December 6
Sunday
2nd Sunday of Advent
1st Reading: Bar 5:1–9
Jerusalem, put off your garment of mourning and unhappiness, put on the splendor and glory of God forever.
Wrap yourself in the mantle of holiness that comes from God, put on your head the crown of glory of the Eternal One.
For God will show your splendor to every being under Heaven.
He will call your name forever, “Peace in Justice” and “Glory in the Fear of the Lord.”
Rise up, Jerusalem, stand on the heights. Look towards the East and see your children gathered together from the setting of the sun to its rising, by the voice of the Holy One, rejoicing because God has remembered them.
They left you on foot, taken away by the enemy. God will lead them back, carried gloriously like royal princes.
For God has resolved to bring low every high mountain and the everlasting hills, to fill up the valleys and level out the ground, in order that Israel may walk in safety under the Glory of God.
Even the forests and the fragrant trees will give shade to Israel at God’s command. For God will lead Israel with joy by the light of his Glory, escorting them with his mercy and justice.
2nd Reading: Phil 1:4–6, 8–11
When I pray for you, I pray with joy. I cannot forget all you shared with me in the service of the Gospel, from the first day until now. Since God began such a good work in you, I am certain that he will complete it in the day of Christ Jesus.
God knows that I love you dearly with the love of Christ Jesus, and in my prayers I ask that your love may lead you each day to a deeper knowledge and clearer discernment, that you may have good criteria for everything. So you may be pure of heart and come blameless to the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of holiness that comes through Christ Jesus, for the glory and praise of God.
Gospel: Lk 3:1–6
It was the fifteenth year of the rule of the Emperor Tiberius; Pontius Pilatus was governor of Judea; Herod ruled over Galilee, his brother Philip ruled over the country of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias over Abilene. Annas and Caiaphas were the High Priests at that time when the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah in the desert.
John proclaimed a baptism for repentant people to obtain forgiveness of sins and he went through the whole country bordering the Jordan River. It was just as is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah: listen to this voice crying out in the desert: prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. The valleys will be filled and the mountains and hills made low. Everything crooked will be made straight and the rough paths smooth; and every mortal will see the salvation of God.
Commentary
The season of Advent calls us to conversion of mind and heart so that we might be more open to the presence of the Lord in our lives. We are encouraged to turn away from sin and to leave behind anything in our lives that is contrary to the Gospel. Then are we truly free to embrace the Lord and to put our faith into action.
We are often kept from doing what is good, honorable and holy by stumbling blocks of our own making. Habits of selfishness keep us from recognizing the needs of the poor and less fortunate. Indulging ourselves in the culture of hedonism prevents us from experiencing true love and all of the fidelity, commitment and sacrifice that it requires.
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight,” John the Baptist cries. He speaks not only to the people of his day who gathered around him. He speaks to us and invites us to change our ways so that our hearts will be open to the presence of the Lord in our everyday living.
December 7
Monday
2nd Week of Advent
St. Ambrose
1st Reading: Is 35:1–10
Let the wilderness and the arid land rejoice, the desert be glad and blossom. Covered with flowers, it sings and shouts with joy, adorned with the splendor of Lebanon, the magnificence of Carmel and Sharon. They, my people, see the glory of Yahweh, the majesty of our God. Give vigor to weary hands and strength to enfeebled knees.
Say to those who are afraid: “Have courage, do not fear. See, your God comes, demanding justice. He is the God who rewards, the God who comes to save you.”
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unsealed. Then will the lame leap as a hart and the tongue of the dumb sing and shout.
For water will break out in the wilderness and streams gush forth from the desert. The thirsty ground will become a pool, the arid land springs of water.
In the haunts where once reptiles lay, grass will grow with reeds and rushes. There will be a highway which will be called The Way of Holiness; no one unclean will pass over it nor any wicked fool stray there.
No lion will be found there nor any beast of prey. Only the redeemed will walk there. For the ransomed of Yahweh will return: with everlasting joy upon their heads, they will come to Zion singing, gladness and joy marching with them, while sorrow and sighing flee away.
Gospel: Lk 5:17–26
One day Jesus was teaching and many Pharisees and teachers of the Law had come from every part of Galilee and Judea and even from Jerusalem. They were sitting there while the power of the Lord was at work to heal the sick. Then some men brought a paralyzed man who lay on his mat. They tried to enter the house to place him before Jesus, but they couldn’t find a way through the crowd. So they went up on the roof and, removing the tiles, they lowered him on his mat into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “My friend, your sins are forgiven.” At once the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to wonder, “This man insults God! Who can forgive sins but only God?
But Jesus knew their thoughts and asked them, “Why are you reacting like this? Which is easier to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or: ‘Get up and walk’? Now you shall know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” And Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” At once the man stood before them. He took up the mat he had been lying on and went home praising God.
Amazement seized the people and they praised God. They were filled with a holy fear and said, “What wonderful things we have seen today!”
Commentary
Today, we get the chance to pray for all those folk, who have yet to believe in God with all their hearts; to pray for someone, not yet following Christ. Some people believe in God provisionally, but hesitate to trust Him fully. Their hearts are fearful that nothing will really ever change. For them, God is still on probation. As time passes without dramatic changes, expectations gradually tend to fade. Let’s pray that they receive the strength of heart, they will need to trust God fully. Let’s pray for them to acquire the courage to make the moves they need to make.
Let’s pray that God will strengthen them to do what they must do to lay hold of the good things God has for them. Strength for weak hands to hang on to hope? Let’s ask God to give them gripping power. Imagine them holding on to hope, the lifeline to their future and Christ is the power pulling them up. They just have to hang on. Boldness for wobbly knees to move forward towards God’s call? Let’s ask God to fortify their readiness to make the decisions they’ll need to make to answer Christ’s summons and follow Him.
December 8
Tuesday
2nd Week of Advent
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
1st Reading: Gen 3:9–15, 20
Yahweh God called the man saying to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree I ordered you not to eat?” The man answered, “The woman you put with me gave me fruit from the tree and I ate it.” God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.”
Yahweh God said to the serpent, “Since you have done that, you will eat dust all the days of your life. I will make you enemies, you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.”
The man called his wife by the name of Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.
2nd Reading: Eph 1:3–6, 11–12
Blessed be God, the Father of Christ Jesus our Lord, who in Christ has blessed us from heaven with every spiritual blessing.
God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and without sin in his presence. From eternity he destined us in love thus fulfilling his free and generous will.
This goal suited him: that his loving-kindness which he granted us in his Beloved might finally receive all glory and praise.
We were awaiting the Messiah, for the praise of his glory.
Gospel: Lk 1:26–38
The angel Gabriel came to Mary and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean.
But the angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus. He will be great and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his ancestor; he will rule over the people of Jacob forever and his reign shall have no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be if I am a virgin?” And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the holy child to be born shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child, and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”
Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.
Commentary
In the constitution, Ineffabilis Deus, of 8 December 1854, Pope Pius IX pronounced that the Blessed Virgin Mary, “in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin.”
The Blessed Virgin Mary lived her life in the state, in which Adam and Eve lived before their sin. She was as capable of sin as they were. Her life, like ours, was a series of choices between good and bad, self and other, God’s will and her own. Her glory, for which generations will call her blessed, is that in every instance she said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” We should not imagine that Mary had an easier time with temptation than we do. The Blessed Virgin Mary, apart from her Son, is the only one who really knew humility, since it was she who, in every instance, chose obedience, who let God’s will trump her own, who refused to be duped into trusting in her own resources. Hail Mary!
December 9
Wednesday
2nd Week of Advent
St. Juan Diego
1st Reading: Is 40:25–31
To whom, then, will you liken me or make me equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and see: who has created all this? He has ordered them as a starry host and called them each by name.
So mighty is his power, so great his strength, that not one of them is missing. How can you say, O Jacob, how can you complain, O Israel, that your destiny is hidden from me, that your rights are ignored by Yah-weh?
Have you not known, have you not heard that Yahweh is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth? He does not grow tired or weary, his knowledge is without limit.
He gives strength to the enfeebled, he gives vigor to the wearied. Youth may grow tired and faint, young men will stumble and fall, but those who hope in Yahweh will renew their strength.
They will soar as with eagle’s wings; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and never tire.
Gospel: Mt 11:28–30
Jesus said to the crowds: “Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For my yoke is good and my burden is light.”
Commentary
Young people don’t generally realize that their strong energy levels will diminish. They tend to think that they will always feel as good as they do now and always look as good as they do now. But, the reality of growing older, and a mark of maturity, is that we face life squarely as it is. We all grow weary and when we do we can become susceptible to despair and depression. It’s easy to be negative and critical when we’re weary. We become like the man, who had both an identity crisis and energy crisis. He didn’t know who he was, but was too tired to find out.
However, we have received God’s promise that…..those who hope in Yahweh will renew their strength. The idea is that as we draw near to God and trust in Him, He imparts to us His strength. What we need is new strength and that’s exactly the promise that’s made to us. When we hope in God, we tie ourselves to Him and receive His strength. So, when it says that God will renew our strength, it means that we will exchange our strength for His. What an exchange it is!
December 10
Thursday
2nd Week of Advent
1st Reading: Is 41:13–20
For I, Yahweh, your God, take hold of your right hand and say to you: “Fear not, I am your assistance.”
Fear not, Jacob, poor worm, and you, people of Israel, so frail. I am your redeemer, says Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, your helper.
I will make you a thresher, new and with sharp double teeth: you will thresh hills and mountains, crushing them and reducing them to chaff.
You will winnow them, the wind will carry them off and the storm will scatter them. But you will rejoice in Yahweh and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The poor and the afflicted seek water, and find none. Their tongues are parched with thirst. But I, Yahweh, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open up streams over the barren heights and let the rivers flow through all the valleys; I will turn the desert into lakes and brooks and the thirsty earth into a land of springs.
I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle and the olive; I will plant in the wasteland fir, cypress and pine—that all may see and know, consider and understand, that the hand of Yahweh has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Gospel: Mt 11:11–15
Jesus said to the crowds, “No one greater than John the Baptist has come forward among the sons of women, and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven is something to be conquered and the unyielding seize it.
“Up to the time of John, there was only prophesy: all the prophets and the Law; and if you believe me, John is this Elijah, whose coming was predicted. Let anyone with ears listen!”
Commentary
Fear binds multitudes of Christians: it is estimated that eighty percent of Christians, today, are oppressed by a spirit of fear. This can and must be reversed. We need a knowledge of God, if we are to be delivered from the spirit of fear. Fear stops people from using their spiritual gifts. The fear of rejection hinders people from beginning wonderful relationships. The fear of failure holds many back from beginning wonderful enterprises. The fear of death paralyzes and torments many.
If we are aware of the presence of Christ within us, we really can’t be swallowed up or dominated by fear. Fear cannot control us. Ultimately, it must be driven out in all its forms. We’ve seen before how perfect love drives out fear; but where does this perfect love come from? One thing to be sure of: it doesn’t come from ourselves. This perfect love comes from God. God is love, and that love drives out the spirit of fear. If we daily make more room for God in our lives, if we make room for Him through prayer and meditation and thanking God in life and death, then fear will find no place inside our hearts.
December 11
Friday
2nd Week of Advent
St. Damasus
1st Reading: Is 48:17–19
Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I, Yahweh, your God, teach you what is best for you; I lead you in the way that you must go.
Had you paid attention to my commandments, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
Your descendants would have been like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, their names never cut off nor blotted out from my presence.
Gospel: Mt 11:16–19
Jesus said to the crowds, “Now, to what can I compare the people of this day? They are like children sitting in the marketplace, about whom their companions complain: ‘We played the flute for you but you would not dance. We sang a funeral song but you would not cry!’
“For John came fasting and people said: ‘He is possessed.’ Then the Son of Man came, he ate and drank, and people said: ‘Look at this man! A glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet the outcome will prove Wisdom to be right.”
Commentary
If there is one lesson that all leaders learn, it is that they cannot please everyone. The most important person for any of us to please is God. When God calls us to a particular mission, He wants us to be faithful to His calling. At times, that means us taking an unpopular route. Often, when we do things based on human respect, we end up becoming unhappy, because we don’t please God and we don’t feel fulfilled. Fulfillment comes when we live a life according to the purpose, for which we were made. God has designed us all with a purpose, a specific mission in life, and has given us the innate desire and the gifts needed to fulfill this mission.
When we choose to ignore the longing of our hearts to do God’s will, we choose to ignore the path that brings us fulfillment, the path that brings us happiness. If we want to be happy in this life, then we have to do what God tells us, travel the road that He shows us, because only He, who designed us, knows why He designed us. Let’s take God’s route, even if it means taking the unpopular choice.
December 12
Saturday
2nd Week of Advent
Our Lady of Guadalupe
1st Reading: Zec 2:14–17
“Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for I am about to come, I shall dwell among you,” says Yahweh.
“On that day, many nations will join Yahweh and be my people, but my dwelling is among you.” The people of Judah will be for Yahweh as his portion in his holy land. He will choose Jerusalem again.
Keep still in Yahweh’s presence, for he comes, having risen from his holy dwelling.”
Gospel: Lk 1:39–47
Mary then set out for a town in the Hills of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with Holy Spirit, and giving a loud cry, said, “You are most blessed among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you who believed that the Lord’s word would come true!”
And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God my savior!
Commentary
Let’s look briefly at what Mary says in her praise to God. There are three distinct sections in the Magnificat. Firstly, there is Mary’s expression of what she feels in her heart, namely joy. Secondly, she mentions what God has done specifically for her as an individual: He has regarded her lowliness and done great things for her, thus bestowing upon her an enduring reputation for blessedness. And thirdly, she spends most of the time describing the character of God and why she has rejoiced in her own lowliness. It is clear from Mary’s words that God is not partial to the rich, the powerful or the proud.
Mary’s spiritual beauty reaches its emotional peak in the first part of her song, where she responds from the heart to all God did for her: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God my savior!” A mouth magnifies God by speaking His praises, but no one hears a soul. No one but God! Here, Mary is not verbalizing a silent prayer. At this moment, her heart and soul feel the greatness and holiness and mercy of God. And the feeling is resoundingly one of joy!
