a little bit better each day, our friendship with him will never grow cold, and, little by little, our lives will become true fountains of Christian joy.

At the third week of Advent, we light the third of the four candles in the Advent wreath: the candle of Joy. As we pondered the changes in our life, and in our world, we thought about Christmas and the birth of Baby Jesus. Sometimes that manger scene seems so irrelevant and so far removed from day-to-day life. Yet an old verse in the Bible brought freshness to our soul this week as we pondered how the Baby Jesus impacts our life today. It truly gives new cause for joy — to stop and listen again. "For unto us a child is born …and He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6-7).

John answered them all, saying, "I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." (Luke 3:16–17)

Again, this Sunday, we are given the glorious witness of St. John the Baptist. In this sermon of John, he says that Jesus will come and baptize "with the Holy Spirit and fire." The image of being baptized "with fire" is a good one to reflect upon. It especially reveals to us the deep purification Jesus desires for our souls.

What does it mean to be purified? For one thing, purification of our soul hurts. But it hurts in a sweet sort of way. Turning from sin and growing closer to God requires great sacrifice and surrender. And it requires that we allow God to do powerful things within us. And the most powerful thing God wants to do is purify us.

Our Catholic faith reveals to us the reality of Purgatory after we die. Purgatory is said to be a place of much spiritual pain, but again, in a sweet sort of way. It's painful in the sense that we are stripped of all that we hold on to that God wants us to let go of. It's painful in the sense that we endure a complete transformation of who we are and what we love. We learn to love God and God alone. And in the embrace of our love of God, we come to love all people.

It's also sweet because, as we are purified, we grow infinitely closer to God and grow in holiness. This lifts the burden of sin and frees us to love as we ought.

But our purification ought not start only in Purgatory. We are all called to enter into that process of purification here and now. We are called to heed the words of John the Baptist today and repent of all that keeps us from holiness of life.

Reflect, today, upon the purification to which God may be calling you. What is it that you hold on to that He wants you free of? Commit yourself to the purifying fire of God's love and let that love cleanse you in this Advent season.

Lord, I do long to have my soul purified by You. I do desire holiness of life. Help me to begin this process here and now so that I can begin to experience the joy and freedom You have in store for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm.

Introduction

Great personages announce their official visits ahead of time. This provides people with an opportunity to prepare for the visit, so as to be able to be ready for it. When the president of a country goes somewhere on an official visit, a whole team of security personnel, media workers, and diplomats goes in ahead of time, getting everything ready.

We do the same thing when we have an important guest coming over for dinner. We want the visit to go well; we don't want our guest to be neglected or saddened by a cold or sloppy welcome.

That's exactly what's happening in today's Gospel passage. John the Baptist is Christ's precursor, the one sent to announce his coming and get people ready to welcome him. John the Baptist plays a central role in our Advent liturgy, because this is the season during which the Church recalls Christ's first coming, readies itself to welcome him at his new, spiritual coming this Christmas, and looks forward to his definitive, second coming at the end of history.

The word "Advent" actually originates from the Latin term for "coming towards." Jesus is "coming towards" us in a new way this Christmas, and the message of John the Baptist is meant to help us get ready.

Luke emphasizes the incomparable importance of Christ's coming by pointing out how the Old Testament had prophesied not only the arrival of Jesus, but even the appearance of the precursor, John. And that prophecy, which summarizes John's message, offers us two lessons.

What We Should Do

First it tells us what to do in order to get ready for Christ's comings in our lives and in the lives of those around us. We are to "prepare the way," filling in valleys, leveling hills, straightening crooked roads, and smoothing out rough paths.

The imagery comes from a typical scene in the ancient world (before concrete and asphalt highways). When a king or emperor made the rounds of his territories, his officials would travel ahead of him, making sure that the roads were safe and in good condition (roads were notoriously unreliable in Isaiah's time, long before the establishment and spread of the Roman Empire). This assured that he wouldn't be delayed and would be less vulnerable to enemy ambushes.

Likewise, we are called to examine our own souls on a regular basis, especially in this joyful but penitential season of Advent.

We need to take some time to step away from the noise, from the hustle and bustle of our busy world. We need to look into hearts, to see where selfishness has put obstacles in our relationships with God and with other people.

We need to see where habits of laziness and self-indulgence have worn away our self-discipline. All of us need to fill in some spiritual potholes and clear away some unwelcome debris, so that the graces God has in store for us this Advent will be able to stream unhindered into our hearts.

The heart is the road God wants to follow so as to come into and transform our lives; it is up to us to do the necessary repairs to allow that to happen.

There is no better first step for doing that, of course, then preparing and making a good confession.

Why We Should Do It

Second, Isaiah tells us why we should prepare our hearts for Christ's comings. He writes: "all flesh shall see the salvation of God." This is a beautiful reminder that we, meaning both the entire human family and each of us individually, need God's grace.

The peace, meaning, and joy that we thirst for above all else is out of our sinful reach. We need someone to bring it to us, to search us out in this desert of our earthly exile and give us the waters of eternal life.

We need a Savior. If we didn't need a Savior, if we were able to give ourselves the meaning and fulfillment we yearn for, then Jesus Christ would never have had to come to earth. God would not have had to invent Christmas. We would not need Advent – in fact, we wouldn't need religion at all. But the fact is that we do. This fallen world, and our fallen human nature, has been poisoned by sin, and only God has the antidote: grace.

Jesus is always coming into our lives with his saving grace, just as he came so dramatically at the first Christmas two thousand years ago. He always wants to bring us closer to God, closer to the fullness of life that we long for. But he won't force his way in – he respects us too much to do that.And that's why we need to prepare our hearts to welcome him.

Conclusion: Getting Others Involved

Christ came to earth, at the first Christmas, to be our Savior. He wants to come again spiritually this Christmas, to let us experience more fully the grace of his salvation.

And he will come again at the end of history to bring his plan of salvation to its final fulfillment. This is our God, a God who is lovingly and powerfully involved in our world and our lives. A God who wants to be more and more involved.

All the Advent activities that we engage in: spending more time in prayer, using the sacrament of reconciliation, lighting Advent wreathes, and decorating our houses for Christmas… These are all designed to encourage us to let him be more involved.

If we haven't started those activities yet, it is not too late – with our God, the God of omnipotent mercy, it is never too late. As we continue with this Advent Mass, we should thank God for reminding us of his action in our lives, of his goodness and power. And we should ask him to help us do our part in these weeks still remaining before Christmas.

But we should also realize that we are the lucky ones. We are here today, listening to God's Word, being reminded of his plan, being encouraged in our faith. But what about all those people who are not here today. Jesus came to save them too. They are in the pit and in need of a ladder as much as we are.

Maybe part of our preparation for Christmas can be spreading the good news, reminding others that God wants to be involved in their lives, no matter what they may have done, just as God has reminded us.

At the second week of Advent, we light the second of the four candles in the Advent wreath: the candle of Peace. The angels proclaimed "Peace on Earth" when the Baby Jesus was born. Today we wonder as we listen to the news, is peace possible? We all need two kinds of peace in our lives. We need inner peace, but we also need peace with others. God addresses both. He tells us what to do to find that peace. Inner peace begins with a relationship with God, and it continues as we focus on his strength and trust him to fill us. Peace with others begins as we understand that God has called us to be peacemakers in our world.

• Having considered the requests from various Pastors of the Church in view of the continuing state of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Apostolic Penitentiary, through a Decree made public on 28 October this year, has extended for the entire month of November this year the special provisions announced in the Decree on 22 October last year in connection with the "Granting of Plenary Indulgences for the deceased faithful." For details, please refer to our notice board or the website of Hong Kong Diocesan Curia.
• The Episcopal Ordination of Bishop-elect Rev. Stephen Chow Sau-Yan, S.J. will take place on Saturday, 4 December at 3:00 PM at the Cathedral on Caine Road.  Bishop Stephen Chow will be installed as the Bishop of Hong Kong on the same day. The Ordination ceremony will be broadcast live at the Diocesan Website.  Please pray for our Diocese and for Rev. Stephen Chow.  All priests of our church will attend this ordination. For this reason, Confession (5:00 PM) and Anticipated Sunday Mass (6:00 PM) on that day (4 Dec) will be cancelled.
  

Nobody likes to wait, but we all like to get ready. Advent, which starts today, is sometimes understood as a waiting period – waiting for Christmas to arrive (that's what the prophecy in today's First Reading calls to mind).

From that point of view, this waiting period between Advent and Christmas is also supposed to make us think deeply about another waiting period. The one between now and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, who will bring history to its fulfillment, judge the living and the dead, and put a definitive end to evil. This second waiting period is what our Lord refers to in today's Gospel passage.

But is Advent really just a waiting period?Is human history just a waiting period, an undisclosed number of centuries in which we wait for the Second Coming to happen?

No. They are more than waiting periods; they are getting-ready periods.

Advent is a liturgical season, a period of time in which the Church surrounds us with reminders of the greatest event in the whole history of the universe: the incarnation of the Son of God, who came to earth to be our Savior.

The Church gives us these reminders to help us get our souls ready to receive the special graces God wants to give us as we celebrate that event this year, in the "right now" of our lives.

And those same reminders are also meant to spark a personal examination of conscience.And if in that examination we notice any sinful or self-centered tendencies, habits, or activities, Advent is the time to get rid of them.

That's how we get ready for our Lord's Second Coming, which will occur either at our personal death, or at the end of history, whichever happens first. These four weeks aren't about waiting; they are about getting ready.

Two Ways to Get Ready

So, Advent is about getting ready, not just waiting around. And since it's about getting ready for two things, there are at least two things we should do in order to get ready.

First, we need to get ready for this year's celebration of Christmas, the coming of our Savior to earth. In every liturgical season, God has special graces in store for us. One reason the Church uses liturgical seasons is precisely to make us aware that God wants to give us these special graces.

We don't know ahead of time what they will be.

It could be a deeper insight into the meaning of our existence and a greater peace of mind. It could be an experience of forgiveness and mercy. It could be an infusion of spiritual strength to take a step we have long wanted to take but have been afraid to.

God knows what he wants to give us this Christmas; we just have to get ready to receive it. And that means doing what the Church does, finding ways to think more frequently and deeply about God's love and God's plan of salvation.

The second thing we are getting ready for is the end of history, the final judgment. This means turning away from our sins, repenting, and making a fresh start on the path of following Christ's teaching and example.

Therefore, we wear purple or midnight-blue vestments during Advent, as a penitential sign. And of course, there is simply no better way to do this than by preparing and having a good confession.

The sacrament of reconciliation is the perfect method to get ready for the Second Coming. Advent is not just about waiting around; it's about getting ready. So, let's get ready - starting right now, by living this Mass well.

The Advent season is a beautiful reminder to prepare our hearts as we prepare our homes — to celebrate the birth of our Savior and anticipation of the Lord's coming! At the start of this week, we light the first of the four candles in the Advent wreath: the candle of Hope.

We are looking for a compassionate and empathetic volunteer who is willing to serve as the St. Anne's English-speaking funeral coordinator. It is not often that there is a need for this service but, occasionally, the need may arise. The function of this role is to serve as the liaison between the grieving family and the parish team and volunteers.

This role significantly helps the bereaved family in planning the details of a funeral. While not a glamorous role, it is greatly appreciated by those in need. Please contact Fr. Paulus or Fr. David if interested or need more information.