First Sunday of Advent
03rd December 2023 (Sunday) Readings and Reflection
Psalter: Week 1
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Isaiah 63:16b-17; 64:1, 3b-8
You, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name. O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage. Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence. You came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.
Psalm 80:2ac and 3b, 15-16, 18-19 (R. 4)
R/. O God, bring us back; let your face shine on us, and we shall be saved
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Brethren: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Alleluia
V/. Alleluia R/. Alleluia
V/. Let us see, O Lord, your mercy, and grant us your salvation.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel : Mark 13:33-37
At that time: His mother and his brothers came to Jesus, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
The Reflection by Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy MSFS{alertWarning}
Highlight: Advent
Guidlines: We are called by a worthy God to live a worthy life. Let us then neither belittle ourselves nor God who wants to elevate us.{alertSuccess}
1. Once again, we step into the holy season of Advent. It is the time for the advent of the Saviour amidst us. It is the advent of the incarnate Son of God as one of us. It is a time of the coming of God's own grace in flesh and blood, in the person of Jesus Christ. Down through the centuries, God has spoken and acted through many prophets and leaders. But this is the appointed time when God speaks, interacts, and acts with humans through His own Son.
2. Advent is not merely a series of days that precede the birth of Jesus, the Saviour. It is first of all a recalling and reassuring of the ceaseless love and mercy of God for the erring and sinning humanity. It is a reawakening of our hope that the Saviour is born among us. It is a reinstilling of our trust that God comes to live with us and will never abandon us. It is a reinstalling of the broken bond and covenant between God and us. It is the season of the greatest comfort that "God is ever benevolent and merciful to us".
3. Our sin, our evil, our wrongdoings, our weaknesses, and imperfections - nothing of these can mar or deter the love of God that never fails us. The holy Advent encourages us that ultimately it is God who takes control of the whole course of our life and no forces, however powerful and dominant they are, can really overpower it.
4. The holy Advent immerses us in the unfathomable depths of God's saving love. It encourages and revives us with new hope to continue to confide in him even when we are beset with adverse situations. It urges us to "wait on him" who comes to visit us and change our life. This would concretely mean that we do not get "engrossed and entangled" with needless affairs and excessive worldly activities, as in the times of Noah.
5. To the one who comes to us in love, mercy, and solidarity, we must go in eagerness, readiness, and preparation. The one who comes to us to be with us, should not find us in indifference, tepidity, and unpreparedness. We must "Wake up from our sleep" of sin and mediocrity. We must solidify our steps, so that we do not stumble and falter in darkness, but walk steadily in the light.
6. How then do we prepare ourselves to meet him who is coming? There can be different attitudes and responses toward his coming:
- He is coming - so what? Let Him come! This is an attitude of indifference, carelessness, and lethargy
- He is coming - oh my God! An attitude of fear and unhappiness
- He is coming - why should he come? An attitude of unwelcome, stubbornness, resistance, and rejection
- He is coming - very good! Please come. An attitude of welcome, openness, receptivity, prompt acceptance, and personal experience
What is our response? What is our preparation?
Practice: Let us wait for the Lord attentively and lovingly, so that he will not find and catch us unawares. Let us be fully awake and focused on him and not lose sight of him.{alertSuccess}