by Faith Central & Steve Welsh
“Every Advent, the Liturgy of the Word gives our sense of time a reorientation. There’s a deliberate tension in the next four weeks’ readings—between promise and fulfillment, expectation and deliverance, between looking forward and looking back. …”
“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 truth of the Incarnation. How does the infinite enter the finite? How does He, whom the very heavens cannot contain, enter the womb of Mary. How can He, who holds all creation together in Himself, be held in Mary’s arms? …”
“… The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ’s second coming at the end of time and also to the anniversary of the Lord’s birth on Christmas. The final days of Advent, from December 17 to December 24, focus particularly on our preparation for the celebrations of the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas). …”
“Jesus said to His Disciples: ‘Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise …. that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.'”
“Saint Andrew’s feast day is today! This feast is the marker that determines the start of Advent. The first Sunday of Advent begins on the Sunday closest to (or on) November 30th, St Andrew’s feast day. That explains the first part of the Saint Andrew Christmas Novena’s name. The second part simply refers to when the novena ends. On Christmas. So the longest way of saying it is: The Saint Andrew to Christmas Day Novena, but it is also known simply as the Christmas Novena for short. …”
O Glorious Saint Andrew,
you were the first
to recognize and follow
the Lamb of God.
With your friend Saint John
you remained with Jesus
for that first day,
for your entire life,
and now throughout eternity.
As you led your brother
Saint Peter to Christ
and many others after him,
draw us also to Him.
Teach us to lead others
to Christ solely out of love
for Him and dedication
in His service.
Help us to learn
the lesson of the Cross
and to carry our daily crosses
without complaint
so that they may
carry us to Jesus.
“As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,
casting a net into the sea …. He said … ‘Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him. … two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. … were in a boat, with their father …. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed Him.”
“… ‘There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation … the powers of the heavens will be shaken. … then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with Power and Great glory. … when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your Redemption is at hand.'”
“… He, the obedient Servant, is King because He has ‘the keys of death and Hades’ (Rv 1:18). And, because He is the conqueror of death, hell and Satan, He is “the ruler of kings on earth” (Rv 1:5). In fact, everything on earth is subject to death. Instead, He who has power over death opens the prospect of immortal life to all humanity. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the Fulfilment of all Creation (cf. Rv 1:8), so that every generation can repeat: Blessed is His Kingdom that is coming (cf. Mk 11:10). …”
“… rather than being a conclusion to what had gone before, it should rather be a beginning, a beginning of where we go from here. Jesus did not come simply to be crowned king of the universe; He came to establish the kingdom of God. When He said, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand,’ we must understand that ‘at hand’ in terms of God’s Eternity, according to which one day is a thousand years and a thousand years a day. …”