Advent

From Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M.

FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT:

Emmanuel: Advent is ‘hope-filled waiting and expectation’

The Church year is celebrated with different seasons: Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter, Pentecost. This weekend, we begin the Season of Advent: four weeks before Christmas. The two seasons are related but distinct.

Advent is NOT Christmas; Advent is the beginning of the Church year because it celebrates the beginning of our Church life – the time when Jesus is expected, in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Advent prepares us for Christmas.  While Christmas commemorates Christ’s physical entrance into our world, Advent gets us ready for both the physical and spiritual presence of the Son of God with us, “Emmanuel.”  Advent is a season of hope-filled waiting and expectation, a holy season.  These four weeks are an invitation to pause in our busy lives and pray.

Continue reading Bishop O'Connell's reflection for the First Sunday of Advent... 

SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT:

A Voice Cries Out: Prepare His Way

In this Sunday’s passage from Luke’s Gospel (3:1-6), St. John the Baptist features prominently, proclaiming a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”  The sacred author reminds us of the words of the prophet Isaiah which he uses to identify John as “a voice crying out in the desert: prepare the way of the Lord” (Isaiah 40:3). John the Baptist is an enigmatic figure in the Gospel.  He is the meeting point between the Old and New Testaments, preparing the way of the Lord as his forerunner and then introducing the world to him.  He is an ascetic Jewish prophet – Jesus referred to him as the “greatest prophet” (Matthew 11:11), indeed the last of the Old Testament prophets.  His greatness derived most importantly because God chose him for a singular purpose in the Scriptures.

Jesus and John first “met” each other in the wombs of Mary and her kinswoman Elizabeth when John “leapt for joy” (Luke 1:41) at the encounter.  Although they are relatives, we are not sure if they ever met again before the Baptism in the Jordan some 30years later.  Even then it is not clear that John “knew” or recognized him, at least not until the Holy Spirit descended upon him on the river’s bank and the Father’s voice was heard.  John was the “messenger” of whom Isaiah spoke eight centuries earlier, a role he himself described in John’s Gospel (1:23).  Jesus was the “message,” the Good News, the Messiah in whom God was “well pleased” (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22) as John baptized him.  And we are not certain if John and Jesus ever met up with each other again.

Continue reading Bishop's reflection for the Second Sunday of Advent...

THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT:

A Time to Rejoice

For most of us, the idea of "going home" brings eagerness, comfort and joy, whether it be simply after a long day at work or, in some cases, a much longer period of separation.

It's good to be home. When we walk up to the door of our house, we anticipate the good things behind it: family and loved ones waiting for us; things familiar to us; a place where we can be most truly ourselves, most truly "at home."

Advent, in a sense, is a homecoming – a return to the Church and all that it offers: a family; things familiar; the opportunity to be “at home” with God and one another – all things to celebrate with joy.

Today, the third Sunday of Advent, is traditionally called “Gaudete Sunday,” a Latin word from the ancient prayers that begin this day’s Mass telling us “to rejoice.” Advent is the doorway to the joys of Christmas when Jesus came to dwell with us; the joy of encounter with Christ!

Continue reading Bishop's reflection for the Third Sunday of Advent..

FOURTH WEEK OF ADVENT:

Advent and the surprise of Christmas

The themes of the past four weeks like watch and pray … prepare the way of the Lord ...God our Savior and Messiah is at hand ... Emmanuel, God with us … all alert us to the primary event in human history: the Word became Flesh – Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Mary – who dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory again and again.

Continue reading Bishop's reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Advent...