O Antiphon Reflection

Thanks to CGSUSA for posting this on their website :-)

First Sunday of Advent

Happy New Year! 

How blessed we are as Catholics to live the ebbs and flows of the liturgical year. After a long period of ordinary time, we as a church move into the expectant time of waiting; a time of preparing our hearts for the one who is to come. The readings for this season give us hints of the prophets, those who listened to the voice of God and shared His message with the people. They speak to us today, illuminating our lives and our faith. The youngest children in the atrium hear five short prophecies proclaimed during their three years in the atrium. The six to nine year old children revisit those five prophecies while beginning to synthesize their messages and add two more prophecies from Isaiah to the list. By the time the children are in 4th grade, they are ready to study four of the prophets more deeply, learning about the prophets' call and their struggles, along with the contents of the prophecies. As for me, I'm happy to count these Old Testament heroes among my friends - they inspire me and give me hope as I ask myself "Am I ready for the coming of Christ?"

I do love this quiet time of waiting – the build up of anticipation for the coming of of our Lord. It reminds me of my own pregnancies, joyfully anticipating a new sweet babe. It also mirrors watching those children grow and seeing glimpses of the life that is yet to come. 

Below are some notes I compiled for the first Sunday of Advent:

CCC 524 When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming. By celebrating the precursor’s birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Simple Advent Wreath Blessing:

Leader: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

All: Who made heaven and earth.

Leader: O God, by whose Word all things are sanctified, pour forth Your blessing upon this wreath and grant that we who use it may prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ and may receive from You abundant graces. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

The wreath would then be sprinkled with Holy water,if you have some at home.

Leader: Heavenly Father, as we begin this Advent, give light to our eyes and peace to our hearts. May the Lord find us watching and waiting in joy when He comes. We pray in Jesus' name.

All: Amen.

Some links to peruse:

Simple Advent traditions for families

The USCCB's Advent calendar for families

Prayers for each day of Advent

Last year's post on the First Sunday of Advent

"The one true God, ‘the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,’ is not a God who is there in Heaven, unconcerned with us and our history, but he is the-God-who-comes. He is a Father who never stops thinking of us and, in the extreme respect of our freedom, desires to meet us and visit us; he wants to come, to dwell among us, to stay with us. His ‘coming’ is motivated by the desire to free us from evil and death, from all that prevents our true happiness. God comes to save us." ~ Pope Benedict XVI Dec. 2006

Feast of Christ the King

In his homily for the Feast of Christ the King, Pope Francis reminded us of the ultimate importance of being merciful in our lives and actions. As a mother, this was a call for me to reflect on our family life - how we treat one another. Am I a model of mercy and gentleness to my children so they can in turn be merciful towards one another?

"Today’s liturgy invites us to fix our gaze on Christ, the King of the Universe. The beautiful prayer of the Preface reminds us that his kingdom is “a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace”. The readings we have listened to show us how Jesus established his kingdom; how he brings it about in history; and what he now asks of us.

First, how Jesus brought about his kingdom: he did so through his closeness and tenderness towards us. He is the Shepherd, of whom the Prophet Ezekiel spoke in the First Reading (cf. 34:11-12, 15-17). These verses are interwoven with verbs which show the care and love that the Shepherd has for his flock: to search, to look over, to gather the dispersed, to lead into pasture, to bring to rest, to seek the lost sheep, to lead back the confused, to bandage the wounded, to heal the sick, to take care of, to pasture. All of these are fulfilled in Jesus Christ: he is truly the “great Shepherd of the sheep and the protector of our souls” (cf. Heb 13:20; 1 Pt 2:25). 

.....

"The Gospel teaches what Jesus’ kingdom requires of us: it reminds us that closeness and tenderness are the rule of life for us also, and that on this basis we will be judged. 

......

"The starting point of salvation is not the confession of the sovereignty of Christ, but rather the imitation of Jesus’ works of mercy through which he brought about his kingdom. The one who accomplishes these works shows that he has welcomed Christ’s sovereignty, because he has opened his heart to God’s charity."

The Ordinary days of Summer ;-)

The great feast of Pentecost has brought the Easter season to a close. We attended Mass elsewhere this weekend and it was very moving to watch Father and the servers take the Paschal candle from its place by the Ambo and process with it down the aisle to the Baptismal font. Every candle mounted to the walls of the church were lit in honor of the Holy Spirit - truly beautiful!

Momma Church does ease us out of the festive season - now we can look forward to Trinity Sunday, followed by the feast of Corpus Christi, which like the Ascension, has been moved from Thursday to Sunday...

The summer season, is a good time to reflect on saints, so hopefully I'll have a bit of time to list a few of them along with ideas on how to celebrate their days within the next couple of weeks ~

Beate

Pentecost..

..is in just a few more days! Hopefully your Pentecost Novena is going a bit better than mine. At any rate, we finished our Ascension craft and I have our Pentecost decorations ready to put up. For more on that, see last year's post here.

Father Francis Weiser's book Christian Feasts and Customs is available to download here. He has an interesting chapter on Pentecost that begins on page 264 of the PDF file.

Have a joy-filled week ~
Beate

The Domestic Church

From the CCC: 

VI. THE DOMESTIC CHURCH

1655 Christ chose to be born and grow up in the bosom of the holy family of Joseph and Mary. The Church is nothing other than “the family of God.” From the beginning, the core of the Church was often constituted by those who had become believers “together with all [their] household.” ¹⁶⁶ When they were converted, they desired that “their whole household” should also be saved. ¹⁶⁷ These families who became believers were islands of Christian life in an unbelieving world.

1656 In our own time, in a world often alien and even hostile to faith, believing families are of primary importance as centers of living, radiant faith. For this reason the Second Vatican Council, using an ancient expression, calls the family the Ecclesia domestica. ¹⁶⁸ It is in the bosom of the family that parents are “by word and example . . . the first heralds of the faith with regard to their children. They should encourage them in the vocation which is proper to each child, fostering with special care any religious vocation.” ¹⁶⁹

1657 It is here that the father of the family, the mother, children, and all members of the family exercise the priesthood of the baptized in a privileged way “by the reception of the sacraments, prayer and thanksgiving, the witness of a holy life, and self-denial and active charity.” ¹⁷⁰ Thus the home is the first school of Christian life and “a school for human enrichment.” ¹⁷¹ Here one learns endurance and the joy of work, fraternal love, generous – even repeated – forgiveness, and above all divine worship in prayer and the offering of one’s life.

These paragraphs give me a lot of things to think about. All too often I find myself falling woefully short in modelling love, charity and forgiveness! However, even in my own failings there is grace - life is messy, loving not easy, forgiveness a struggle at times, yet that's what the "school of human enrichment" is all about. If all were perfect, we'd be tempted to stagnate rather than always striving to grow closer to the Father. So don't get discouraged - know that our dear Papa in Heaven is always willing to pick us up and dust us off when we stumble and fall. Let's pray for one another!

In the peace of the Good Shepherd,

Beate

Preparing for the Ascension

Ascension Thursday is May 29, 2014

Even though in our diocese the feast day is celebrated the following Sunday, our family will remember the day this coming Thursday. When I was growing up, 'Christi Himmelfahrt' was a state holiday and celebrated with a procession by most of the village.

Catholic Cuisine suggests a hillside picnic with some Ascension inspired food choices here and a "Heavenly lunch" complete with table decorating idea here. I'll probably incorporate some of these ideas into our dinner and dessert plans. Cream puffs - yum! I'm pretty sure I can make the pastry ahead of time, and then have the kids fill them Thursday afternoon.

We've never done the Ascension Glowing Cloud Craft, but I'm gathering supplies because I know my crew will love this. I also found an Ascension Word Find and an Ascension Coloring Page which I've printed out and left laying near the printer just waiting to be found. 

http://webspace.webring.com/people/vc/catholicinspired/ascension.pdf is another 3 d Ascension craft that doesn't require as many materials :-)

I love this prayer from St Augustine, which we will use for our mealtime prayer:

"Today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him. Listen to the words of the Apostle: If you have risen with Christ, set your hearts on the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth. For just as he remained with us even after his ascension, so we too are already in heaven with him, even though what is promised us has not yet been fulfilled in our bodies."

Have a blessed day ~
Beate