Advent Reflection

Father Jeremy Trowbridge

SS. Peter and Paul Parish, Cary

Pastor

 

Embarking upon a new year of prayer we listen closely to the Word of God. We look forward in joy because our heart is pointed toward the Nativity of Jesus! We thirst for every droplet of spiritual nourishment because our soul thirsts for Him. We know that other worldly things may fill us for a moment but they do not satisfy. 

 

Bless your Advent wreath   All make the sign of the cross.   Leader: Our help is in the name of the Lord.   All: Who made heaven and earth.   One of those present reads from the Scripture passages Isaiah 9 (lines 1-2 and 5-6) or Isaiah 63 (lines 16-17 and 19) or Isaiah 64 (lines 2-7).   After the reading, a parent or other adult says the following prayer with hands joined.   Lord our God, we praise you for your Son, Jesus Christ:   He is Emmanuel, the hope of the peoples,   He is the wisdom that teaches and guides us,   He is the Savior of every nation.   Lord God, let your blessing come upon us as we light the candles of this wreath.   May the wreath and its light be a sign of Christ’s promise to bring us salvation.   May He come quickly and not delay.   We ask this through Christ our Lord.   All: Amen.   The blessing may conclude with a verse from “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”   —USCCB

We know that our world is pretty wild right now, shrouded in darkness in so many ways. We do not lose hope, for it was in the dark of night that Jesus was born and from that moment the light of heaven slowly dawned in a new way upon the human family. 

 

This dawning of Christ’s light at the Nativity was most refulgent in His Resurrection where the Light of Life overcame the darkness of the tomb, providing a new hope for all souls that seek God.

 

In this first week of Advent we hear the message of preparation proclaimed with the tone of urgency. St. Paul in this Sunday’s second reading urges the early Church in Rome, “[I]t is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.” 

 

This strong message of spiritual guidance by St. Paul is met with this Sunday’s Gospel in which Jesus magnifies the need to respond to God’s invitation without delay. “So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

 

Sons and daughters of the faith, please make a daily effort in prayer to respond more immediately, more lovingly and more faithfully to the invitations of God. 

 

Happy Advent!