Keep Vigilant:
Readings for 1st Sunday of Advent - B
FIRST READING: Isa 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7
Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19. "Lord make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved"
SECOND READING: 1 Cor 1:3-9
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Ps 85:8). Alleluia, alleluia! Lord, show us your mercy and love and grant us your salvation. Alleluia!
GOSPEL: Mark 13:33-37
Image: Shutterstock licensed. ID: 406003843. "Keep alert" - Large and diverse group of people - aerial perspective gathered together in the shape of an eye, 3d. By Archimedes.
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Please listen to the audio recordings of the Mass – (Readings, prayers and homily), for First Sunday Advent. Year B - 29-Nov-20 by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-advent-1b-episode-263-first-sunday-of-advent-year-b (EPISODE: 263)
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*Prologue: Readiness. (Fr Paul)
Saint Augustine once wrote: "It is by design that Our Lord hid the time and date of the last day from us. It is so that we would be on the lookout for Christ every day of our lives. "
If we were somehow to know when the day of the Lord will come, we would be focusing on the deadline. the endpoint. Instead of being busy with our work along the way. The Kingdom is not a conclusion point. The Kingdom is a way to live and act in each moment of life here and now.
No wonder many completely missed the first coming of the Messiah, some two thousand years ago. they were looking into the past or the distant future and completely missed what was happening in the present! They were also looking for the wrong signs. They expected a warrior king. but the one who arrived was a suffering servant. He came and went and many were not awake to his presence among them. The pattern of watchfulness is the same as Christ's passion and death. On that night before, the disciples fell asleep, they were unprepared when Our Lord was arrested under cover of darkness. and unprepared and shocked, despite Our Lord's constant teachings to them and his equally strident warnings to prepare themselves for the shocks and ordeals ahead, - and – unprepared - they became frightened and confused and ran away. abandoning our Lord. Peter was also not as ready as he needed to be - when he was accused of knowing Christ and, in the pressure of the moment, desperately and unthinkingly denied Christ three times before the cockcrow.
And at dawn. the Lord was sent to be tried. By contrast. Jesus was ready at all times.
We must be too. Alert and always ready to live the gospel.
In the Gospel, Jesus challenges us to "stay awake ", to pay attention. But, pay attention to what? TO the things of the Kingdom around us. Being attentive to our lives. Looking at our family member or friend in the eye when they're telling us something. Notice the look of worry or frustration on our friend's brow. Taking time to savour the things around us that we see and hear and taste, and staying alert for news of hardships suffered by people in our own community or even further afield.
Advent is a time to be watchful and see if we are ready; Ready to welcome Christ in so many ways.
And meanwhile, as Saint Paul says in the second reading: "You will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. (1 Corinthians 1:7)
Am I willing to let God be the potter, and myself be the clay in his hands. shaping my life? We believe in God, but do we trust in God sufficiently to allow God to mould us and shape us in different directions than our own wilfulness– to step back from the control-seat and let God steer us a bit more. To open ourselves to being transformed by God's hand.
Surely, countless Christ-moments and Kingdom building moments come our way every day and who knows how many are missed. or perhaps sometimes we are aware of how we missed them or responded poorly to them because we were on the back foot and not ready and so, as this Advent time begins, we remain alert and awake. .
During the season of Advent we will be featuring, on the weekly audio-podcast, a new Hymn for Advent that I have composed. .
Entitled: "O Come, Lord. " -
I dedicate this Hymn to the Memory of Paolo Mario - (Paul) -
Giacomantonio
(1968-2020).
May he rest forever in the arms of Our Lord.
- O Come, Lord! -
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Homily – Fr Peter Dillon:
Every New Year we try to have an audit of our life over the past year to honestly look at how we have dealt with the burdens and the celebrations. Some of our life gets a bit dusty and needs a freshening up, so that we can try to let our best self emerge, so that the heart of us will shine.
Since Advent makes the start of the Church liturgical year, a similar survey of our spiritual lives is also helpful. What happened to our good intentions of last year? What got in the way? Did we really put in an effort? Did we address any of our habits and try to free ourselves from the damaging one?
Habits play a big part in our lives. All of us, apart from the very young, are to a great deal creatures of habit. It is said that we live the second part of our lives according to the habits we acquired during the first half. That's all well and good if they are good habits, but it's a bit disturbing if we consider the bad ones.
The positive side of habits is that once we acquire them they become almost second nature to us. They seem effortless and can produce excellent results with a minimum of concentration. Again all well and good if they are not destructive habits.
Habits can be life-giving and sustaining and can carry people through some difficult situations because they don't draw on our energies so much. Of course, the negative side of habits is they draw us into repetition and thoughtlessness. As a result of doing the same thing day after day, we get into a rut and do things absent-mindedly and in a casual unthinking manner. There is no real heart or meaning in them. They can dull our senses and turn living into mere functioning. Habits can also be selfish and hard to change, particularly if we get so used to them that we come to depend on them.
Three times in today's Gospel passage Jesus urges his disciples to "stay awake". This call is meant for us as well.
Maybe that is the purpose of Advent. It gives us a jolt. It issues a wakeup call to us. It provides us with a chance to start again. We can easily become Christians by habit only. We may just be going through the motions, taking part in the ritual that has lost all freshness and meaning.
Advent is supposed to be a time of breakthrough – from darkness into light, so when Jesus talks about the end, he is not referring to the material world but rather then end of darkness. He suggests we get ready to move into the light. And therein lies the challenge.
Advent comes to us very forcibly with a question;,
"what is the struggle in your life?"
"What do you want to overcome"?
"What darkness in your life or in the world to you want to overcome"?
What breakthrough do you want for the coming year? Do you want to be more kind, more forgiving? Less addicted, more chaste. Closer to God?
Do you hope that people would like you more? That your job or your marriage would flourish? That your children or your parents would change?
Can I suggest that you start with having a more open and honest relationship with Jesus. That you got to know him better and that he didn't just become one of the thoughtless habits that we attach to being part of church. That he's someone we speak of as well as someone we speak to, that we try to look at the world through his eyes, and touch with his hands and hear with his ears. In doing so we might not just lift ourselves out of darkness but we might also bring others into the light. It's worth a try. What have we got to lose?
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References:
homily: fr peter dillon
Prologue: Fr Paul W. Kelly
Bergant, D. and Fragomeni, R. (1999). Preaching the new lectionary. Year B. Collegeville, Minn. : Liturgical Press.
Birmingham, M. (2000). Word & worship workbook for year B. New York, N. Y. : Paulist Press. P 55-56
Link, M. (2000). Mission. Praying Scripture in a Contemporary Way. Year B. Allen, Tex. : Resources for Christian Living
Image: shutterstock licensed. ID: 406003843. Large and diverse group of people - aerial perspective gathered together in the shape of an eye, 3d. By Arthimedes
First Sunday Advent. Year B (Sunday, November 29, 2020)
(EPISODE: 263 )
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1st SUNDAY OF ADVENT – YEAR B –
ENTRANCE PROCESSION:
INTRODUCTION
In the Name of the Father (+) and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Lord be with you.
{{Hello}} welcome everyone, we gather - Praise, Worship of God
[Presider prepares to bless the wreath with the sprinkling of holy water, using these words]:
Presider:
As we begin our Advent Journey, in preparation for Christmas, We bless this Advent Wreath.
May the sprinkling of this water
remind all of us gathered here
of our first sharing in the grace of baptism.
During this time of Advent
may we prepare for the Lord's coming
with open hearts and minds.
May this wreath be a symbol to us
(+) of this time of prayerful watching and waiting
For the coming of the Lord.
{Presider now blesses the wreath and sprinkles it with holy water}
We now light the candle for the 1st Sunday of Advent. The "Prophet's Candle " Symbol of Hope. Reminding us that Jesus is coming.
{Presider takes taper and lights first candle on Advent wreath}
Lord Jesus your coming was proclaimed by the prophets of old. Lord Have Mercy.
You are the potter and we are the clay, the work of your hands. Christ Have Mercy.
You instruct us to be ever-watchful. Lord, Have Mercy.
(no Gloria in Advent)
Collect:
Let us Pray
Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,
the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ
with righteous deeds at his coming,
so that, gathered at his right hand,
they may be worthy to possess the heavenly Kingdom.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit. God, forever and ever.
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Prayer after Communion
May these mysteries, O Lord, in which we have participated,
profit us, we pray, for even now, as we walk amid passing things, you teach us by them to love the things of heaven and hold fast to what endures. Through Christ our Lord.
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Memorial Acclamation
1. We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again.
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PREFACE: Advent I
EP I
Communion side. pwk: LH
(theme variation: 1 )
(pre+post variation: 1)
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{Thanks for joining us for this time of prayer and reflection}
Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.
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Archive of homilies and reflections: http://homilycatholic. blogspot. com. au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email: paulwkelly68@gmail. com
To listen to my weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here.
NB - It is often a week or so Ahead: https://soundcloud. com/user-633212303/tracks
You are welcome to subscribe to Fr Paul's homily mail-out by sending an email to this address: paulkellyreflections+subscribe@googlegroups. com
Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection " - Led by Rev Paul Kelly
"O Come. Lord. (Advent) " - In Memory of Paolo Mario (Paul) Giacomantonio (1968-2020).
By Paul W. Kelly. Based on the Ancient church "O Antiphons " of Advent.
Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics, By Stefan Kelk, 2020.
[ Production - KER - 2020]
May God bless and keep you.
{extra text : unspoken for Advent -
Roman Missal, 3rd edition, 2010, (ICEL)
Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, and 2009 by the NCC-USA.
"The Psalms " by The Grail - 1963, 2009.
Prayers of the Faithful - Robert Borg "Together we pray " - (1993) }
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