First Sunday of Advent (Year B) - 3 December

 

 

 

 

The first candle of Advent symbolises Hope and is called the “Prophet’s Candle” as it represents the anticipation of the arrival of the Messiah over thousands of years, which was made clear by the prophets.

 

 

A reflection on today's readings by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J Sheen:

 

"The quest for God is essentially the search for the full account and meaning of life. And life has a meaning because the essence of God is love.

 

"God is not a Being who does not know how to love; not one of those tepid hearts that have no flames, and whose tiny sparks have not the power of enkindling others, but fly back only upon themselves; not a powerless God who knows how to love but cannot realise His dreams; not a God who burns with love but has only cold words to say. God’s love is not like a stream which runs deep and mighty as long as it is held within narrow banks, but like the great Feast at which five thousand sat and all did have their fill.

 

"If we would know what God is, then we need only look into our own hearts. Something Godlike is mirrored there – for whatever is best in the treasured lives of heroic men and the serene unwritten lives of innocent women; whatever is best in the loyalty of human hearts and the unwearying sweetness of a mother’s love; whatever is noble in the sacrificing care of a father and the devotion of an unselfish friend, is but a dim reflection, the far-off echo, the faint shadow of that which in God is perfect. We are but enjoying a two-billionth part of the light and heat which streams from the sun, and it may equally be that we are receiving even a smaller fraction of the Love and Life and Truth which is in God.

 

"Do not think any heart can speak with such a rapturous language but that there is a deeper heart, a greater love, and a nobler affection. If your own mother seems to you to be the incarnation of all that is loving in life, do you think the God who made mothers can be any less loving? If your own father seems to you to be the realisation of all that kindness in life can mean, do you think the God who made fathers is any less kind? If your own heart and mind revel in the size of the planets and the nature of the spheres, do you not think it should thrill at the knowledge of Him before Whom all the nations of the earth are poised as the grains in the balance? If there are times when the joy of living almost transports us into other realms; if there are times when the discovery of a human truth lifts us into heights of ecstatic repose; if there are times when the human heart in its noblest reaches and purest affections has the power to cast us into an ecstasy, to thrill and exalt us, then what must be the great Heart of hearts! If a human heart can increase the joy of living, then what must be the great Heart of God! If the Spark is so bright, oh, what must be the Flame!"

 

(The Divine Romance)

 

 

 

God of hope, who brought love into this world, be the love that dwells between us. God of hope, who brought peace into this world, be the peace that dwells between us. God of hope, who brought joy into this world, be the joy that dwells between us. God of hope, the rock we stand upon, be the centre, the focus of our lives always and particularly this Advent time. Through Him who is our hope, our joy, our love, our peace in union with the Holy Spirit, one God forever. Amen.

 

 

 

As we approach Christmas it is very easy to fall into the distractions offered by the secular world: Buy more gifts and food, put up Christmas lights, attend numerous parties. In all the hustle and bustle it is important to remember WHY we are celebrating. Spend some time in prayer and meditation on the great mystery of God becoming man, attend an extra Mass during the week, perform an act of charity by giving to those who have nothing. All these can help us to stay awake and ready ourselves for the coming of our Divine Redeemer, Jesus Christ.