Fourth Sunday of Advent

Posted on by Patrick Leyden

Jesus was born at a time when messianic expectations were high.  His whole life would show how He indeed fulfilled these messianic hopes.

The Title Christ was a Greek translation for the Hebrew word “Messiah”, meaning “the anointed one.”  As more and more Gentiles entered the Church, the word Christ gradually lost its distinction as a title and became part of our Lord’s personal name.  “Jesus the Christ” became simply “Jesus Christ.”

If Jesus as Messiah is going to mean anything to us personally, we must acquire some of the attitudes of the Israelites before He was born.  We need a Savior in our life.  Without a Savior we are sinners with no escape.  However, with a Savior we are sinners who are set free.

We also need to acquire the attitude of patient waiting.  Somehow through centuries of trials and exile the Israelites were able to wait patiently for the coming Messiah.  In our fast-paced world we find it more and more difficult to wait patiently for those things in life that need more time to unfold, things like learning and loving, or friendship and family.  Are we able to wait patiently in our struggles and setbacks for the Messiah to come and deliver us?

Finally, we need to imitate Mary’s faith-filled attitude of “let it be.”  God has called us as He did Mary.  We may not be free of all fear when we answer God’s call, but since His Spirit overshadows us, “let it be.”  We may not be too sure about our resources, but since God sends us sometimes to do the impossible anyway, “let it be.”

God Bless

Msgr. Powell

Third Sunday of Advent

Posted on by Cassie

The entire gospel of John is a testimony to who Jesus is, and the first to testify is John the Baptist.  He rejects any messianic designation for himself;  rather his role is to prepare the way for another whom God would send.

That one has already come, but He is not recognized yet by anyone.  He is initially not even recognized by John.  It took a revelation from God to reveal the identity of Jesus to John.  The true identity of Jesus must be revealed to us if we are to know Him – and revealing Jesus’ identity is the purpose of this gospel.

The importance of John the Baptist for us is that he reminds us that Jesus did not appear out of the blue, making incredible claims for Himself.  God worked for centuries to prepare the world to receive His Son.  He worked through the great events of the Old Testament and through the prophets to bring the Messiah and prepare the world for His coming.  As the Messiah was near, God used John the Baptist to make the final arrangements and point out to us our Savior.

Once again, as the Church prepares to celebrate the coming of Christ at Christmas, the Church presents John the Baptist as His messenger to us.  Then we can join Him once again and proclaim the message to others that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Lord of All.

God Bless

Msgr. Powell

Second Sunday of Advent

Posted on by Cassie

Today’s gospel introduces John the Baptist, John is a “voice in the desert, heralding the Lord’s coming.”  The gospel goes on to keynote His desert experience as an ideal Advent preparation for Christmas.

John the Baptist stands in a long line of biblical  desert figures, including men like Moses and Elijah.  Later our Lord Himself will go out into the desert for 40 days to be tested by Satan.

Several enormous events took place in the desert, events like the revelation of Yahweh’s name and the giving of the  Law.  So it is no wonder that the desert experience is put before us in Advent to prepare for the event of Christ’s birth.

The desert affords us three ways to become prayerful people.  Those ways are simplicity, silence and solitude.  These three ways can be part of our Advent practices even if we have no actual physical desert nearby.  A desert can be any place where we can be alone with God to pray.

Simplicity invites us to get rid of the excess baggage that blocks our way to Christ, and to see things as they really are.  In the city we tend to become enchanted by what is pretty,  plastic and superficial.  In the desert we come to grips with what is truly beautiful, real and substantial.

In the city we are under constant pressure to perform, produce and do many things.  In the desert we can simply “Be” and discover that what we are is more important then what we have or do.  Silence is provided in the desert setting of stillness which heals our disturbed spirits and calms our frazzled nerves.  In silence we can hear God speak to us.  Solitude allows us to escape the herd instinct and find ourselves as we discover quietly who we are and who is our God.  It is only in solitude that we can experience the intoxicating presence of God.

So we don’t have to go to a real desert to prepare the way for the Lord’s coming at Christmas.  But we do need to go to our own personal desert where we can use simplicity, silence and  solitude to prepare for His coming at Christmas.

God Bless

Msgr. Powell