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  ADVENTThe word Advent is from the Latin adventus for "coming" and is associated with the four weeks of preparation for Christmas. Advent always contains four Sundays, beginning on the Sunday nearest the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, (November 30) and continuing until December 24. It blends together a penitential spirit, very similar to Lent, a liturgical theme of preparation for the Second and Final Coming of the Lord, called the Parousia, and a joyful theme of getting ready for the Bethlehem event.Since the 900s Advent has been considered the beginning of the Church year. This does not...

The 1962 Missal Mass Readings for the First Sunday of Advent Colors:  Violet   INTROIT  Psalms 24: 1-3 To Thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul: in Thee, O my God, I put my trust; let me not be ashamed. Neither let my enemies laugh at me: for none of them that wait on Thee shall be confounded. Ps. Show, O Lord, Thy ways to me, and teach me Thy paths. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,...

December 24, 2003 Wednesday of the Fourth Week bin Advent Mass in the Morning Psalm: Wednesday 2 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading I 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16 When King David was settled in his palace, and the Lord had given him rest from his enemies on every side, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God dwells in a tent!" Nathan answered the king, "Go, do whatever you have in mind, for the Lord is with you." But that night the Lord spoke to Nathan...

December 23, 2003 Tuesday of the Fourth Week in Advent Psalm: Tuesday 2 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading I Mal 3:1-4, 23-24 Thus says the Lord God: Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; And suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner's fire, or like the fuller's lye. He...

December 22, 2003 Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent Psalm: Monday 2 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading I 1 Sm 1:24-28 In those days, Hannah brought Samuel with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and presented him at the temple of the Lord in Shiloh. After the boy's father had sacrificed the young bull, Hannah, his mother, approached Eli and said: "Pardon, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood near you here, praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the...

December 21, 2003 Fourth Sunday of Advent Psalm: Sunday 2 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Reading II Gospel Reading I Mic 5:1-4a Thus says the LORD: You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; whose origin is from of old, from ancient times. Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time when she who is to give birth has borne, and the rest of his kindred shall return to the children of Israel. He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock...

December 20, 2003Saturday of the Third Week in Advent Psalm: Saturday 1 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IIs 7:10-14 The Lord spoke to Ahaz:Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God;let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!But Ahaz answered,"I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!" Then Isaiah said:Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men,must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,and shall name him Emmanuel. Responsorial PsalmPs 24:1-2,...

December 19, 2003Friday of the Third Week in Advent Psalm: Friday 1 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IJgs 13:2-7, 24-25a There was a certain man from Zorah, of the clan of the Danites,whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren and had borne no children. An angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her,"Though you are barren and have had no children,yet you will conceive and bear a son. Now, then, be careful to take no wine or strong drinkand to eat nothing unclean.As for the son you will conceive and bear,no razor shall touch...

Christmas Lesson: We Are Not Alone, Says Pope Notes That "God Took the Initiative to Come to Meet Us" VATICAN CITY, DEC. 17, 2003 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II says the mystery of Christmas reminds us that God became man to be by our side, so "we must never feel alone." The Pope dedicated today's general audience, the last of the year, to reflect on the closing days of Advent, "a powerful proclamation of hope, which touches profoundly our personal and communal experience." "Every man dreams of a more just and solidaristic world, where dignified conditions of life and peaceful coexistence...

December 18, 2003Thursday of the Third Week in Advent Psalm: Thursday 1 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IJer 23:5-8 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David;As king he shall reign and govern wisely,he shall do what is just and right in the land.In his days Judah shall be saved,Israel shall dwell in security.This is the name they give him:"The Lord our justice." Therefore, the days will come, says the Lord,when they shall no longer say, "As the Lord lives,who brought the children of Israel out of the land of...

December 17, 2003Wednesday of the Third Week in Advent Psalm: Wednesday 1 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IGn 49:2, 8-10 Jacob called his sons and said to them:"Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob,listen to Israel, your father. "You, Judah, shall your brothers praise– your hand on the neck of your enemies;the sons of your father shall bow down to you.Judah, like a lion's whelp,you have grown up on prey, my son.He crouches like a lion recumbent,the king of beasts – who would dare rouse him?The scepter shall never depart from Judah,or the mace from between his legs,While tribute is...

December 16, 2003Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent Psalm: Tuesday 1 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IZeph 3:1-2, 9-13 Thus says the LORD:Woe to the city, rebellious and polluted,to the tyrannical city!She hears no voice,accepts no correction;In the LORD she has not trusted,to her God she has not drawn near. For then I will change and purifythe lips of the peoples,That they all may call upon the name of the LORD,to serve him with one accord;From beyond the rivers of Ethiopiaand as far as the recesses of the North,they shall bring me offerings. On that dayYou need not...

December 15, 2003Monday of the Third Week of Advent Psalm: Monday 1 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading INm 24:2-7, 15-17a When Balaam raised his eyes and saw Israel encamped, tribe by tribe,the spirit of God came upon him,and he gave voice to his oracle: The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor,the utterance of a man whose eye is true,The utterance of one who hears what God says,and knows what the Most High knows,Of one who sees what the Almighty sees,enraptured, and with eyes unveiled:How goodly are your tents, O Jacob;your encampments, O Israel!They are like gardens beside a stream,like...

December 14, 2003Third Sunday of Advent Psalm: Sunday 1 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Reading II Gospel Reading IZeph 3:14-18a Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!Sing joyfully, O Israel!Be glad and exult with all your heart,O daughter Jerusalem!The LORD has removed the judgment against you he has turned away your enemies;the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,you have no further misfortune to fear.On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!The LORD, your God, is in your midst,a mighty savior;he will rejoice over you with gladness,and renew you in his love,he will...

December 13, 2003Memorial of Saint Lucy, virgin and martyr Psalm: Saturday 52 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading ISir 48:1-4, 9-11 In those days,like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijahwhose words were as a flaming furnace.Their staff of bread he shattered,in his zeal he reduced them to straits;By the Lord's word he shut up the heavensand three times brought down fire.How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!Whose glory is equal to yours?You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,in a chariot with fiery horses.You were destined, it is written, in time to cometo put an end...

Many Christians think that Christians celebrate Christ’s birth on December 25th because the church fathers appropriated the date of a pagan festival. Almost no one minds, except for a few groups on the fringes of American Evangelicalism, who seem to think that this makes Christmas itself a pagan festival. But it is perhaps interesting to know that the choice of December 25th is the result of attempts among the earliest Christians to figure out the date of Jesus’ birth based on calendrical calculations that had nothing to do with pagan festivals. Rather, the pagan festival of the “Birth of the...

December 12, 2003Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Psalm: Friday 52 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IZec 2:14-17 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,and they shall be his people,and he will dwell among you,and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,and he will again choose Jerusalem.Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD!For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling....

December 11, 2003Thursday of the Second Week of Advent Psalm: Thursday 52 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IIs 41:13-20 I am the LORD, your God,who grasp your right hand;It is I who say to you, "Fear not,I will help you."Fear not, O worm Jacob,O maggot Israel;I will help you, says the LORD;your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.I will make of you a threshing sledge,sharp, new, and double-edged,To thresh the mountains and crush them,to make the hills like chaff.When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them offand the storm shall scatter them.But you shall rejoice in the...

December 10, 2003Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent Psalm: Wednesday 52 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IIs 40:25-31 To whom can you liken me as an equal?says the Holy One.Lift up your eyes on highand see who has created these things:He leads out their army and numbers them,calling them all by name.By his great might and the strength of his powernot one of them is missing!Why, O Jacob, do you say,and declare, O Israel,"My way is hidden from the LORD,and my right is disregarded by my God"? Do you not knowor have you not heard?The LORD is the...

December 9, 2003Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent Psalm: Tuesday 52 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IIs 40:1-11 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...