Prayer for the Week (December 19-December 25, 2021)

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Let us pray to God our Father
    so that we welcome his Son:
Our God and Father, we eagerly await
    the coming of your Son among us.
Prepare us to recognize and receive him
    when he comes.
May we recall that he came to us
    in poverty and humility.
Guide us through the Holy Spirit
    to discover Christ in the simplicity
    of everyday life and everyday people.
Accustom us to your Son and his ways
    so that he change our lives to conform to his,
    for he is our Lord and Savior.
Amen.
                                                             (Claretian Publications)

Sunday Reflection (December 19, 2021)

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By being perfectly obedient Jesus sanctifies not only himself
but also us (Hebrews 10:5-10). God’s grace embraces us.
No more sacrifice is needed yet think of the scapegoating
sacrifices we continue to make to cover our own sins and failures.
The scapegoating sacrifices we make so we do not have to extend grace
to the one scapegoated or to those scapegoated.

We may have trouble accepting God’s forgiveness of our sins,

or we may take it for granted. We may become so bogged down
with our own faults and failures that we have a tough time offering
our best gifts to God’s glory. Nevertheless, we joyfully celebrate
God’s grace and find ways to share God’s grace and love
 with others. Why was Christ Born? To make up for our unfaithfulness!
To show us God’s will! To encourage us to do God’s will!
To teach us to stop scapegoating others and to lead us to be merciful
as God has been with us.

Thursday Devotion December 16, 2021

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Tuesday Devotion December 14, 2021

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Sunday Reflection (December 12, 2021)

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For John the Baptist, repentance was more than a warm feeling

while weeping at the altar. Rather, it was a change in the way we

live among others and how we treat others. Such repentance brings

hope for those who repent and the world around them. John is

concerned about greed and the accumulation of possessions while

others go without (Luke 3:7-14).

John’s message is especially sharp to those who have more than their

fair share because repentance required that they share their excess,

but for that reason, it gives hope to those who have little. Through

repentance, we make amends and bring about a better way of life,

and not just for ourselves and those like us and those related to us,

but for the whole world. It is difficult to heed John’s warning if we are

comfortable and smug, but if we are willing to respond, there is hope

for us and others, especially those on the “short end of the stick.”

Prayer for the Week (December 12-December 18, 2021)

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Let us pray for the courage to do well

what we have to do in life:

Our faithful God, give us the courage

to welcome your Son by sharing

what we have, doing what is right

and just and spreading peace.

May your Son Jesus baptize us

with the Holy Spirit and fire,

so that he renew us by his love

and our hearts overflow with joy

because Jesus is alive among us.
Amen.

                                                             (Claretian Publications)

Prayer for the Week (December 5-December 11, 2021)

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Let us pray that we prepare the road
    for the Lord’s coming:
God our Father, we know how
    to pierce mountains
    and level hills to build highways,
    but we have lost the way
    to each other and to you.
May your Son lead us to build roads
    of justice and love.
We ask you this in the name of him
    whom we expect
    and who is waiting for us,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
                                                             (Claretian Publications)

Sunday Reflection (December 5, 2021)

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Does the Word of God come through pundits Fox or CNBC
or MSNBC or CNN? Does the Word of God come through
politicians who love to manipulate religious faith for their
own benefit? Through whom does the Word of God come?
The Gospel of Luke (3:1-3) has a list of the most widely
recognized names of those days, but the Word of God did not
come through any of the powerful and influential. Rather,
God’s word came through an eccentric prophet who lived
in the wilderness, and ate grasshoppers dipped in honey.
That was even strange for those days. We call him
John the Baptist.
God’s word comes through us when we bear witness
to God’s Word in Jesus Christ in word and deed. God’s
Word works through us to prepare the way of the Lord,
and I do not mean stocking our basements with assault
weapons and massive amounts of food. Rather, it is us
attending to our own sins. What is it that God wants you
to straighten in your life? What crooked roads of society
can you influence to straighten out? What roads can we
build to bring hope to life? As a response to God coming
to us in Jesus Christ, may our way of life demonstrate
God’s love and compassion.

Sunday Reflection (November 28, 2021)

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There are many people today who face trauma and devastation
that we cannot even begin to imagine. Imagine being a Syrian refugee
at this moment, caught between militants of your own faith group and
the distrust of Europeans and Americans. What would you do in a truly
dreadful time? The earliest Christians of Jewish backgrounds faced the
destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. In a difficult time remember
this and I quote: “Christ did not come because we were doing particularly
 well; rather, Jesus came to bring us hope in the midst of our deepest pain
and despair. We are not alone; God is with us (Pat Umberger) (Luke 21:25-28).
We may not be in a dire situation, yet we must be careful lest we get so caught up
in life that we neglect those who experience traumatic dreadful events (Luke 21:34-36).
We prepare for the Lord’s coming by growing in love for one another and others
(1 Thessalonians 3:13).

Prayer for the Week (November 28-December 4, 2021)

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Let us pray in this season of hope
    that the Lord keep us vigilant:
God our Father, we are your people
    who carry out the task of giving shape
    to your kingdom of love and peace.
When we are discouraged and afraid,
    keep us going forward in hope.
May we be vigilant in prayer as we prepare
    for your Son’s coming.
We ask this in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
                                                             (Claretian Publications)