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November 28, 2011 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...

I realize many people think “Black Friday” was the beginning of the Christmas season. Well, actually it begins today — the first day of Advent. At least in most of the Christian world this is when it starts and continues to January 6th (remember the 12 days of Christmas?). As I did last year, we will take a look at the history behind some Christmas traditions over the next month. But first, what happened to Christmas?

“Advent Is Worth the Wait” (Isaiah 64:1-9; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 11:1-10)We don’t like to wait, do we? I mean, we Americans. And especially when it comes to Christmas. Wait till the night of December 24 to start celebrating Christmas? No way! So the Christmas catalogues started coming--when, the day after Labor Day? Then came the Christmas movies: “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas” came out November 4. The Christmas radio stations: “Santa Baby” was “Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree” already a couple of weeks ago. And the TV specials: “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” is this Tuesday. Apparently, Rockefeller...

November 27, 2011   First Sunday of Advent   Reading 1 Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7 You, LORD, are our father,our redeemer you are named forever.Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from your ways,and harden our hearts so that we fear you not?Return for the sake of your servants,the tribes of your heritage.Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,with the mountains quaking before you,while you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for,such as they had not heard of from of old.No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen, any God but youdoing such...

THE CATHOLIC LECTIONARY WEBSITEby Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D. Resources for Liturgy and Prayer for the Seasons ofAdvent and Christmas The ADVENT Season: The ADVENT Season:Advent is the liturgical season that precedes and prepares for Christmas. It is a season of hope and of longing, of joyful expectation and of peaceful preparation. Many symbols and traditions are associated with Advent, especially the Advent Wreath with its four colored candles (three purple and one pink), but also Advent calendars, special Advent music, food, processions, and other traditions that may vary from one culture or region to the next. Here are a...

Any suggestions on Christmas music that you have played? I have three I'm working on, now. "Petit Enfant" (Robert J. Ward choral), "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus", and "The Coventry Carol". Any other suggestions for flute and piano accompaniment? My accompanist is awesome and can read ANYTHING. She's a JOY to work with. I have two other 'gigs' I'm still trying to dig up music for. One of I thought of is "What Child Is This". Also, maybe, a couple of Rutter pieces. Thanks! RIMTB

The story of Christ's birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love. So, what happened? What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists. And when it's all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take months to pay off, and this empty feeling of missed purpose. Is this what we really want out of Christmas? What if Christmas became a world-changing event again? Welcome to Advent Conspiracy.

In recent years there have been a flurry of news articles prior to Lent, Holy Week, and Advent about how various Protestant groups and denominations have "discovered" that Catholic and Orthodox beliefs about the liturgical year are not nearly as "unbiblical" as many non-Catholics thought. Quite the contrary, as this Associated Baptist Press piece explains (ht: National Catholic Register): Many Baptists are seeking to reclaim that pre-Easter focus -- historically called Lent -- which has been an integral part of many Christians’ experience since the earliest years of the church. “It’s a biblical thing, not a made-up Catholic thing,” says...

December 24, 2010Friday of the Fourth Week of Advent Mass in the Morning  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 Nathan and said:“Go, tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD:Should you build me...

December 23, 2010Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Mal 3:1-4, 23-24Thus says the Lord GOD:Lo, I am sending my messengerto prepare the way before me;And suddenly there will come to the templethe 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 will sit refining and purifying silver,and he will purify the sons of Levi,Refining them like gold or like silverthat they...

December 22, 2010Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Advent Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 11 Sm 1:24-28In 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 LORD granted my request. Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD;as long as he lives,...

December 21, 2010Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Sg 2:8-14Hark! my lover–here he comesspringing across the mountains,leaping across the hills.My lover is like a gazelleor a young stag.Here he stands behind our wall,gazing through the windows,peering through the lattices.My lover speaks; he says to me,“Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one,and come!“For see, the winter is past,the rains are over and gone.The flowers appear on the earth,the time of pruning the vines has come,and the song of the dove is heard in our land.The fig tree puts forth its figs,and the vines, in bloom, give...

December 20, 2010Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Is 7:10-14The 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.   Ps 24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6Responsorial Psalm R. (see 7c and...

“O Emmanuel, Come” (Matthew 1:18-25)And now we come to the last of the seven O Antiphons, “O Emmanuel.” You see it there in your hymnal, on the page facing the hymn; it’s the one listed for December 23. You’ll find it also in your bulletin. So let’s pray this “Emmanuel” antiphon together: “O Emmanuel, our king and our Lord, the anointed for the nations and their Savior: Come and save us, O Lord our God.” This word “Emmanuel”--it sounds familiar enough, but what does it mean? The word “Emmanuel” with an “E” is just the Latin spelling of the Hebrew...

December 19, 2010Fourth Sunday of Advent Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Is 7:10-14The 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 a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.   Ps 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6.Responsorial Psalm R. (7c and 10b)...

Evangelization Needs Belief in Eternity, Says Preacher Father Cantalamessa Gives Advent Sermon to Pope and Curia VATICAN CITY, DEC. 10, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa says that a renewed faith in eternal life is one of the keys to the New Evangelization. The preacher of the Pontifical Household offered this suggestion today during the second of three Advent sermons that he is giving in the presence of the Pope and the Roman Curia.Father Cantalamessa proposed at the beginning of the series to offer "a small contribution to the need of the Church" for a New Evangelization, concretely by examining three...

Top 10 Christmas Carols Let the debate begin! Below is my subjective list of favorites, with videos of good to great renditions of each. I have also included my favorite line(s) of each song: Top 10 Christmas Carols 10 - O Little Town of Bethlehem Favorite line(s): Yet in thy dark streets shinethThe everlasting LightThe hopes and fears of all the yearsAre met in thee tonight   Embedded video at the site  http://marysaggies.blogspot.com/2010/12/top-10-christmas-carols.html 9 - Angels We Have Heard on High Favorite line(s):Shepherds, why this jubilee?Why your joyous strains prolong?What the gladsome tidings beWhich inspire your heavenly song?     Embedded...

December 18, 2010Saturday of the Third Week of Advent Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Jer 23:5-8Behold, 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 Egypt”;but rather, "As the LORD lives,who brought the...

December 17, 2010Friday of the Third Week of Advent Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Gn 49:2, 8-10Jacob 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 brought to him,and he receives the people’s homage.” Ps 72:1-2, 3-4ab,...

Praising the Names of Jesus: The Antiphons of Adventby Jeanne Kun It is especially in the final week of Advent that our attention is fixed on the messianic promises proclaimed by the ancient prophets of Israel.  A distinctive feature of the Liturgy of the Hours in this week preceding the Christmas vigil is the antiphon sung at Vespers (evening prayer) before and after the recitation of the Magnificat.  Originally incorporated into the monastic office in the Middle Ages, these antiphons, often called the "Greater Antiphons" or the "O Antiphons", are also echoed in the daily lectionary as the verse for the...