The Popish Plot
"The Story of the Gregorian Calendar"
'Tis the First Sunday of Advent: Advent-link, Wikipedia-link Advent, & Wikipedia-link First Sunday.
Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—First Sunday of Advent
The Book of Isaiah, chapter two, verses one thru five;
Psalm One Hundred Twenty-two, verses one & two, three & four, four & five, six & seven, & eight & nine;
The Letter to the Romans, chapter thirteen, verses eleven thru fourteen;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twenty-four, verses thirty-seven thru forty-four.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, today’s Gospel reminds us to be prepared as we await the Lord’s coming again.Video reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire): "God's Holy Mountain."
I don’t think it is the least bit accidental that when Paul wrote back to the community at Thessalonika (the earliest Christian document we have), his major motif was the end of the world as we know it and the longing for Christ to come to remake the cosmos.
When Paul speaks in that text of Christ arriving on the clouds and the Christians going up to meet him in the air, he is not predicting a great escape from the world of matter; rather, he is envisioning a welcome committee of believers moving out to escort into the world its new King.
The entire Bible ends on a note not so much of triumph and completion as longing and expectation: "Come, Lord Jesus." From the very beginning of the Christian dispensation, followers of the risen Jesus have been waiting. Paul, Augustine, Chrysostom, Agnes, Thomas Aquinas, Clare, Francis, John Henry Newman, and Simone Weil have all waited for the second coming and have hence all been Advent people.
During this season, let us join them, turning our eyes and hearts upward and praying, "Come, Lord Jesus."
Reflect: Would you describe yourself as an "Advent person"? Why or why not?
Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Video reflection by Sister Tonia Borsellino (uCatholic): Advent Reflection.
Audio reflection by Scott Hahn, Ph.D. (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Breaking the Bread.
Video reflection by Lauren Costabile (Array of Hope): Advent of Hope
Reflection by Father Joseph Mary Wolfe, M.F.V.A. (Eternal Word Television Network):
There is tremendous hope in today’s readings that God Himself can teach us His ways―ways that lead to peace among people and nations, if we would only go to the Father’s house and learn. In today’s second reading, St. Paul encourages us to wake up and “cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” The good news is that we can choose to do just that. Our Catholic Faith gives us many opportunities through the Sacraments, the Scriptures and the traditions of our Church for a fresh start as we anticipate the birth of Christ.
Our Lord wants us to prepare our hearts to welcome the gift of His Son with joy. He gives us all the graces necessary for our conversion of heart. If you have not received the healing and grace of a good Confession in awhile, this Advent I invite you to experience the forgiveness and peace God gives us through this Sacrament.
Otherwise, 1 December would be the festival of Blessed John Beche, Abbot & Martyr, O.S.B. (died 1539, A.K.A. Thomas Marshall), last abbot of Saint John's Abbey (1530-1539, A.K.A. Colchester Abbey) & twenty-sixth (XXVI) abbot of Saint Wesburgh's Abbey (1515-1530, now Chester Cathedral), martyred in the reign of the English king Henry VIII, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1541): Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Saint John's, Wikipedia-link Saint Wesburgh's, & Wikipedia-link Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Commentary: Wayback Machine.
'Twould also be the festival of Saints Alexander Briant, S.J.; Edmund Campion, S.J.; & Ralph Sherwin; Priests & Martyrs (died 1581), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, three of the Forty Martyrs of England & Wales; author of Campion's Brag (A.K.A. the Challenge to the Privy Council): Martyr-link Alpha Bravo & Wikipedia-link Alpha Bravo; Martyr-link Echo Charlie, Wikipedia-link Echo Charlie, & Campion's Brag-link; & Martyr-link Romeo Sierra & Wikipedia-link Romeo Sierra; Martyrs-link England & Wales & Wikipedia-link England & Wales.
'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Richard Langley, Martyr (died 1581), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Charles de Foucald, Priest & Martyr, O.S.C.O. (1858-1916, A.K.A. Brother Marie-Alberic), founder of the Union of Brothers & Sisters of the Sacred Heart, martyred by Senussi Muslims: Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.
'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Kazimierz Tomasz Sykulski, Priest & Martyr (1882-1942), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, one of the One Hundred Eight Blessed Polish Martyrs: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link (List, № 46); Martyrs-link Polska & Wikipedia-link Polska.
'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Marie-Clémentine Nengapeta, Religious & Martyr (circa 1939-1964, A.K.A. Alphonsine Anuarite Nengapeta), martyred by her would-be rapist Pierre Olombe during the Communist Simba uprising: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.
Papal Quote o' the Day
"By this devotion [the Sacred Heart of Jesus] is renewed symbolically the memory of the divine Love by which the only Son of God, endowed with human nature & obedient until death, said that He gave an example of being meek & humble of heart."Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope Clement XIII (1693-1769)
"Mark the season of Advent by loving & serving others with God's love."
—St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997, feast day: 5 September)
Chesterton Quote o' the Day
"The old Trinity was of father & mother & child & is called the human family. The new is of child & mother & father & is called the Holy Family. It is in no way altered except in being entirely reversed; just as the world which is transformed was not in the least different, except in being turned upside-down."
—G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
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