2nd Sunday of Advent

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Doesn’t repentance sound like a great idea – for all the people who have wronged me? I’m less inclined to be excited about my own repentance! When John lives out his vocation to prepare his contemporaries for Jesus’ first coming, he starts by telling them to repent. Perhaps there is a reason he lived in the wilderness? To avoid the reactions of the people he spoke to in town? But the message is so necessary, then and now. If we want a world of peace and joy, we need to start with seeing, and then turning away from, our own attractions to and love for the very habits, attitudes and behaviours which prevent us from receiving God’s life. What valleys and mountains do you cling to that are obstructing God’s path to your heart? Is it your desire for things to be easy? Your addiction to the little white lies that seem easier than facing the truth? Make an appointment with your journal, or make a plan to go to Reconciliation this week. Turning away from your own sin feels great – once you can see how it is not helping you. So turn around and let God in. You’ll be glad you did!

For the desire to repent from the things we use to keep God’s abundant life from reaching us, we pray to the Lord.

Jesus, you came to give us abundant life. Just like every generation before us, we get attached to the hills and valleys and sins that keep you at a “safe” distance. Help us to turn back to you, to see the obstacles. Give us the grace to desire a smoother way by letting go of our sins, so you can fill our hands and hearts with new life. Amen.

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Taken from the Facebook page of Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary

1st Sunday of Advent

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So often we hear about the Gospel reading, but it may be worth starting Advent with a reflection on the reading from Isaiah. This text is roughly 2700 years old and the message is that the time is coming when there will be peace on earth, and that God is working to bring it about. Our invitation from Jesus is we should be ready for this to happen imminently, and working with God to bring it about at all times and in all places. Now, at the beginning of Advent, we can root our hope again in God’s ancient and ever-new promise that the Prince of Peace is coming. We carry so many challenges in life; the solutions are complex and sometimes take years or decades. God is not afraid of our big problems. His promises are true through generations and centuries. Let us wrap up our troubles and entrust them to the manger, where God is coming to hold them and us again.

Let us pray for joyful anticipation of God who is coming again to breathe life and hope into our broken world.

God of Isaiah, speak your promises into our broken world. Give us hope, anticipation and child-like faith that you can make all things new. Renew our longing for you to come among us again. Amen.

Reflection: CCCB
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Taken from the Facebook page of Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary

Solemnity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

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Our King is a king of surrender; his great act of salvation was giving Himself away for our sake. When it talks about kingship, the world is obsessed with power. Christ, our King, lives and breathes vulnerability. The man on the cross beside Him is the first to understand what Jesus is doing, and instead of mocking His vulnerability, asks to be carried into the Kingdom. This is what salvation means: to recognize we cannot save ourselves, we cannot manipulate reality into getting what we want, but that we can be held in love if we will give ourselves over to it.
Prayer: For surrender to Jesus, our King, now and at the hour of death, we pray to the Lord.
Jesus, King of surrender, you offered yourself to the Father in trust at the darkest hour of your life. In so doing, you worked eternal life through Resurrection for us all. While the world offers us false hope in power, wealth and acquisition, you have shown us the way of surrender through suffering and vulnerability. Teach us to follow you, King of love. Amen.
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Reflection: CCCB

Taken from the Facebook page of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary

33 Sunday in Ordinary Time

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In the chaos of thinking about the end of times, both in the prophecy from Malachi and the teaching from Jesus, the instruction is clear. Know whose you are and go about living justly. The second reading echoes this sentiment, giving us really practical advice: Do your work, imitate Jesus and His followers, and mind your own business. The readings indicate that for all of us, in every age, it is tempting to worry about how others are behaving, to jump ship on our responsibilities, to blame, or to stir up conflict. Our call is clear: persevere in doing the right thing, one moment at a time. At the beginning of our lives and right through to the end, we must walk simply in doing justice, living kindness, and working for peace.

Prayer: For commitment in living our own lives of discipleship to the end, we pray to the Lord.

Loving Father, from the beginning to the end you love us and call us to follow you. Help us to walk in your way, with small steps toward you, day after day. When things are hard, keep us focused on the next loving thing, and do not let us be deterred. Amen

Reflection: CCCB
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Taken from the Facebook page of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary

32 Sunday in Ordinary Time

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The first reading and the Gospel are challenging texts about martyrdom and the absence of marriage in heaven. They point us to the world to come, which we reflect on at the end of each liturgical year. Our temptation when we think about heaven is to downplay the significance of this life. But it is a mistake to skip over our present moments in a sort of repression of earthly life in favour of heaven. God has given us this life to learn to love in preparation for the world to come. The way of salvation is through our lives here, not around them. So, as we remember we were made for heaven, we can show up for the moments and days we are living right now with the prayer from Thessalonians: “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the endurance of Christ.” If God is asking us to grow in our faithfulness, we need to do that now. If He is asking us for more patience with a spouse, better boundaries with a loved one, growth in humility, now is the time. It is uncomfortable to grow in virtue in this world; and we are invited to a life that is larger than comfort and will far outlast this life. To the extent we listen to God’s call, we can start living heaven now.

Prayer: For lives that participate in heaven now and into eternity, we pray to the Lord.

Taken from the Facebook page of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary