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Gathering Together: Reflections on the Readings for the Fourth Week of Advent

Posted in Advent, Reflections from Other Writers and Speakers, Reflections on Scripture, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 18, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Photo by Grant Whitty on Unsplash

Readings for December 22nd:

  1. Micah 5:1–4a
  2. Psalm 80:2–3, 15–16, 18–19
  3. Hebrews 10:5–10
  4. Luke 1:39–45

What stands out to me from this week’s readings:

What stands out to me from this week’s readings is a theme of gathering together.

The first reading describes the Messiah coming from

Bethlehem-Ephrathah,
too small to be among the clans of Judah . . . .

and yet the passage says of "one who is to be ruler in Israel":

". . . the rest of his kindred shall return
    to the children of Israel.
He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock . . . 

and they shall remain, for now his greatness
    shall reach to the ends of the earth;
    he shall be peace. (Micah 5:1-4)

The passage strikes me as a movement from the individual to the society, from the seemingly insignificant to the infinite. We read about the Messiah first and the flock second, but the movement of the passage is really in the other direction. The passage predicts the Messiah drawing all people to himself.

While the Old Testament reading strikes me as being about how the people will move toward God, the psalm strikes me as asking God to move toward the people. It asks God to protect and to save the people.

The epistle says that Christ is the fulfillment of what the Old Testament reading and the psalm foretell and ask for.

In the gospel passage, we read about Mary and Elizabeth being gathered together. God draws Mary to visit Elizabeth, and Elizabeth is drawn to the sound of Mary’s voice, as is John. Why? Because Mary brings Christ to Elizabeth and John.

What someone else is sharing about this week’s readings:

Sarah Simmons, CSJ, is inspired by the readings for December 22 to reflect on the role of bodies in bringing Christ to the world — Elizabeth’s body, Mary’s body, my body, and your body.

What I’m saying (to the readings and beyond) this week:

For we are a people of the incarnation, we believe that Christ is within all of us, including you.  How do you long to express it?

Sarah Simmons, CSJ

This question is delightfully attention grabbing for me. I would have expected a similar question to ask what I should do, what the Holy Spirit is prompting me to do? But how do I long to express Christ within me? That feels like a different question with a different answer. Longing to express something is a different experience than being expected to express something. Both experiences feel familiar. And how authentic is the expression of something that I’m saying because I’m expected to. Am I expressing what I am only because I think I’m expected to? What is my answer to the question that was actually the end of the reflection?

I long to express the incarnation of Christ within me by helping to create spaces where people feel safe. In these spaces, they can be honest with themselves and each other. This honesty happens because they recognize the many ways their experiences and desires overlap.

I believe the way a space is arranged and decorated can allow experiences of safety and connection. This belief is why many forms of design and decorating interest me. I also believe that how stories —both fictional and nonfictional ones — are told is crucial. They are key vehicles for creating spaces that allow room for growth and connection.

I’m always longing to share my own story more fully and more effectively, and to help others share theirs. It’s my experience that the storytelling journey is never a linear one, and it requires cooperation and vulnerability. It requires wrestling with what to hold on to and what to let go of. It invites a person to ponder when to take advice and when to follow God’s voice within. It involves gathering people together. It also celebrates the uniqueness of every person. Participating in stories is an intimate activity. It takes members of crowds who may start as strangers and builds relationships between them.

This week’s prayer:

Lord, work through us so that we draw each other to You. Help us recognize Your presence within us and in each other. May we recognize the people around us bringing You to us. Thank You, Lord, for our fellow Christ-carriers. Gather us together. Lead us on the path to peace both within and around us. Amen

Work cited (but Not Linked to):

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. “4th Sunday of Advent — Sunday 22 December 2024: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.198, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 13 Dec. 2024, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm.

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In Advent’s Third Week, Let God’s Joy Sink in

Posted in Advent, Reflections from Other Writers and Speakers, Reflections on Scripture, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Photo by KaLisa Veer on Unsplash

Readings for December 8th:

  1. Zephaniah 3:14–18a
  2. Isaiah 12:2–3, 4, 5–6
  3. Philippians 4:4–7
  4. Luke 3:10–18

What stands out to me from this week’s readings:

I generally think of the readings for this season being about God’s people rejoicing because God is with them, drawing them close. I especially think this about the readings for the third week of Advent. Or I did until I actually read the passages.

This week’s first reading says that God rejoices in God’s people. The psalm reflects what I expect to read in this week’s readings. Together, the readings describe the relationship between God and God’s people.

The epistle describes how prayer strengthens that relationship. It’s a relationship that needs trust, openness, and gratitude to thrive. It’s a relationship that when nurtured, calms anxieties and prompts rejoicing. It’s a relationship that spreads its qualities to other relationships. The gospel passage supports this message about the effects of a relationship with God on relationships with others. It also reminds me that my relationships with others, and indeed, with all of creation, affect the strength of my connection with God.

The strength of God’s love never changes. In other words, God never stops rejoicing over us because we are not our sins and shortcomings. We’re God’s children, expressions of God’s love. Imagine the connection between a person and God like the connection between two phones. God is represented by one of the phones, and God never cuts off communication. Rather, it’s the phones of our minds, hearts and souls that often don’t receive the strongest signals.

What I’m saying (to the readings and beyond) this week:

The truth of everything I typed above is just sitting on the surface of my consciousness. Lord, let Your love permeate my being.

What someone else is sharing about this week’s readings:

What great wisdom in the Church’s tradition, to put a day for joy in this season of stillness, to remind us that joy comes when we slow down, when we accept silence and waiting and inactivity, and when we remember that everything good is a gift from God. Yes, indeed, Advent is a time for joy.

Kate Ward

Check out the full reflection on the readings for December 15th that includes this quote.

This week’s prayer:

Lord, help me experience and share Your joy. Amen.

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Justice, Hope, and Joy: A Reflection on Scripture for the First and Second Sundays of Advent

Posted in Advent, Reflections on Scripture, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Photo by KaLisa Veer on Unsplash
Photo by KaLisa Veer on Unsplash

Readings for December 1st:

  1. Jeremiah 33:14–16
  2. Psalm 25:4–5, 8–9, 10, 14
  3. 1 Thessalonians 3:12—4:2
  4. Luke 21:25–28, 34–36

Readings for December 8th

  1. Baruch 5:1–9
  2. Psalm 126:1–2, 2–3, 4–5, 6
  3. Philippians 1:4–6, 8–11
  4. Luke 3:1–6

What this week’s readings say to me:

The first reading for December 1st foretells the arrival of the long-promised Messiah. The passage from Jeremiah promises that the Messiah will “do what is right and just” (Jer. 33:15). People who trust Him and follow Him will be able to live in safety and security.

The psalm for December 1st recognizes that God has the qualities described in the first reading. It also describes how those who trust God and follow God reflect those same qualities.

The epistle urges readers and listeners to treat each other with charity, as they have been taught to do. It calls us to be more and more vigilant in looking for opportunities to act with charity.

In the gospel passage, Jesus foretells that there will come a time when the world as we know it will be “shaken” (Luke 21:26). He says the events of this time will cause people to “die of fright” (Luke 21:26). But, he says, this doesn’t need to be the fate of His disciples. He teaches them that when they find themselves in the midst of disturbing events, He is near. “[R]edemption is at hand” (Luke 21:28). He says His spiritual family members will be prepared to receive this redemption if they keep returning to His teachings. They must also return to His example whenever life’s distractions, whether pleasant or worrisome, tempt them to lose sight of His Way. He reminds them that prayer is the source of focus and strength in the face of temptations and trials.

For me, the Old Testament reading for December 8th paints a beautiful word picture of the effect God’s salvation and the arrival of the Messiah will have on God’s people. Like the previous week’s Old Testament passage, the one chosen for December 8th is written in future tense.

The psalm selection for December 8th, in contrast, is written in past tense. The first two stanzas would fittingly describe the people’s reaction to the events foretold in the Old Testament reading. There is “laughter” and “rejoicing” (Psalm 126:2). People who trust in God will be lifted up, and everything will be made right. The visibility of the people’s joy gives glory to God, even among those who do not know the God of Israel, as well as the peoples who have been comforted, cared for, and freed by God. The third and fourth stanzas ask for God’s continued care. The narrator trusts that even in difficult circumstances, when he can’t see the fruits of his faith, it will, nonetheless, bear fruit.

In the epistle for December 8th, St. Paul writes to the Philippians about the content of his prayer. He writes about expressing joy in his prayer. His joy comes from the work the Philippians do with him for the sake of the gospel. He describes the affection he has for the recipients of this letter. He conveys that he experiences them not only as coworkers, but as as friends and family members brought together by Christ’s love. He assures them that God, who began the work of salvation in them will continue it and complete it. He prays that they continue to grow in “knowledge… perception” and “discern[ment]… the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1:9-11).

The Gospel passage for December 8 echoes the message of the Old Testament passage for the day and prepares to point to Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the promises of both passages.

Combined, the message of the readings for these two weeks is that justice and security are coming. Don’t give up on this promise. Insist on believing that it’s possible with God. Keep looking for it — no matter how long it takes for you to see its fulfillment. While you cling to this promise, make room for each other. Make room for joy.

What I’m saying (to the readings and beyond) this week:

I feel called to more stillness and fewer words this Advent. I desire more focus, more intimacy with God — maybe more spontaneity with God.

So starting next week, I plan to focus on one passage. I may even concentrate on one word or phrase within the passage. The passage may even be one that’s not part of the Sunday readings. Maybe adjustments such as these will give me more time to sit with the divinely inspired words and to reflect on what they mean for me at the moment. Maybe this approach will allow me to do more listening to what God has to say to me. When I share what I hear, maybe you’ll be able to relate.

What someone else is sharing about this week’s readings:

December 1st

Valerie D. Lewis-Mosley, RN, OPA reflects on the theological theme for the first Sunday of Advent: hope.

December 8th

Colleen McCahill reflects on how, in the epistle for December 8th, St. Paul finds light in darkness. She also reflects on how Advent encourages us to seek light in times of darkness. It is a season that helps us do so.

This week’s prayer:

Lord, help me to seek and to find light amid the darkness that I experience around me and within me. Help me not to fear the brightness of the light but instead to let its fire shape me. Help me to follow the path it illuminates — the path of hope. Amen.

Works cited:

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. “1st Sunday of Advent — Sunday 1 December 2024: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.196, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 6 Nov. 2024, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm.

—. “2nd Sunday of Advent — Sunday 8 December 2024: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.196, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 6 Nov. 2024, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm.

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Wrapping up Advent and Unwrapping Christmas

Posted in Advent, Reflections on Scripture, tagged , , , , , on December 24, 2023| 1 Comment »

This week’s readings:

  1. 2 Samuel 7:1–5, 8b–12, 14a, 16 ·
  2. Psalm 89:2–3, 4–5, 27, 29
  3. Romans 16:25–27
  4. Luke 1:26–38

What this week’s readings say to me:

This week’s readings say to me that God has always accompanied humanity in all its joys and sorrows. As part of that accompaniment, God gave the tribes of Israel the special mission of bringing awareness of God’s accompaniment to the rest of humanity by being chosen to receive and to live God’s commandments. Eventually, a king from one of the tribes would be the ancestor of the Savior. This Savior would be for humanity the ultimate model of how to live God’s commandments and would offer humanity the Spirit for help living those commandments.

We can become God’s children and inherit God’s life because one of God’s daughters was given the grace and cooperated with that grace of being the dwelling place for God’s perfect son. Because she cooperates with that grace, God and humanity become one again, and I share in that oneness if I offer myself as a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit — just like she did. The challenge of this opportunity is that being the Spirit’s dwelling place is a gift that is neither easy to give nor to receive,

That gift most wasn’t an easy one for Mary to receive. She’s described as “greatly troubled” by the Gabbriel’s greeting alone, and for me it’s no wonder that her mental and emotional state is described this way when she hears the angel’s salutation (Luke 1: 29). Having a messenger of heaven suddenly appear before her and speak wouldn’t be anything like choosing a tree-topper from a store. A visit from an angel is an experience that few have, and she would’ve been no exception. Angels in Scripture aren’t quaint decorations. They’re overwhelming and disruptive attention-grabbers. Furthermore, Mary’s culture has taught her that finding favor with God carries with it indispensable work — not a comfortable life. I imagine her having thought all this before Gabriel got past “the Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28).

That announcement would bring plenty more difficulties along with the wonder that we perhaps associate with it today. Then again, I wonder how often awe accompanies it these days. It’s another one of those passages people tend to know by heart, even if they aren’t very familiar with others Scripture passages. I find that the more familiar something is, the more complete my numbness to its specialness becomes, and I know I’m not alone in this experience. That’s why I wanted to reflect in a way that removes the sugarcoating, and perhaps a little of the over-familiarity from this week’s Gospel passage.

Having this goal in mind doesn’t mean I don’t see these passages as bringing Good News. Rather, this goal is an exercise in remembering that not all that is good is sweet. Sometimes this is a challenging reminder to receive. At other times it’s comforting. It might be the latter at this time of year because expectations for this season can get so high. Given this reality, looking at the Gospel passages associated with this season, beginning with this week’s, without the lenses of what we think they should feel like can provide some very helpful perspective, a perspective that makes us feel less alone if we feel sad, alone, overwhelmed, afraid, or uncertain this time of year.

With this encouragement in mind, let’s go back to sitting with Mary as she receives the angel’s message. Sure, she’s being offered a role in history more important and unlike any other, and yes that’s an honor and a gift, but it’s a gift that comes at a higher price than she could’ve guessed from the angel’s greeting. For one, nowhere are we told that Gabriel included in his message that Mary’s parents were told of her role in God’s plan before she was. I imagine her being awestruck by the announcement but also but also dreading how people would treat her when her pregnancy became apparent. Remember that in this culture, the law evidently said she could be stoned to death for adultery for being unmarried and yet found to be with child — and not by her betrothed. Remember also that she would likely have been a young teenager, given her culture and that she hadn’t lived with her betrothed yet. I imagine she must have participated in the basics of managing a household and caring for a family for as long as she could remember, under the guidance of older female relatives. Still, being the wife and the mother in a household had to be different than being the daughter, the niece, or the cousin. And that’s just in terms of responsibility. Then there are the massive physical and emotional changes that motherhood entails. On top of all that, her calling was to be the mother of God. I imagine her feeling so small upon learning that this was her call. I imagine her finding comfort in a few thoughts as she received it:

  • If this news wasn’t just a hallucination (maybe she’d been out in the sun too long, she might have thought), what an amazing call it was. She could bring hope and righteousness to her people, to the world. And the role was hers to accept or to refuse.
  • The angel hadn’t left her without a way to test the truth of the announcement. She could visit her cousin Elizabeth, and see if the older woman was, in fact, pregnant.
  • If Elizabeth was, she would know the message was from God, and she already trusted that whatever the Divine Plan was, it would be brought to fruition, regardless of whatever obstacles were placed in its path, whatever hardships she’d have to weather as a result of being so central to it. I imagine that, in any circumstance, and especially given these consolations, she discerned the best and right course of action was to cooperate with the Divine Plan. I imagine her thinking she could never go wrong by declaring her intention to do that. God would use her proclamation of faith to do whatever God willed.

What someone else is sharing about this week’s readings:

Karen Sue Smith ties this week’s readings together in greater detail than I have.

Beyond this week’s readings:

Tonight is Christmas Eve, so I’m considering this post to be my reflection for both the fourth week of Advent and Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. If you’re juggling a lot this Christmas, you’re not alone. So did Mary, Joseph, and the innkeeper.

I see innkeepers getting bad raps in interpretations of biblical accounts of the Nativity. In so many stage adaptations, several innkeepers turn Mary and Joseph away before one offers a stable to the couple. The innkeepers who turn the Holy Family away are characterized as unyielding, heartless. If Mary and Joseph did inquire at more than one inn, maybe the proprietors wouldn’t have thought they were being heartless. Maybe they thought they had no accommodations to offer the couple that wouldn’t offend them, especially given Mary’s condition and that many animals were considered unclean. Maybe the last innkeeper was better at staying calm under the pressure of the influx of travelers. Maybe he saw the wisdom, under the circumstances, of dispensing with expectations, tradition, and rules, and offering the best he had left, humble though that offering is said to have been. (And for the record, Luke’s account mentions the inn whose stable the couple was provided with as if there were only one inn in town. We aren’t told that anyone turned Mary and Joseph away.)

May I be more like that innkeeper, wisely discerning what actions are best based on what situations require from moment to moment. May I see the value in what I have and what I have to offer.

May I remember that whatever my circumstances are this Christmas, God is with me. The accounts of Jesus’s earliest years remind me that:

  • If traveling, especially at peak travel times stresses you out, Mary, Joseph, and countless others understand.
  • If you are “greatly troubled” by unexpected events that are disrupting what you hoped to give the people in your life, Mary, Joseph, and the innkeeper understand (Luke 1:28).
  • If you are headed home after a long time away or are away from home this Christmas, Mary and Joseph can relate.
  • If you are grieving this Christmas or someone you love is, Mary and the weeping mothers of the Gospel can relate.
  • If you’re setting off on a journey with an uncertain destination, the Wise Men can relate. The Holy Family can too.
  • If you feel like you don’t fit in, the shepherds and the Holy Family can relate. Check out this reflection on shepherds from last year.
  • If you are a parent-to-be or a new parent, Mary and Joseph can relate to whatever you’re feeling.
  • If you are living amid or fleeing violence or are a refugee for another reason, the Holy Family can relate.

God is with us in each aspect of and participant in the Nativity story and in the stories unfolding around us this Christmas — the ones involving strife and struggle and the ones that are sappy and sugar-coated.

Lord, help us recognize your presence among us, especially when doing so feels most difficult. Amen.

Work cited

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. “4th Sunday of Advent, Sunday 24 December 2023: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.183, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 31 Oct. 2023, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm.

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A Colorful Glass Shard That Needs Polishing

Posted in Advent, Reflections from Other Writers and Speakers, Reflections on Scripture, tagged , , , , , on December 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Photo by KaLisa Veer on Unsplash
Photo by Daniela Paola Alchapar on Unsplash

This week’s readings:

  1. Isaiah 61:1–2a, 10–11
  2. Luke 1:46–48, 49–50, 53–54
  3. 1 Thessalonians 5:16–24 
  4. John 1:6–8, 19–28

What this week’s readings say to me:

This week’s readings remind me that we’re all called to be a mirror for the Holy Spirit, and like Jesus, to share the mind, the heart, and the eyes of God. We are called to use this mind, this heart, these eyes, and the rest of our bodies to do God’s work rather than to be a boulder the Holy Spirit has to go around. While each of our callings has what I just mentioned in common, none of us can know all that God knows, I see all that God sees, or can have compassion on all that God has compassion on. Unlike God, we’re limited — not omnipotent. We can’t be everywhere, do everything, and know everything all at once.

But this isn’t bad news. Rather, it points to the Good News. One way aspect of this Good News is that the limitations mean we need each other and God. Another aspect of this Good News is that, as Richard Rohr said, God’s nature is relationship, and as we are made in God’s image, we are made for relationships — with God and one another. We were made to depend on God and one another and, by being open to the movement of the Holy Spirit within us, to be dependable for God and each other. We are dependable for each other and God when we reflect the unique combination of God’s qualities that each of us is able to.

This week’s readings show how four different people will read with God so they can reflect Divine qualities in different ways. Perhaps the first reading demonstrates how two people do this. Through a prophet, this passage foretells what life will be like when God takes on a human existence and when God reigns over the “. . . new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” that we were promised in the third reading last week (2 Peter 3:13). In the second reading, Mary proclaims that despite her apparent insignificance in her culture, God has blessed her. God’s ways are not like human ways, and so she rejoices in who God is and what God and will do. In the fourth reading, John the Baptist reflects who God is by demonstrating humility, honesty, and an unflinching dedication to the mission God has given him. The readings themselves illustrate better than I can by just pointing to specific verses how Isaiah, Mary, John the Baptist and Jesus each invited the Holy Spirit to work through them in ways that are unique to who they are in the situations in which they find themselves.

Yes, I’ve skipped the third passage so forth because it doesn’t show us how a famous biblical figure invited God to work through him or her (except that the passage comes from a letter a letter attributed to Paul who is letting God work through him and reflecting God in a way that only he can by composing the letter). Instead, it instructs us in how to invite the Holy Spirit to work through us. It urges us to become a link in the chain of love, some other links of which we’ve met in the rest of this week’s readings.

No link in this chain is a copy of the others around it. It’s not a dull, rough restraint that rubs skin raw. I propose it’s more like a bracelet on which each charm or jewel is unique, each reflecting the light in a different way and reflecting a different, significant moment.

What someone else is sharing about this week’s readings:

Bridget McDermott Flood reflects on a theme given to the third Sunday of Advent every year — joy — and how to experience it.

Beyond this week’s readings:

This reflection from Jeff Cavins was released in response to last week’s readings. However, I heard it right before I looked into this week’s readings as I prepared to draft this post, and I heard influenced how I read this week’s passages. You’ll need to login to listen to the reflection, and even after you login, this particular session may not be available on the free version of the Hallow app. In case you are unable to listen to it without subscribing to the paid version of the app, the gist of Mr. Cavins’ message is that each of us is called to “Prepare the way of the Lord,” even though each of us may not be called to do so in the same way as the person next to us (Isa. 40:3).

When I hear “prepare,” I think of doing something, but I’m realizing how often changing my habits would involve not doing something. Yes, I say hurtful things, and a version of me in perfect union with God wouldn’t. But as I reflect on this blaming, these barbs, I realize that even they come from my wanting to make the pieces around me fit where I want them to, instead of accepting that I can’t make them fit.

Maybe I and the people around me aren’t connected like precious charms on a bracelet, but more like pieces of broken, yet beautiful differently colored pieces of glass that God brings together to form a beautiful picture. A few days ago, I saw a Christmas movie whose title I’ll only link to here so that anyone who wants to can avoid having me spoil its plot. For these readers, I just want to acknowledge that the plot of that movie inspired my colored-glass metaphor. In my life and in any life, the pieces are the shapes and colors they are. All I can do is accept the pieces as they are, let God polish the piece that is me, and seek where I fit best.

It’s difficult enough to seek where I belong in the mosaic and to let God polish me. I didn’t come up with the concept for the overall picture the picture or any of its elements, nor do I know what the whole picture looks like, so its components usually don’t connect the way I’d like them to, I feel frustrated and embarrassed that I can’t complete the picture as I would like because I can’t see the whole picture. I respond to these feelings by lashing out and making edges on the multicolored, reflective shards sharper and the gaps between them wider. I scatter the pieces, accomplish the opposite of what I want by trying to force what I want to happen, to make it take place when and how I want it to. What would do the most good is surrendering instead. In addition to the prayers I linked to last week, this prayer is one I find myself turning to for help with surrendering:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
My memory, my understanding
And my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace.
That is enough for me.
Amen.

Prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola

Lord, help me experience Your love and grace as enough for me. Help me to mean the words of the above prayer, trusting that when I offer the gifts You’ve given me back to You, You’ll remove any distortion caused by sin from them and they’ll do the good you intend them to do. Amen.

Work cited (but not linked to)

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. “3rd Sunday of Advent, Sunday 17 December 2023: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.183, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 31 Oct. 2023, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm.

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How Can We Take Now Part in What’s Coming?

Posted in Advent, Reflections from Other Writers and Speakers, Reflections on Scripture, tagged , , , , , on December 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Photo by KaLisa Veer on Unsplash

This week’s readings:

  1. Isaiah 40:1–5, 9–11
  2. Psalm 85:9–10, 11–12, 13–14
  3. 2 Peter 3:8–14
  4. Mark 1:1–8

What this week’s readings say to me:

This week’s readings remind me that for God there are no obstacles. It’s on account of the Divine Nature, which is love, that God doesn’t override our freedom to reject God or to invite God into our lives.

Comfort, give comfort to my people . . . .
A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low . . .

Isaiah 40:1 and 4

No canyons or soaring peaks can get in God’s way. God is neither held back, nor propelled forward, nor weighed upon by time.

Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
carrying them in his bosom . . . .

Isaiah 40:11

And yet you and I are. And so we wait for God to level the steep climbs and fill in the craters, wondering when the Prince of Peace is going to see to it that justice and peace reign. We wish God weren’t delaying so long in making this reign happen.

The third reading suggests the delay is thanks to God’s love. The landowner hasn’t returned to call for an how we’ve managed his resources because he wants as many people as possible to have the chance to use them to heal and to grow. He knows that if we do our part to bring about the world we want to see, the effort will bring about peace and justice within us. Figurative and literal mountains may be obstacles for us, but obstacles can be good for us if we ask God to help us look at them with clear, eternal eyes and to see them as opportunities to give, to depend on God, and to open ourselves to the Holy Spirit.

Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.

Psalm 85:10

That’s what this week’s readings say to me, but the readings themselves express their message were beautifully than I can. I think there are verses in this week’s passages that are familiar and cherished by many, regardless of how regularly someone revisits Scripture passages. So I decided to include pull quotes of my favorite verses from these readings in this post. Also, I suggest that the readings as a whole might be sat with throughout Advent.

. . .we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

2 Peter 3:13

What someone else is sharing about this week’s readings:

Sarah Hansman reflects on how practicing patience doesn’t conflict with taking an active part in prepar[ing] the way” for Christ to renew all that is by entering into it (Isa. 40:3).

Beyond this week’s readings:

Fr. Roderick Vonhogen shares what it means to have the grace of an Advent mindset year-round.

The theme of waiting for God’s coming to live among us and offering salvation, even as we are invited to take part in bringing about that salvation calls to my mind “The Serenity Prayer,” especially the well-known first stanza. It also brings to mind “A New Serenity Prayer” by Fr. James Martin. To give proper credit to the sources of these prayers, rather than typing them here, I’m just going to link to them and close this post by wishing you a fruitful, grace-filled week of active waiting. As I write this prayer, also on my mind is anyone waiting in suffering and grief. Come to those who are sorrowing. Comfort them with Your presence, Lord Amen.

Work cited (but not linked to)

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. “Sunday 10 December 2023: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.183, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 31 Oct. 2023, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm.

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God and Humanity Call on Each Other

Posted in Advent, Advent, Reflections on Scripture, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »

This week’s readings:

  1. Isaiah 63:16b–17, 19b; 64:2–7
  2. Psalm 80:2–3, 15–16, 18–19
  3. 1 Corinthians 1:3–9
  4. Mark 13:33–37

What this week’s readings say to me:

I’ve heard of the stages of grief, and after revisiting this week’s readings, I’m wondering if any professionals have ever identified stages for processing guilt. The narrator in the first reading seems to begin processing guilt by blaming God for misdeeds. Why do you allow me to sin, he asks? Come stop me.

Upon making this request, he seems wary about having it granted. And why wouldn’t he be? God’s gaze isn’t a social media filter that can erase any blemishes. It doesn’t allow him to delude himself into thinking he can escape the truth of the life he lives in its combination of ugliness and beauty. Taking an honest look at his life brings him to the next stages in the process of addressing his guilt: asking for God for the grace to become the best version of himself and being open to the possibility of receiving this grace.

The psalmist asks for these graces, and the psalm concludes with an expression of trust that the speaker will receive what he asks for.

The third reading expresses faith that those who live with Christ and in Christ receive all the graces they need to find unending union with God and with other partakers in that union.

I find it difficult to trust in the promises of the third passage. Contrary to its message, I experience that I am, in fact, “lacking in [plenty of spiritual gift[s]” (1 Cor. 1:7). Furthermore, my memory tells me that I haven’t been kept “firm” in any of them in the past, so I find it difficult to believe that I will be firm “to the end” and will be found “irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:8). Paul concludes the promises of the passage by reminding us that “God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor. 1-9). The implication of these reminders seems to be that God will complete the journey toward union among all who are connected to the divine.

Yet we’ve seen in wedding feast parables that symbolize that union that not everyone who is invited accepts the invitation and not even everyone who accepts it is prepared for it. These parables suggest that neither those who reject the invitation to the feast nor those who are unprepared for it are able to enjoy the feast.

And even those who accept and respond to the invitation cannot prepare themselves for the celebration. They need God’s help.

I need God’s help — to accept the invitation to the feast, to light the way to it, and to make room for it within. I can trust in this help, but it often doesn’t feel like I can. I often don’t recognize it being extended, so I reject the invitation. I don’t always lead others along the path to it by letting God’s light shine through my words and actions. I let fragile imitations of that Light block its reach, its warmth and radiance. My choices and the choices of others mean that sometimes I can’t sense its radiance and warmth. At these times, I’m spiritually asleep and need the Gospel passage’s wake-up call.

What someone else is sharing about this week’s readings:

Ma. Marilou S. Ibita, PHD, STD uses her areas of expertise to offer a deeper reflection on the Gospel passage and the work we’re called to than the one I have shared.

Beyond this week’s readings:

I want to share three podcast episodes that gave me additional perspective on the Sunday readings for the three weeks before today. You may want to have headphones on when you click the play buttons on the pages where the following links lead:

The third link not only looks back at past weeks’ readings but also offers some considerations for how we might look at the weeks ahead.

Lord, may the material world awaken us to Your presence and to Your coming in the past, present, and future rather than numbing us to the reality that You have come, are here, and will come again. Amen.

Work cited

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. “1st Sunday of Advent: Readings at Mass.” The New American Bible, 2001. Universalis for Windows, Version 2.183, Universalis Publishing Ltd., 31 October 2023, https://universalis.com/n-app-windows.htm.

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