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December 11, 2017 Monday of the Second Week of Advent Reading 1 Is 35:1-10 The desert and the parched land will exult;the steppe will rejoice and bloom.They will bloom with abundant flowers,and rejoice with joyful song.The glory of Lebanon will be given to them,the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;They will see the glory of the LORD,the splendor of our God.Strengthen the hands that are feeble,make firm the knees that are weak,Say to those whose hearts are frightened:Be strong, fear not!Here is your God,he comes with vindication;With divine recompensehe comes to save you.Then will the eyes of the blind be...

“A Baptism of Repentance for the Forgiveness of Sins” (Mark 1:1-8) Well, here comes John the Baptist again. He always shows up around this time of year. Always with kind of a depressing message: “Repent! Get your life straightened out!” John the Baptist is like the Denny Downer of December. Everybody else is having a good time getting ready for Christmas--going shopping, listening to Christmas music, watching specials on TV, having Christmas parties--and here comes John, telling us to repent. John, is that any way to get ready for Christmas? I mean, listen to this part of our text today...

December 10, 2017 Second Sunday of Advent Reading 1 Is 40:1-5, 9-11 Comfort, give comfort to my people,says your God.Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to herthat her service is at an end,her guilt is expiated;indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORDdouble for all her sins. A voice cries out:In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!Every valley shall be filled in,every mountain and hill shall be made low;the rugged land shall be made a plain,the rough country, a broad valley.Then the glory of the LORD...

Five Brief Advent Meditations Msgr. Charles Pope • December 4, 2017 • The following are five Advent reflections that I prepared for catechumens and candidates in our RCIA program. (They are also available in PDF form here: The Season of Advent.) Advent is witnessed by creationLate autumn and early winter are times of great seasonal change. The leaves turn brilliant colors, then fade and fall. Shadows lengthen as the days grow shorter and colder. Vacations and the warmth of summer are distant memories and we are reminded once again that the things of this world last but a moment...

December 9, 2017 Saturday of the First Week of Advent Reading 1 Is 30:19-21, 23-26 Thus says the Lord GOD,the Holy One of Israel:O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem,no more will you weep;He will be gracious to you when you cry out,as soon as he hears he will answer you.The Lord will give you the bread you needand the water for which you thirst.No longer will your Teacher hide himself,but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:"This is the way; walk in it,"when you would turn...

The song of Mary is the oldest Advent hymn. It is also the most passionate, the wildest, and one might almost say the most revolutionary Advent hymn that has ever been sung. This is not the gentle, tender, dreamy Mary as we often see her portrayed in paintings. This Mary...is passionate, carried away, proud, enthusiastic. There is none of the sweet, wistful, or even playful tone of many of our Christmas carols, but instead a hard, strong, relentless hymn about the toppling of the thrones and the humiliation of the lords of this world, about the power of God and...

Regem venturum Dominum, venite, adoremus. Come, let us adore the King our Lord, who is to come. De Isaia Propheta. From the Prophet Isaias. Cap. vi. Ch. vi. In anno quo mortuus est rex Ozias, vidi Dominum sedentem super solium excelsum et elevatum; et ea quae sub ipso erant replebant templum. Seraphim stabant super illud: sex alae uni, et sex alae alteri; duabus velabant faciem ejus, et duabus velabant pedes ejus, et duabus volabant. Et clamabant alter ad alterum, et dicebant: Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus Dominus, Deus exercituum; plena est omnis terra gloria ejus. In the year that king Ozias...

December 8, 2017 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1 Gn 3:9-15, 20 After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree,the LORD God called to the man and asked him, "Where are you?"He answered, "I heard you in the garden;but I was afraid, because I was naked,so I hid myself."Then he asked, "Who told you that you were naked?You have eaten, then,from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!"The man replied, "The woman whom you put here with meCshe gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it."The...

Regem venturum Dominum, venite, adoremus. Come, let us adore the King our Lord, who is to come. De Isaia Propheta. From the Prophet Isaias. Cap. v. Ch. v. Cantabo dilecto meo canticum patruelis mei vineæ suæ. Vinea facta est dilecto meo in cornu filio olei. Et sepivit eam, et lapides elegit ex illa, et plantavit eam electam; et aedificavit turrim in medio ejus, et torcular exstruxit in ea; et exspectavit ut faceret uvas, et fecit labruscas. Nunc ergo, habitatores Jerusalem et viri Juda, judicate inter me et vineam meam. Quid est quod debui ultra facere vineæ meæ, et non...

Run to Jesus! An Advent Reflection Msgr. Charles Pope • December 6, 2017 • The Lord’s coming is near. And though we have all been well taught that the word “Advent” means “coming,” there is the danger that we think that we are only passively waiting for Him to come. It is not just that the Lord is coming to us; we are also journeying to Him. In fact, as the Advent prayers in the Roman Missal instruct, we ought to run, not walk, and hasten to greet Him as He draws near.This notion of running to meet God...

December 7, 2017 Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Reading 1 Is 26:1-6 On that day they will sing this song in the land of Judah: "A strong city have we;he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us.Open up the gatesto let in a nation that is just,one that keeps faith.A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace;in peace, for its trust in you." Trust in the LORD forever!For the LORD is an eternal Rock.He humbles those in high places,and the lofty city he brings down;He tumbles it to the ground,levels it with...

“A Day of Judgment and Salvation” (1 Corinthians 1:3-9) In thinking about a theme for our three midweek Advent services this year, I decided to go with the Epistle readings for the first three Sundays in Advent. For there is a common theme that you can see in all three. There is a phrase, a connecting thread, that runs through these readings. See if you can notice what it is. First, from the Epistle for the First Sunday in Advent, 1 Corinthians 1, the part where it says: “as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who...

Preparing our Hearts for Mystery in Advent Msgr. Charles Pope • December 5, 2017 • As we look toward Christmas and ponder the incarnation, we ought to remember that so profound was truth of the incarnation that the early Church fell to her knees at these words: “and He was incarnate by the Holy Spirit, from the virgin Mary, and became man.” This act of falling to one’s knees at these words is still practiced in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite; in the ordinary form, we are asked to bow.These gestures acknowledge the profound mystery of the...

Regem venturum Dominum, venite, adoremus. Come, let us adore the King our Lord, who is to come. De Isaia Propheta. From the Prophet Isaias. Cap. iii. Ch. iii. Ecce enim Dominator, Dominus exercituum, auferet a Jerusalem et a Juda validum et fortem, omne robur panis, et omne robor aquæ; fortem, et virum bellatorem, judicem, et prophetam, et ariolum, et senem; principem super quinquaginta, et honorabilem vultu et consiliarium, et sapientem de architectis, et prudentem eloquii mystici. Et dabo pueros principes eorum, et effeminati dominabuntur eis; et irruet populus, vir ad virum, et unusquisque ad proximum suum; tumultuabitur puer contra...

December 6, 2017 Wednesday of the First Week of Advent Reading 1 Is 25:6-10a On this mountain the LORD of hostswill provide for all peoplesA feast of rich food and choice wines,juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.On this mountain he will destroythe veil that veils all peoples,The web that is woven over all nations;he will destroy death forever.The Lord GOD will wipe awaythe tears from all faces;The reproach of his people he will removefrom the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken. On that day it will be said:"Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!This...

Silence in Advent Prepares Us for the Joy of ChristmasConstance T. Hull The topic of silence has grown in popularity on social media in recent months. This is especially true in light of the various pieces written on Cardinal Sarah’s brilliant book, The Strength of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise. Silence is an important topic. We are inundated with noise. This noise is not only an assault on our auditory faculties, but on our senses as a whole. The world wants to keep us distracted, busy, and living with a constant din buzzing in our ears. Why? Noise is...

December 5, 2017 Tuesday of the First Week of Advent Reading 1 Is 11:1-10 On that day,A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,and from his roots a bud shall blossom.The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,A Spirit of counsel and of strength,a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.Not by appearance shall he judge,nor by hearsay shall he decide,But he shall judge the poor with justice,and decide aright for the land's afflicted.He shall strike the ruthless with the...

Regem venturum Dominum, venite, adoremus. Come, let us adore the King our Lord, who is to come. De Isaia Propheta. From the Prophet Isaias. Cap. ii. Ch. ii. Verbum quod vidit Isaias, filius Amos, super Juda et Jerusalem. Et erit in novissimis diebus: praeparatus mons domus Domini in vertice montium, et elevabitur super colles; et fluent ad eum omnes gentes, et ibunt populi multi, et dicent: Venite, et ascendamus ad montem Domini, et ad domum Dei Jacob; et docebit nos vias suas, et ambulabimus in semitis ejus, quia de Sion exibit lex, et verbum Domini de Jerusalem. The word...

Regem venturum Dominum, venite, adoremus. Come, let us adore the King our Lord, who is to come. De Isaia Propheta. From the Prophet Isaias. Cap. i. Ch. i. Lavamini, mundi estote; auferte malum cogitationum vestrarum ab oculis meis: quiescite agere perverse, discite benefacere; quærite judicium, subvenite oppresso, judicate pupillo, defendite viduam. Et venite, et arguite me, dicit Dominus. Si fuerint peccata vestra ut coccinum, quasi nix dealbabuntur; et si fuerint rubra quasi vermiculus, velut lana alba erunt. Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes: cease to do perversely, Learn to do well:...

December 4, 2017 Monday of the First Week of Advent Reading 1 Is 2:1-5 This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz,saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In days to come,The mountain of the LORD's houseshall be established as the highest mountainand raised above the hills.All nations shall stream toward it;many peoples shall come and say:"Come, let us climb the LORD's mountain,to the house of the God of Jacob,That he may instruct us in his ways,and we may walk in his paths."For from Zion shall go forth instruction,and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.He shall judge between the nations,and impose...