Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts

Hallelujah!

These videos have been spreading through the internet since November. This season, in the middle of busy shopping areas such as malls, flash mobs have gathered and surprised shoppers by beautifully singing the "Hallelujah Chorus". I don't know if their reasons for singing this song are religious or just to spread a little culture, but anytime a group boldly sings in public a song proclaiming that Christ is the "King of Kings and Lord of Lords", it is a moving sight.

I personally think that it is the work of the Holy Spirit inspiring not only the people in the flash mobs to sing this, but also the unsuspecting shoppers to stop their Christmas shopping and sing along. Enjoy the videos below of flash mobs singing praises to Christ from different shopping areas around the country.

Fourth Week of Advent: No Room At The Inn

“She wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7).

The fact that there was no room for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in the inn at Bethlehem on the first Christmas should make us wonder, because the birth of Christ was foreseen and planned by God from all eternity. Hundreds of years before it happened, the prophets announced he would be born of a virgin (Is. 7:14) and that Bethlehem would be his birthplace (Micah 5:2). Many other details of his life and death were also foretold. Did God, then, forget to make room for his only Son? How is it possible that there was no room, when the child born at Christmas owns the inn, and Bethlehem, and the world, and every inch of room in the whole universe?

Obviously, God did this on purpose. There was no room in the inn, because this demonstrates that world has rejected God. The world makes no room for the God who created it. There was no room in the inn because God wanted to show that His Son comes as a Savior, to reconcile a world that is at enmity with God. Being turned away from the inn foreshadows the fact that the Savior himself will be rejected, despised, and ultimately crucified, and that all this was part of God’s plan from all eternity. Ultimately, the lack of room in the inn symbolizes the lack of room we make for him in our hearts. When our hearts are filled with all kinds of other desires than God, we gradually crowd him out altogether.

Click here to read the rest of this meditation by Fr. Frank Pavone.

The Third Week of Advent: Downsize!

The other day I went to McDonalds with my boys. Since we all were hungry I ordered a meal for them and one for me. Then came the question that we all have grown so used to hearing- “Would you like to supersize that?” Not just “Would you like a large order?” Not even “Would you like an extra-large order?” But would you like a “Super-Sized” order? I figured that enough supersized fries would result in a supersized me, so I declined. But it got me to thinking, “What are some other ways that I do ‘supersize’ me?” While I passed on the fries, I realized that there are many ways that I sometimes try to make a larger “me” than I should. I don’t think I’m alone in this temptation either.

In C.S. Lewis’ popular work, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, two characters, Lucy and Edmund, are described as very different people. Lucy is honest, patient, compassionate, and selfless. Edmund is presented, almost from the first page of the book, as spiteful, mean, and very self-centered. Edmund is deceived and tempted by the White Witch to betray his brother and sisters in an old and very simple way. The White Witch offers to supersize his ego. She says:

“I want a nice boy I could bring up as a Prince and who would be King of Narnia when I am gone. While he was Prince he would wear a hold crown and eat Turkish Delight all day long; and you are much the cleverest and handsomest young man I have ever met. I think I would like to make you the Prince- someday when you bring the others to me.”¹

She appeals to his ego. She flatters him and pulls all the right strings- strings that trip him up and lead to a major crisis in the book. In some ways Edmund is a type -sort of an example of what trips up almost everyone in one way or another. The temptations that we all face, as varied as they are, are almost always a temptation to place ourselves at the center of the universe. The temptation is to crown ourselves Prince or Princess.

Yesterday, which marked the beginning of the third week of Advent, continues in the vein of weeks one and two by calling us to prepare for the coming of Christ –after all, that was the expressed task of John the Baptist.

Click here to read the rest of this Advent Meditation.

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2nd Sunday of Advent: John the Baptist - The Witness

John, the great witness, preaches the truth of Christ to the massive crowds of people that listen to him. These are people who are hungry for the truth. They are tired of the burdens imposed upon them by their own leaders, the Pharisees and the foreign leaders represented by King Herod. The human person cannot be held captive by repressive systems that continue to lie. "A voice of one crying out in the desert: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths'" (Matthew 3: 3).

Why is an obscure figure of the Bible relevant for us today? Why does the Catholic Church, on the Second Sunday of Advent, present John the Baptist for our reflection? Saint John the Baptist commands our interest because he is a witness. By his witness, he reminds us that we are called to be witnesses. And in any age, to be a witness is challenging.

The witness of John the Baptist begins with his birth. The miraculous circumstances of his conception and birth direct our attention to the mysterious and transcendent. An angel announces his birth to a woman well beyond childbearing years. His father is struck dumb for his disbelief. As an infant, John, leaps in his mother's womb when he is in the presence of the Messiah's mother. Upon his birth, he is given not his father's name, but rather the name, John, which translates "Yahweh is gracious." With the giving of this name spoken by the angel, John's father, Zechariah, recovers his power of speech. Thus the miraculous circumstances surrounding his beginnings give witness to a sacred world, a world reaching beyond time and space.

Click here to read the rest of the reflection for the 2nd week of Advent.

1st Sunday of Advent: Wake Up!

1st Sunday of Advent: Wake Up! Happy Priest on Preparing for Christmas

Most of the world did not notice Jesus' first coming. We need to stay awake and notice how he comes to us each day. What about those special graces that come to us each day? What about those amazing opportunities that he gives us each day to love him more and more. When we are inattentive, when we are lazy, when we are indifferent, we miss out on so much. Advent is a time to wake up and to leave aside our laziness and tepidity. "Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come" (Matthew 24: 42).

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of a new liturgical year. It is interesting to note how the liturgical year ends with the theme of the Second Coming, while at the same time, the new liturgical year also focuses on the same theme. Since we are about to celebrate Christmas, we would suppose that the new liturgical year would begin chronologically with a reflection on the Incarnation. However, that is not the case. The reason why the liturgical year ends and begins with the same theme is clear: if we have already embraced Jesus in his first coming, we will have no fear of his second coming.

Click here to read the rest of this reflection on the 1st Sunday of Advent.