First Sunday of Advent - 2025

Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” Mtt 24:42

Time is something we take for granted, ours to use at our discretion. But there in lies the problem. We do not create time; we are only the managers of time. Time is a gift given by God, for a purpose. As servants of the landowner, a portion of the “garden of time” is assigned to us, wherein to plant the works of holiness and reap an abundant harvest, as best we can. The gospels are rich in this imagery, given by Jesus in his parables, to help us to learn and understand the purpose of our existence in time. So, what kind of servant am I? Misguided: – increasingly, the shroud of secularism is spreading over the mind of this generation. With man at the centre, time is exclusively ours to do with as we please. There is no other to which we must account. Negligent: – those who have been informed with a conscience that teaches us of responsibility for what happens in our time. Yet tomorrow seems to be the time of choice. Selfish: – yes, but time is limited so me first. Wise: – every day is my last day. At what works will I be found engaged when he comes to call me? The First Sunday of Advent begins a new year of grace; a new year to study the gospels and the works of holiness; a new gift of time. What lies ahead is hidden. Only one thing is certain - we will be asked for an accounting of this time spent.

Last Advent I posted a series of meditations based on the Lectio Divina method of prayer. I am including these again this Advent. The graphics used in these posts are of the paintings by William Kurelek found in his book, Northern Nativity.

 

ADVENT SERIES WEEK ONE Repeat Series for Advent Based On the Lectio Divina Approach to Prayer
William Kurelek The Nightwatchman's Christmas	William Kurelek A Farm Family's Adoration	William Kurelek The Holy Family as Indian
MONDAY <> LINK	WEDNESDAY <> LINK	FRIDAY <> LINK

THE ADVENT WREATH One of the symbols associated with Advent is the Advent Wreath. There are various traditions that describe its meaning and use. In the midst of all the Christmas decoration, having an Advent Wreath in the home helps keep us in touch with the spirituality of Advent. This in turn will prepare us to connect to the rich spiritual meaning of Christmas. Here is a sample of some of the ways you might use an Advent Wreath as part of your Advent prayer. /// link \\\

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Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe - 2025

Feast of Christ the King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925. It was only a few years since the end of the catastrophic First World War. The minds of many were in search of answers as to how such an evil had overtaken the world. In his encyclical, instituting the Feast of Christ the King, the pope said this - In the first Encyclical Letter which We addressed at the beginning of Our Pontificate to the Bishops of the universal Church, We referred to the chief causes of the difficulties under which mankind was laboring. And We remember saying that these manifold evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives; that these had no place either in private affairs or in politics: and we said further, that as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations.  Men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ; and that We promised to do as far as lay in Our power. In the Kingdom of Christ, that is, it seemed to Us that peace could not be more effectually restored nor fixed upon a firmer basis than through the restoration of the Empire of Our Lord. Pope Pius XI in 1925: The Pope barely had finished identify the real cause of humanities failures which lead to the First World War than an even greater catastrophic Second World War broke out; which was followed by the Cold War in which the very existence of humanity lay teetering on the threat of all-out nuclear war. Has the world finally learned the lesson the Pope articulated in his Encyclical Letter? To answer this question let us listen again to the dialogue in today’s Gospel Reading. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"  One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" Do we not hear the same challenges being hurled again Christ and His Church today? The words used to attack may be different, but they harbour the same cynical contempt. Now we hear - and where is the proof that there is any such God let alone that this man Jesus, even if he actually existed, was some kind of god?  And in mockery - you who worship this Jesus, what are you smoking, what are you drinking – a cocktail of make-believe?  And in derision - look at all that science and technology has done to save lives, who’s life has your religion saved lately? And that other voice heard now speaks;  “Lord, judge us not for such blasphemy hurled against you. Teach us the ways of your Kingdom of truth so that we make bring peace to our broken World.”  And the voice of Lord reply's: “I am with you always, and my truth has set you free. Remain in Me as I remain in you.” So ends this liturgical year and the choice put forward at the Cross of Jesus remains no less true for us today. The words of Pope Pius XI remain ever true; that the evils in the world are due to the fact that the majority of people have thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives; that as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there will be no real hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations or a person’s own life.  To who’s kingdom will we bind our hearts, the kingdom man’s futility or God’s Kingdom of Light and Peace? A new year is about to unfold before us. May our choice be certain, one without compromise.

Thirty-third Sunday of the Year - 2025

Commentary on the Sunday Gospel for  the Thirty-third Sunday, 2019 Dr. Brant Pitre, a Research Professor of Theology  at the Augustine Institute. View on Catholic Productions - LINK

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Thirty-first Sunday of the Year - 2025

Reading 1 Wisdom 11:22-12:2 Before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance  or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.  But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things;  and you overlook people's sins that they may repent.   For you love all things that are  and loathe nothing that you have made;  for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.  And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it;  or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you?   But you spare all things, because they are yours,  O LORD and lover of souls,  for your imperishable spirit is in all things!   Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little,  warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing,  that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O LORD!

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