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  Readings: Third Sunday of Advent | USCCB  Jesus accompanies us in our pain – Third Sunday of Advent  Have you ever felt sad or anxious and a friend says to you, “cheer up and look on the bright side,” or “what you need to do to feel better is…”? Despite good intentions to take your pain away, you simply want to be heard and for someone to be with you in your pain.    Today’s readings feel like a friend who tries to “make” you feel better. The prophet Zephaniah exhorts, “Be glad and exult with all your heart…fear not, be not discouraged!”  In his letter to the Philippians, St. Paul tells us to “rejoice!” and “have no anxiety at all.”  As much as I would like to “rejoice!” and “have no anxiety at all,” I’m struggling to do so. I am feeling a lot of sadness recently, and I don’t particularly feel like rejoicing. I just want to be accompanied in my pain.   I offer this personal sharing to simply say we all hurt. And sometimes our hurt—due to devastating loss, relationship struggles, injustice, feeling overwhelmed, or whatever it may be—feels immune to being “glad.”    Or is it?    A […]

  Second Sunday of Advent  Second Sunday of Advent | USCCB  Salvation in every time, and in this time  Today’s readings are all about God’s mercy and decisive action – in the past, in the future, and today. They inspire hope in suffering people.  The Book of Baruch recalls the Babylonian Exile, a period of devastating loss and destruction for ancient Israel. But now, God is returning the people to their home, and re-fashioning them into a community of mercy and justice. Baruch calls Jerusalem (and us) to stand up and look for this joyful restoration. Likewise, today’s Psalm describes the overwhelming joy experienced by those rescued from exile and returned home.  In a similar vein, Paul’s letter to the Philippians rejoices “that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:6) – even though Paul is writing from prison, and he will soon be executed.   The Gospel of Luke brings this theme of joyful expectation to bear on a very specific place and time: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee . . […]

First Sunday of Advent  Readings  God’s Promise of Peace  The opening line for the first Sunday of Advent from the book of Jeremiah says, “The days are coming when I will fulfill the promise I made.” As we begin a new church year, we start with a promise from God. The promise is for the fullness of life, and for peace to reign among all peoples. That does not mean the troubles are over, however. In fact, the gospel for the same liturgy has Jesus giving warning signs about disruption, turmoil and roaring seas and waves among other things. In fact, he says “people will die of fright, in anticipation of what is coming upon the world for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” We will still have troubled times. In fact, of course, we are living in troubled times right now with various threats of escalation of war around the world. Many are unsettled and living in fear in our own country and communities. Some are filled with hope and others with fear and worry. And yet the promise of the Lord remains the same. In the Advent season, as we look forward to the celebration of […]