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Can you believe Advent is almost here? Neither can I. To better brace ourselves for the weeks ahead, the Catholic Spirit newspaper (from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis) has this terrific and practical primer on how to give Advent meaning and keep its flame burning: There’s no way Christmas can sneak up on us this year — it smacked us in the face with its early department store arrival just after Halloween. Commercial Christmas, I mean — the Christmas of the over-priced wrapping paper, over-extended Christmas lists and over-swiped credit cards. In the midst of sending greetings, planning meals...

As we progress through liturgical time we are invited to experience the great events of faith. Through our readings and liturgical prayer, we are invited during this last week of the year to reflect on the “last things”- death, judgment, heaven and hell. We do so in order to change, to be converted, and thus to enter more fully into the Divine plan. The Western Church year ends. On the great Feast of Christ the King we celebrate the full and final triumph and return of the One through whom the entire universe was created; in whom it is being...

CHRIST IN THE PSALMS BY PASTOR L. HOLLAND. (At the Edinburgh Conference, June, 1894.) I am quite sure of this, that many will unite with me in saying that there is no portion of God's Word they love so much as the book of Psalms. This is their bosom friend. There are many of us who feel that we could not live without the Psalms. They are our meat and drink, and when we are cast down by the troubles and difficulties and dangers of this life of ours, there is one book, we find, which touches a chord in...

JEHOVAH'S NAME AND ISRAEL'S BLESSING BY DR. NEATLY (At the Edinburgh Conference, June, 1894) In Exodus 3:15 the lasting blessing of God's earthly hpeople is secured by the very name of the Lord. "The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations." This is connected with the revelation of the name of Jehovah, as we see in Exodus 6:2, 3. We know God as "Father," a priceless revelation; but the name of...

THE CHARACTER AND END OF THE PRESENT AGE. BY PASTOR FULLER GOOCH. (At the Nottingham Conference, May, 1894.) Let me read to you three or four verses of Scripture, taken from the 13th chapter of Matthew, beginning at the thirty-seventh verse, "He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man." Read to the end of the forty-third verse. The word "world" in Scripture, as found in our [King James] version, has different meanings, and it should be understood that in the original Scriptures we have several different words which are all translated...

"THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD." BY PASTOR D. M. STEARNS, OF PHILADELPHIA (At the Dunoon Conference, August, 1894.) One of the grandest things about the Bible is that we have the Author of the book with us. The one who wrote the book is in every believer—He will guide us into all truth, and the book is settled forever in Heaven. These words are taking hold of me more and more from week to week, "Forever, Oh Lord, thy word is settled in heaven." It is true from the beginning, it standeth forever; but we cannot receive it, nor...

"MILLENNIAL LIGHTS AND SHADOWS." BY MR. GEO. F. TRENCH OF IRELAND. (At the Edinburgh Conference, June, 1894) MR. TRENCH read the passage Revelation 20:1-10, describing the binding of Satan and the reign of Christ for a thousand years, the great revolt at the end of that period, and the destruction of the armies of Gog and Magog by fire from heaven, and said: I heard the other day a clergyman, who was leading the open air mission in Cork, remark that every revival in the Church has resulted from the recovery of some neglected or forgotten truth, and that the...

GOD'S REMEMBRANCE OF "BABYLON THE GREAT." Revelation 16:19; 18:5. In the twenty-fifth chapter of Jeremiah's prophecy there occurs a remarkable prediction of which no account is taken in the various handbooks that have lately been issued, but which has a most important bearing upon dispensational changes that now seem to be pending. The verses are the 15th and 16th: "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel unto me; Take the cup of the wine of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. And they shall drink, and reel...

THE UNITY OF BIBLE TESTIMONY TO THE COMING OF CHRIST By Mr. WILLIAM G. CARR, of Rochester, New York (At the Glasgow Conference, June, 1894) The truth of the Lord's coming runs like a golden thread from Genesis to Revelation. It is not a new doctrine, but an old truth. Let us briefly look through our Bibles, and see how all witnessed concerning it, from the time that the first and oldest preacher began to preach of the "coming of the Lord," namely Enoch, reference to which is made in the Epistle of Jude, beginning at the 14th verse. "And...

December 24, 2007                                   Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent                                Mass in the Morning Psalm: Monday 44       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 12 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...

Br. James Brent, O.P.  Other Articles by Br. James Brent, O.P.Printer Friendly Version   Mystery of Advent, Part Four: The Things of Christmas December 20, 2007  The Bridegroom WhispersTo what shall we compare the Fourth Sunday of Advent? It is like a bridegroom whispering in the ear of his bride a promise of things delightful and near. In the liturgy of the Fourth Sunday, Christ whispers into the ear of His Church the things of Christmas. And with what desire does the bride desire them! Our Lord always tends to arouse within us desires for things that are beyond...

Br. Anthony Giambrone, O.P  Other Articles by Br. Anthony Giambrone, O.PPrinter Friendly Version   Renewing the Mystery of Advent, Part Two: The Witness of John the Baptist December 6, 2007 Why should we believe the testimony of a man who eats locusts and wears clothes made out of camel's hair?  Learning the reason will help ready our hearts for the coming of Christ.  "It is Elijah!""It is Elijah the Tishbite!"  This is the confident declaration of King Ahaziah after hearing the bare report of a man "wearing a hairy garment with a leather girdle about his waist" (2 Kgs...

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Plagal of the First Tone Let us worship the Word who is unoriginate * with the Father and the Spirit, and from a Virgin was born * for our salvation, O believers, and let us sing His praise. * For in His goodness He was pleased * to ascend the Cross in the flesh, and to undergo death, * and to raise up those who had died, * by His glorious Resurrection. Resurrectional Kontakion in the Plagal of the First Tone You descended to Hades, my Savior, and shattered its gates, as the Almighty. As...

December 23, 2007                                 Fourth Sunday of Advent Psalm: Sunday 44       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Is 7:10-14 The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the netherworld, 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 people, must you also weary my God?Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear...

“You Shall Call His Name Jesus” (Matthew 1:18-25)“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”The ancient Romans had a saying, Nomen est omen. Nomen est omen, which means, “The name,” nomen, “is a sign,” an omen. In other words, a person’s name sometimes, mysteriously, is a sign or omen of what is to come for that person. For example, if a little...

December 22, 2007                                 Saturday of the Third Week of Advent Psalm: Saturday 43       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 11 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 20, 2007                                Thursday of the Third Week of Advent Psalm: Thursday 43       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Is 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...

“The Genealogy of Jesus Christ: From the Deportation to the Christ” (Matthew 1:1, 12-17)During this Advent season, we are preparing to meet and greet our coming king. The King is coming--to us, for us--coming at Christmas, coming at the end of time, coming now into our midst through Word and Sacrament. So we prepare to meet him--in repentance, in faith, in holy joy. That’s what Advent is all about. But this king we are preparing to meet--this king who comes to us--this is a lowly king. Lowly, not high. Lowly, humble, coming in a way you might not expect. Our...

December 19, 2007                              Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent Psalm: Wednesday 43       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Jgs 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...

December 18, 2007                                 Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent Psalm: Tuesday 43       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Jer 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...