列印 The Lord is near.
The fourth candle of Advent is called the “Angel Candle” and symbolizes peace.
Jesus came to bring peace to our hearts and to our world!
Mary, the Mother of Jesus who is honored with the title “Ark of the Covenant!”
The Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary the good news: “Hail full of grace,
the Lord is with you….for you shall conceive the Son of God!”
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
Micah 5:1-4a
But you,
列印 The sun rises from the East. A new dawn begins in the East.
John the Baptist, recognized the Messiah and so he (John) leaped for joy!
Advent will soon give way to the joy of Christmas! Let us wait for the new dawn, the Sun rising from the Orient!
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
Song of Songs 2:8-14 (or Zephaniah 3:14-18a)
The voice of my lover!
列印 Privileges give us advantages over others. But it can also be quie dangerous.
There lurks in being privileged the danger of undue sense of entitlement.
those who repent are those whom Jesus earlier referred to as the “least in the kingdom of God”
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17a
He looked up and saw
列印 Mary was a simple young maiden in the little town of Nazareth who found favor with God.
She said “yes” to the plan of God. We are all saved.
Her espoused husband, He was a poor carpenter.
Yet these simple people were chosen to raise God's Son.
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
Isaiah 7:10-14
Once again Yahweh addressed Ahaz,
列印 The day takes its common name from the Latin word Gaudete ("Rejoice").
The third Sunday of Advent, On it, permitted to be rose-coloured vestments were allowed instead of purple.
Signifies the nearness of the Lord's coming.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.
for the Lord is near at hand; you have turned away the captivity of Jacob.
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
Zephaniah 3:14-18a
Cry out with joy,
列印 God’s plan of salvation goes a long way. Long before Jesus would be born.
God would be sending time and again signs of his coming.
John the Baptist is like Samson of the Old Testament. chosen and dedicated.
Jesus, the Nazarene, born in the city of David, Bethlehem,
will become the king of Israel and so thus fulfill the promise of God to Jacob and Jesse.
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
Judges 13:2-7, 24-25a
There was a man of Zorah
列印 『The way of the Lord is the “via crucis. "』
Our Saint of today, St. John of the Cross.
He is one Saint who plumbed the depths of the ways of the Lord.
He understood and lived the way of the Lord, the way of the Cross!
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11
Then came the prophet Elijah like a fire,
列印 Joseph is kind, He is attentive to the Lord, listening for his word.
Desiring to protect Mary's reputation and save her from shame.
“O Lord –be merciful to us and grant us the righteousness of Joseph and the obedience of Mary!
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
Jeremiah 23:5-8
Yahweh further says,
列印 God asks that we submit to his will and his commandments.
If we do that, God will lead us and teach us the way that we should go.
They may laugh at us, insult us, or call us hypocrites.
But if we remain faithful in following the Lord, we will live in his presence forever.
St. Lucy, virgin & martyr
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
Isaiah 48:17-19
Thus says Yahweh,
列印 Today as we enter this period of one week to the date of Christmas Day.
And in this part of the Book of Genesis, it was told that Israel,
before he passed away gathered all of his family and blessed his sons with various blessings and prayers.
The great King of Israel, who hailed from the tribe of Judah,
and to whom God had promised that his kingdom and his house would sit on the Throne of Israel forever.
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
Genesis 49:2, 8-10
"Gather around,
列印 Our Lady of Guadalupe
Today, much of the Church in the Americas celebrates Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Mary appeared not to a king or a bishop but to Juan Diego, an indigenous peasant farmer.
In the depths of winter, The roses blooming out of season
show the healing of the earth that the Lord's coming will bring.
＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊
Zechariah 2:14-17 (or Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab)
"Sing and rejoice,
