"Open to the Spirit, Mary consecrated herself totally as lowly handmaid to the person and work of the Savior. She received Christ in order to share Him with all the world whose hope He is. In her, we recognize the model of the Church's faith and our own.." St. Eugene de Mazenod

As we celebrate Mary's Immaculate Conception, we can understand why the Angel greeted her the way he did. "Hail, full of grace. The Lord is with you." He was attesting to the great grace, privilege God had already given Mary. In lieu of Jesus' death and resurrection, Mary received the grace of salvation, freeing her from the sin of Adam and Eve. From her first moment of existence she was full of grace, sharing in God's life. This special grace was given to Mary so that she could later conceive the Son of the Most High by the power of the Holy Spirit. As her Immaculate Conception is a mystery, so is her vocation as the Mother of the Son of God in flesh. In honoring Mary, we are honoring God for his marvelous plan.

 "Insignificant man, escape from your everyday business for a short while, hide for a moment from your restless thoughts. Break off from your cares and troubles and be less concerned about your tasks and labors. Make a little time for God and rest a while in him." (St. Anselm)

Even in our business and in the complications of our daily life, we need to take time to seek the Lord. If we hope to spend eternity with God, how can that be unless we learn to spend time with him in this life. Even though our daily tasks are important, will they matter in the end? What will God ask of us when our time to depart from this life comes? Who was I to you? Did you seek me? Did you spend time with me? If I was not that important to you then, why should you be important to me now? Spending time with the Lord now is not a luxury, but a necessity, not an option, but a priority.

 "The liturgy of Advent...helps us to understand fully the value and meaning of the mystery of Christmas. It is not just about commemorating the historical event, which occurred some 2000 years ago in a little village of Judea. Instead, it is necessary to understand that the whole of our life must be an "advent,' a vigilant awaiting of the final coming of Christ. To predispose our mind to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, one day will come to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize him as present in the events of daily life. Therefore, Advent is so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward him who already came, who will come, and who comes continuously" (St. John Paul II)

We know in faith that Jesus is coming again in glory,  but do we know this in lived reality? What does that mean? When one expects another to come, the person  is always in a state of readiness for that coming. When we expect a guest to come to dinner, we prepare everything before hand and we anticipate the person's coming. How attentive are we to the Lord's coming in the present moments of life? How attentive are we, not in fear or anxiety, but in love and hope for his final coming to us? His coming is a certainty. The timing is not known to us, so that we can truly be ready to receive and welcome him when he does come. But what we do know is that while we wait we are given time to repent of our sins and live a life worthy of our calling. In that way, when he comes, he will find us ready to receive him. Come, Lord Jesus, come!

Advent wreath prayer for Second Week

Father in heaven, set our hearts ablaze to follow in the steps of John the Baptist. May we bring light and love to all we meet, that the darkness of sin and fear may be overcome. In Christ's name we ask this.  Amen

 "We know that there are three comings of the Lord. The third lies between the other two. It is invisible, while the other two are visible. In the first coming he was seen on earth, dwelling among men; he himself testifies that they saw him and hated him. In the final coming 'all flesh will see the salvation of our God, and they will look on him whom they pierced.' The intermediate coming is a hidden one; in it only the elect see the Lord within their own selves, and they are saved. In his first coming our Lord came in our flesh and in our weakness; in this middle coming he comes in spirit and in power; in the final coming he will be seen in glory and majesty." (St. Bernard)

How attentive are we of his present coming? Only those with a keen eye of faith can appreciate this invisible coming of the Lord. As St. Paul says, "we live by faith and not by sight." He comes today in his Word, which we hear, receive and respond to in faith. He comes to us in the Eucharist though we see bread and wine. He comes to us in the silence ;of prayer. He comes to us in one another, especially in those who are sharing in his divine life. Remember his first coming with gratitude. Prepare for his second coming with longing expectation. Connect the two by living a life worthy of your calling as his adopted sons and daughters. Then the first will have meaning and the third will be an eternal blessing.

 Second Sunday of Advent: Gospel C

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.

· Luke sets the ministry of John the Baptist (and of Jesus) in its historical context, in particular, during the Roman Empire.

· This would be around 28-29AD.

· Following the death of Herod the Great, his kingdom was divided into four parts.   Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great, ruled Galilee.  We know little about Philip (except that Herodias, whom Herod married, was first married to Philip) and Lysanias. Along with the connection to Tiberius and Pilate, Luke further situates John’s ministry in the political context of his day.

· According to Jewish tradition there could be one high priest at a time and he remained for life. The Romans insisted that there would be some tenure. So even though in fact Caiaphas was the high priest, Annas was still recognized as such by the people.  This is the religious context.

· God has chosen John to be the forerunner of the Christ.

· That the word of God came to John in the wilderness reminds the people of the covenant which was ratified in the desert or wilderness.

John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth,

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

· The purpose of the repentance and the baptism as a sign of their desire for forgiveness was to prepare their hearts to receive the word of the Messiah.

· Luke situates John’s ministry in the prophetic context. He quotes Isaiah 40:3-5.

· It was the custom of the day for the king to send messengers ahead of him to prepare the people for his pending visit. God sends John to be his spokesperson.

· During this Advent season what are we doing to prepare our hearts for a deeper coming of Jesus, so that we too can see his salvation?

· Will that preparation include the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Will it include the forgiveness of others as well as asking their forgiveness?

· Pray: Come, Lord, Jesus, Come.  Come into my heart in a fuller way. Draw me into your presence.

 "There are two births of Christ, one unto the world in Bethlehem; the other in the soul, when it is spiritually reborn. Men think of the former much more than the later, and celebrate it every year; but the spiritual Bethlehem is equally momentous...It was the second birth that Saint Paul insisted on when he wrote from prison to his beloved people, the Ephesians, asking that Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith and that they be rooted and grounded in love. This is the second Bethlehem, or the personal relationship of the individual heart to the Lord Christ." (Venerable Fulton Sheen)

During this Advent season as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Our Savior, we are reminded that because of his birth, death and resurrection we have been given the grace to be reborn as a child of God. Without his birth, our rebirth would not have been possible. In honoring his birth  with gratitude, we are also honoring our rebirth with heartfelt thanks. We honor his birth by sharing gifts with one another. The gift that means most to God is our love for one another for his sake. The gifts we exchange at Christmas are important. But what is of greater importance is the love we express to others in our daily encounters with them. This is the gift we give to Jesus in thanksgiving for his birth and our rebirth in the waters of salvation.