November 28, 2021 First Sunday of Advent

2021년 11월 28일 대림 제1주일 

오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp 

제1독서

<내가 다윗을 위하여 정의의 싹을 돋아나게 하리라.>

예레미야서. 33,14-16
 4 보라, 그날이 온다. 주님의 말씀이다.

“그때에 나는 이스라엘 집안과 유다 집안에게 한 약속을 이루어 주겠다.
15 그날과 그때에 내가 다윗을 위하여 정의의 싹을 돋아나게 하리니,
그가 세상에 공정과 정의를 이룰 것이다.
16 그날에 유다가 구원을 받고 예루살렘이 안전하게 살게 될 것이다.
사람들은 예루살렘을 ‘주님은 우리의 정의’라는 이름으로 부를 것이다.”

제2독서

<주님께서는 그리스도께서 재림하실 때 여러분의 마음에 힘을 북돋아 주실 것입니다.>

테살로니카 1서. 3,12ㅡ4,2
 형제 여러분,

12 여러분이 서로 지니고 있는 사랑과 다른 모든 사람을 향한 사랑도,
여러분에 대한 우리의 사랑처럼 주님께서 더욱 자라게 하시고 충만하게 하시며,
13 여러분의 마음에 힘을 북돋아 주시어,
우리 주 예수님께서 당신의 모든 성도들과 함께 재림하실 때,
여러분이 하느님 우리 아버지 앞에서
흠 없이 거룩한 사람으로 나설 수 있게 되기를 빕니다. 아멘.
4,1 그러므로 형제 여러분,
끝으로 우리는 주 예수님의 이름으로 여러분에게 당부하고 권고합니다.
여러분은 어떻게 살아가야 하는지,
어떻게 해야 하느님 마음에 들 수 있는지 우리에게 배웠고,
또 그렇게 살아가고 있습니다. 더욱더 그렇게 살아가십시오.
2 우리가 주 예수님의 권위로 여러분에게 지시해 준 것들을
여러분은 잘 알고 있습니다.

복음

<너희의 속량이 가까웠다.>

루카. 21,25-28.34-36
 그때에 예수님께서 제자들에게 말씀하셨다.

25 “해와 달과 별들에는 표징들이 나타나고,
땅에서는 바다와 거센 파도 소리에 자지러진 민족들이 공포에 휩싸일 것이다.
26 사람들은 세상에 닥쳐오는 것들에 대한 두려운 예감으로 까무러칠 것이다.
하늘의 세력들이 흔들릴 것이기 때문이다.
27 그때에 ‘사람의 아들이’ 권능과 큰 영광을 떨치며
‘구름을 타고 오는 것을’ 사람들이 볼 것이다.
28 이러한 일들이 일어나기 시작하거든 허리를 펴고 머리를 들어라.
너희의 속량이 가까웠기 때문이다.
34 너희는 스스로 조심하여, 방탕과 만취와 일상의 근심으로
너희 마음이 물러지는 일이 없게 하여라.
그리고 그날이 너희를 덫처럼 갑자기 덮치지 않게 하여라.
35 그날은 온 땅 위에 사는 모든 사람에게 들이닥칠 것이다.
36 너희는 앞으로 일어날 이 모든 일에서 벗어나
사람의 아들 앞에 설 수 있는 힘을 지니도록 늘 깨어 기도하여라.”

November 28, 2021

First Sunday of Advent  

Daily Readings — Audio

Daily Reflections — Video

http://www.usccb.org/bible/ 

Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass 

Reading 1JER 33:14-16

The days are coming, says the LORD, 
when I will fulfill the promise 
I made to the house of Israel and Judah.
In those days, in that time, 
I will raise up for David a just shoot ; 
he shall do what is right and just in the land.
In those days Judah shall be safe 
and Jerusalem shall dwell secure; 
this is what they shall call her: 
“The LORD our justice.” 

Responsorial PsalmPS 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14

R. (1b) To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior,
and for you I wait all the day. 
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way. 
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him,
and his covenant, for their instruction. 
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul. 

Reading 21 THES 3:12—4:2

Brothers and sisters:
May the Lord make you increase and abound in love
for one another and for all,
just as we have for you, 
so as to strengthen your hearts, 
to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father 
at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen.

Finally, brothers and sisters, 
we earnestly ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that,
as you received from us 
how you should conduct yourselves to please God
and as you are conducting yourselves
you do so even more.
For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

AlleluiaPS 85:8

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Show us, Lord, your love;
and grant us your salvation.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelLK 21:25-28, 34-36

Jesus said to his disciples:
“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 of what is coming upon the world, 
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man 
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these signs begin to happen, 
stand erect and raise your heads 
because your redemption is at hand.

“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 like a trap.
For 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.”

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

 When my husband, Michael and I first moved back to Omaha we bought a home in an old section of the city with lots of trees.  One of the things we most loved about the house were the elegant oaks and maples that provided such lovely shade in the summer.  But a few years after we moved here the city condemned one of the trees on the parking in front of the house asserting that it was diseased, and then cut the tree down.  Michael frequently bemoaned the loss of the tree and the impossibility (it seemed) to find a tree that would grow on the parking strip. I am convinced that he minded losing that tree every day for the rest of his life.

Shortly before Christmas five years ago, early in the morning, Michael suffered a heart attack.  The EMS group that took him to the hospital left by the front door, and I accompanied them down to the street and then dashed back into get what I needed together and get to the hospital.  When I turned to come into the house, I noticed in a small corner of my brain that a tiny oak sapling was happily growing where no other tree we had planted had taken root.

Today, as I read prayed with the first reading from our liturgy for the First Sunday of Advent, I looked out and saw there was now a tall young tree flourishing.  The shoot from the stump of the old oak had more than sprouted – it was over 25 feet tall and had born of full load of beautiful leaves all summer.  If it continues to grow it will soon match some of the older trees in height and shade granting limbs.  Michael must see that tree from another place in God’s Reign, but it provides for me a kind of quiet confidence that God’s promises are always fulfilled

This promise from the Hebrew Scriptures that whatever glory Jesse’s tree had (and the author is referring to the family tree rather than a biological one he is using for his symbol) will be eclipsed by the Glory of this many-times-great-grandson of Jesse who is the Promised one, the Christ.  He will produce such abundant fruit that all the world will be transformed.  So the promise of Jesse’s old tree is fully alive millennia later.

With the Season of Advent comes the opportunity to become part of Jesse’s sapling – to grow into the life of Jesus in this new year.  It is not shade alone we will offer as companions of Jesus, but fruit that will feed all those who hunger for food, for justice, for peace, for the love of family.  We are called to a new level of relationship with Jesus that invites us to companionship in deepening the reign of God on earth – as it is in heaven.  Simply put, Jesus invites each one of us to fall in love, or more deeply in love, with him;  to find in him the completion of the greatest longings to be what I was called to be from my mother’s womb. 

For each of us such a call challenges us to awaken out of the habits that have blinded us to his endearing love.  I pray today that this new year will be a time when again I encounter Jesus face-to-face and desire above all things to be his companion in the Kingdom Work God asks of me. 

If we pray for each other, we will find companions to keep us awake and to make the labor more fun.  This may well be the best hope and promise we have from Advent this year. 

 http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp

 

PREGNANT AGAIN

“In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just Shoot.” —Jeremiah 33:15

Happy New Year! Today we celebrate the first day of the new Church year and of Advent. Today, in a spiritual sense, we conceive new life and prepare to give birth to that life in the Christmas season. Advent is similar to pregnancy, in that we carry, protect, and nurture Christ’s new life within us (see Rm 6:4). We must take care not to do anything which might hurt the baby. Therefore, the Church warns us: “Be on guard lest your spirits become bloated with indulgence and drunkenness and worldly cares” (Lk 21:34). Just as a mother’s smoking, drinking alcohol, or taking drugs can have bad effects on her baby, so our sinful preoccupation with “worldly cares” can damage or even abort the new life of Advent.

We should begin this year and this spiritual pregnancy by going to Confession. By repenting, we remove things which stifle the growth of God’s life within us (see 2 Cor 7:10). We should also simplify our lives, freeing up more time to pray, read God’s Word, evangelize, and share fellowship. We should be nourished and rested in our pregnancy. TV, videos, and compulsive use of our handheld electronic devices could very well smother our new life in God. Advent, like pregnancy, is a wonderful time as long as we carefully protect and nourish the new life within us.

Prayer:  Father, increase us and make us “overflow with love for one another” (1 Thes 3:12).

Promise:  “When these things begin to happen, stand erect and hold your heads high, for your deliverance is near at hand.”

Praise:  “He will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces; the reproach of His people He will remove from the whole earth; for the Lord has spoken” (Is 25:8). Praise the risen Jesus!

 http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/

  How good are you at reading signs, especially signs which God sends our way? The people of Jesus' time expected that the coming of the Messiah would be accompanied by extraordinary signs and wonders. Jesus' first coming was clouded in mystery and surprising wonderment: Even though he was the rightful heir to the throne of King David, he was born in obscurity in a cave at Bethlehem, near the place where David had watched over his father's sheep some 1000 years before. A choir of mighty angels chose to announce the good news to a small band of lowly shepherds keeping their night watch nearby. Learned magi from the East, who recognized a great omen in the heavenly sky, followed the star until it led them to Bethlehem. They alone found the child with his mother and paid him homage as the newborn king of Israel. When Jesus humbly submitted to baptism at the River Jordan, the heavenly Father spoke audibly for those nearby who were willing to listen, "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased."

Signs which point to the Lord's coming to reign with power and great glory
Jesus, during his public ministry performed numerous signs: turning water into wine, calming the storm at sea and walking on water, multiplying seven loaves of bread in the wilderness to feed 5000 people, healing the blind and the lame, expelling demons, and raising the dead. While many believed in Jesus, many also questioned his signs and refused to believe his claim to be the Messiah sent by the heavenly Father to suffer and die for our sake and for our salvation on the cross of Calvary. Jesus' last and greatest sign during his earthly ministry was his rising from the tomb on the third day after his crucifixion. This sign demonstrated his power to defeat death itself and to give abundant everlasting life to all who believed in him.

Jesus told his disciples that his final great sign would be his return in glory at the end of the age. He would come this second time as Judge and Merciful Redeemer to vindicate those who accepted him as Lord and Savior and to punish those who rejected him. Jesus declared that this last sign at the end of the world would be unmistakable. All would recognize and "see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" (Luke 21:27). The title which Jesus most often used to describe his Messianic role was the expression "Son of Man". This title comes from the Book of the prophet Daniel, chapter 7. The image of a "Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" was given in a vision where the prophet Daniel saw heaven opened before the throne of God (Daniel 7:13-14). In this vision God showed Daniel a royal investiture of a human king before God's throne. This king was invested with God's authority and was given power to judge and rule over the whole earth. His reign would last for all ages.

The Jews of Jesus' day were looking for a Messiah King who would free them from the oppressive rule of pagan Rome. Many had hoped that Jesus would be their victorious conquerer. They missed, however, the most important sign and reason for the Messiah's first coming - his death on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world and his triumphant victory over death and Satan when he rose on the third day. The Lord Jesus is both the "Son of David", the rightful heir and Messiah King of Israel whose reign will endure for all ages (Psalm 89:3-4,29,36-37) - and the "Son of Man", chosen by God as the anointed ruler who will come at the end of the age to establish a universal kingdom of peace, righteousness, and justice for all the nations and peoples of the earth.

The Messiah comes to "execute justice and righteousness in the land"
The prophet Jeremiah foretold the day when God would send his Messiah King to "execute justice and righteousness in the land" (Jeremiah 33:15). Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise and every promise which God has made. The Lord Jesus, through the gift and working of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, assures us of his abiding presence and the promise that he will return again. His Holy Spirit gives us supernatural hope, and the strength to persevere with joyful confidence until the Lord comes again. What kind of hope does the Lord offer us? He gives us the hope of heaven, seeing God face to face, sharing in the fullness of his glory and everlasting life. When the Lord comes again as our Judge and merciful Redeemer he will right every wrong, vindicate every person who has accepted him as Lord and Savior, and remove all sorrow, pain, and death itself (Revelations 21:4). The world around us is plagued with greed, envy, strife, and uncertainty. It has lost hope in God and in his promise to restore the human race and all of creation when the Lord Jesus comes again.

Jesus' prophetic description of the end of time and the day of judgment was not new to the people of Israel. The prophets had foretold these events many centuries before. "Behold the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger to make the earth a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it" (Isaiah 13:9-13; see also Joel 2:1-2; Amos 5:18-20; Zephaniah 1:14-18). Jesus speaks of the second coming as a known fact, a for certain event we can expect to take place. This coming will be marked by signs that all will recognize; signs which will strike terror in those unprepared and wonder in those who are ready to meet the Lord. When the Lord returns he will establish final justice and righteousness over the earth by overthrowing his enemies and by vindicating those who have been faithful to him. The anticipation of his final judgment is a sign of hope for all who trust in him.

Indifference and rejection of the Gospel lead to destruction
What can keep us from recognizing the signs of the Lord's presence and his action today? Indifference and the temptation to slacken off - to become passive and lethargic or to fall asleep spiritually. It is very easy to get caught up in the things of the present moment or to be weighed down with troubles. The Lord knows our shortcomings and struggles and he gives us the strength to bear our burdens and to walk in his way of holiness. But there is one thing he doesn't tolerate: an attitude of indifference, being passive, not caring, and doing nothing when we could be actively seeking God and his kingdom! God is ready to give us fresh vision, hope, and grace to walk in his ways. He wants to work in and through us for his glory. That is why he expects more of us than we can do by ourselves. His grace enables us to actively watch for his action in our lives, and to actively pray for perseverance and endurance when we face trials and difficulties. The Lord gives us his strength to overcome temptation, especially from apostasy - the denial of the Lord Jesus out of fear or pride. God is ever ready to fill us with his strength and divine power. Is your heart hungry for God or is it weighed down by other things?

Advent season reminds us that we are pilgrims and exiles longing for our home with God
Many churches in the East and West, since the early first centuries of the Christian era, have marked special seasons to celebrate the central truths of the Christian faith. The Advent season which precedes Christmas and Epiphany reminds us that we are a pilgrim people, aliens and exiles in this age who long for our true home with God in his heavenly kingdom, and who await with joyful hope the return of the Lord Jesus at the end of the age. When will the Lord Jesus come again? No one but the Father in heaven knows the day. But it is a certain fact that we are living in the end times, the close of this present age! The end times begin with the first coming of Jesus Christ (his Incarnation which we celebrate at Christmas and Epiphany) and culminates in his final return on the Day of Judgment.

Lord Jesus, may I never lose sight of the signs of your presence in my life and the signs of your action in the world today. Free me from spiritual dullness, indifference, and every distraction that would keep me from you. May I never tire of listening to your word, seeking you in prayer, and longing for your return in glory.

Psalms 25:1,4-5,8-10,14

1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
3 Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.
8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
14 The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes his covenant known to them.

Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The coming of the Son of Man, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD)

"He says that they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Christ will not come secretly or obscurely but as God and Lord in glory suitable for deity. He will transform all things for the better. He will renew creation and refashion the nature of people to what it was at the beginning. He said, 'When these things come to pass, lift up your heads and look upward, for your redemption is near.' The dead will rise. This earthly and infirm body will put off corruption and will clothe itself with incorruption by Christ's gift. He grants those that believe in him to be conformed to the likeness of his glorious body."(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 139)

 

 

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