Advent

Each one of us is called to share the good news by imitating John the Baptist to be a missionary, helping others to encounter Christ and to prepare and straighten the paths for God. Joy, peace, suffering, and persecution are parts of any journey, including the journey of faith in God. However, only in the journey of faith in God with our missionary effort can we face suffering and persecutions gracefully on the way toward the eternal peace and joy.
 
Readings at this Mass: Bar 5:1–9 | Phil 1:4–6, 8–11 | Lk 3:1–6

The lesson that Advent holds out to all of us, in the midst of all the purchasing, planning, and frantic activity around us, is patience. Trusting that when life doesn’t look the way we think it should look, God is still in control. Remember: some things can’t be rushed. God has a plan, and if we open our lives to Him and let Him work, He’ll get us where we need to be - even if He doesn’t do it the way we would do it. Advent means remembering how to wait.
 
Readings at this Mass: Jer 33:14-16  |  1 Thes 3:12—4:2  |  Lk 21:25-28, 34-36

As Eucharistic people, we are called to reverence each other: to honor and show respect to each other, just as Jesus did, because all are made in the image and likeness of God. Through our reception of the Eucharist, let us reverence, honor, and show our love for God and those around us. Show them that we desire communion with them, to be helpers and healers, and through such reverence help build up the Body of Christ.

At Communion time, the Lord comes into our hearts; thus, whenever we receive others into our heart, the Lord is there to meet them whether they realize it or not. The Lord asks us to be Communion for those outside of Communion: to be the love by which others come to know and accept the love of Jesus, even if they don’t know it’s the love of Jesus. It’s as if Jesus uses our love to slip in past the defenses of those who may not know Him, have walked away from Him, or whose hearts, for whatever reason, are closed against Him. Because of who we receive at this table, our love can be not just our love, but an encounter with the Sacred itself.

Many of us have a go-to "comfort food" when we are sick. During the Last Supper, Jesus entrusted His disciples with the Eucharist, the ultimate "comfort food" that heals us and removes the distance between us as we come together to as one in the Body of Christ. We are entrusted with the same mission at the end of Mass, to bring that Eucharistic healing and comfort to others after having received it for ourselves. Invite someone in your life to go out for a meal, and ask God for the grace to share that healing Eucharistic comfort as you listen to them.

While Mary is full of God's grace, since her immaculate conception, she is also obedient and faithful to the Father and eventually to her Son. Mary's humility and willingness to accept God's plan for her is an example for us to imitate in our own lives. May the Immaculate Virgin Mary intercede for us as we aspire to live an immaculate life: a life of total abandonment to the will of God.

We are all called to love in sacrificial ways. Be watchful this week to the needs of those around you who need to see the love of God through you. Be a catalyst of God's love and give yourself in service to another person in need - or, as St. Ignatius of Antioch described, pour yourself out like wheat to be crushed so as to be bread for the world.

A litmus test of our faith can be, in part, how thankful we are. The Church even proclaims how giving thanks to God is ultimately the best response in the Preface at Mass (“Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” “It is right and just.”). God is the author of all we give thanks for, so it is right and just to give that thanks back to Him after it passes through us. May we put our gratitude into action as a gift and response to each other and ultimately to God, who is the source of all our thanksgiving!