Poem: “The Advent Prayer” by John Shea

What will come when all the days have run upon the nights
and all men climb the tree of Zaccheus
and stretch necks beyond giraffes
to be the first to be blazed by a star?

We are badly in need of ecstasy.
We freeze in sun and fever in shadows.
We die amid the flowers of the mind.

Someone must come to us from the future
prodigally, with rings and robes and kisses,
and fall upon our self-reproach
with the tears of welcome.

The star-child is turning
in the womb of the virgin.
We dwell in readiness.
Override the babble of our words
with the raw cries of new life.

Be born, stubborn child.
We wait.

Poem: “December” by John Clare

When snow the window panes bedim,
The fire curls up a sunny charm,
Where, creaming o’er the pitcher’s rim,
The flowering ale is set to warm;
Mirth, full of joy as summer bees,
Sits there, its pleasures to impart,
And children, ‘tween their parent’s knees,
Sing scraps of carols o’er by heart.

And some, to view the winter weathers,
Climb up the window-seat with glee,
Likening the snow to falling feathers,
In fancy infant ecstasy;
Laughing, with superstitious love,
O’er visions wild that youth supplies,
Of people pulling geese above,
And keeping Christmas in the skies.

As tho’ the homestead trees were drest,
In lieu of snow, with dancing leaves,
As tho’ the sun-dried martin’s nest,
Instead of icicles, hung the eaves,
The children hail the happy day –
As if the snow were April’s grass,
And pleas’d, as neath the warmth of May,
Sport o’er the water froze as glass.

Photo: The Lighted Way

 

Poem: “Christmas is Waiting to Be Born” by Howard Thurman

Where refugees seek deliverance that never comes
And the heart consumes itself, as if it would live,
Where children age before their time
And life wears down the edges of the mind,
Where the old man sits with mind grown cold,
While bones and sinew, blood and cell, go slowly down to death,
Where fear companions each day’s life,
And Perfect Love seems long delayed.
CHRISTMAS IS WAITING TO BE BORN:
In you, in me, in all [hu]mankind.

Photo: Lighted Flowers

 

Poem: “The Coming of God” by Ann Weems

 Our God is the One who comes to us       

in a burning bush, 

in an angel’s song, 

in a newborn child.

Our God is the One who cannot be found 

locked in a church, 

not even in the sanctuary.

Our God will be where God will be 

with no constraints, 

no predictability.

Our God lives where our God lives, 

and destruction has no power 

and even death cannot stop the living.

Our God will be born where God will be born, 

but there is no place to look for the One who comes to us.

When God is ready 

God will come 

even to a godforsaken place 

like a stable in Bethlehem.

Watch … for you know not when 

God comes.

Watch, that you might be found whenever 

wherever God comes.

Poem: "The Lesson of the Falling Leaves," Lucille Clifton, Elaine Coyne

The Lesson of the Falling Leaves by Lucille Clifton:

the leaves believe

such letting go is love

such love is faith

such faith is grace

such grace is god

i agree with the leaves  

 

My Haiku revision of Lucille Clifton’s poem 

The Lesson of the Falling Leaves, Elaine Coyne revision, October 2021

 

with love and faith, leaves

like me, believe letting go

is God’s loving grace

Increase your Goodness The Second Sunday of Advent 2021

Increase your Goodness

The Second Sunday of Advent 2021

December 5, 2021

www.johnpredmoresj.com | predmore.blogspot.com

predmoresj@yahoo.com | 617.510.9673

Baruch 5:1-9; Psalm 126; Philippians 1:4-11; Luke 3:1-6

 

We often think of Advent as peaceful, calm, harmonious times of waiting knowing that our salvation is near. John the Baptist reminds us that Advent is filled with turbulence, but that we are to focus upon the promise of the road made straight and the way more easily traveled. The Baptist preached that we should undergo a metanoia in preparation for meeting the Lord, that we should reform our lives, prepare our hearts for a major conversion. With Jesus, most eloquently expressed through Saint Paul, the message takes a turn, as he emphasizes a life of mercy and compassion. 

 

Listen again to the sentiments in Paul’s word. My Advent gift to you is that this prayer be ours. He writes, “I pray always with joy” for you, all of you, because you are a believer, and that God is near to you. Paul certainly was filled with affection for the people of Philippi. This is our prayer for you today, that we be filled with the same level of affection and care for you, just because of the kind people you are, and that you have done tremendous work in your faith life. When we pray for each other with such goodwill, I can only imagine how much lighter is the heart of God.

 

Paul’s prayer is what I want to be able to say in my own prayer about you and my loved ones: that I am proud to see your love may increase ever more and more, because that is what makes life meaningful and happy. I can see your goodness and I thank Jesus Christ for the many ways he is laboring on your behalf, even when you might not know it or see it. I feel proud when I see the way your love increases, which then enhances your happiness. I simply can hold you up in prayer and say to the Lord: Look at these people, your friends. Look at their goodness and lovableness. Let me see you gaze upon them in wonder and admiration. I am pleased to know them. When I present you to Christ, I feel satisfied with my prayer. 

 

I want you to be like Jerusalem in the first reading: I want you to shed your robe of mourning and misery or whatever concerns you have, and put on the splendor of glory from God. I want you to see your goodness, for you to see that you are a light shining in the darkness, and that you can see all the splendor God wants you to know. My friends, may your love continue to increase, may you see the mysteries of God’s work, and may you hold firmly onto the hope that your God wants to be by your side. 

Scripture for Daily Mass

 

Monday: (Isaiah 35) The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song. The glory of Lebanon will be given to them, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.

Tuesday: (Isaiah 40) Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.

 

Wednesday: (Genesis 3) After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree, the LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked?

 

Thursday: (Isaiah 41) I am the LORD, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to you, “Fear not, I will help you.” Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel; I will help you, says the LORD; your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

 

Friday (Isaiah 48) I, the LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go. If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves of the sea.

 

Saturday (Sirach 48) In those days, like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah whose words were as a flaming furnace. Their staff of bread he shattered, in his zeal he reduced them to straits; By the Lord’s word he shut up the heavens and three times brought down fire.

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (Luke 5) One day as Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there, and the power of the Lord was with him for healing. And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed.

 

Tuesday: (Matthew 18) “What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? 

 

Wednesday (Luke 1) The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

 

Thursday (Matthew 11) From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force. All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. 

 

Friday (Matthew 11) “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’  

 

Saturday (Matthew 17) “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. 

 

Saints of the Week

 

December 6: Nicholas, bishop (d. 350), lived in southwest Turkey and was imprisoned during the Diocletian persecution. He attended the Council of Nicaea in 324. Since there are many stories of his good deeds, generous charity, and remarkable pastoral care, his character became the foundation for the image of Santa Claus.

 

December 7: Ambrose, bishop and doctor (339-397) was a Roman governor who fairly mediated an episcopal election in Milan. He was then acclaimed their bishop even though he was not baptized. He baptized Augustine in 386 and is doctor of the church because of his preaching, teaching and influential ways of being a pastor.

 

December 8: The Immaculate Conception of Mary is celebrated today, which is nine months before her birth in September. The Immaculate Conception prepares her to become the mother of the Lord. Scripture tells of the annunciation to Mary by the angel Gabriel. Mary's assent to be open to God's plan makes our salvation possible.

 

December 9: Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548) was a poor, simple, indigenous man who was visited by Mary in 1531. She instructed him to build a church at Guadalupe near Mexico City. During another visit, she told him to present flowers to the bishop. When he did, the flowers fell from his cape to reveal an image of Mary that is still revered today.

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• December. 5, 1584: By his bull Omnipotentis Dei, Pope Gregory XIII gave the title of Primaria to Our Lady's Sodality established in the Roman College in 1564, and empowered it to aggregate other similar sodalities. 
• December. 6, 1618: In Naples, the Jesuits were blamed for proposing to the Viceroy that a solemn feast should be held in honor of the Immaculate Conception and that priests should make a public pledge defend the doctrine. This was regarded as a novelty not to be encouraged. 
• December. 7, 1649: Charles Garnier was martyred in Etarita, Canada, as a missionary to the Petun Indians, among whom he died during an Iroquois attack. 
• December. 8, 1984: Walter Ciszek, prisoner in Russia from 1939 to 1963, died. 
• December. 9, 1741: At Paris, Fr. Charles Poree died. He was a famous master of rhetoric. Nineteen of his pupils were admitted into the French Academy, including Voltaire, who, in spite of his impiety, always felt an affectionate regard for his old master. 
• December 10, 1548. The general of the Dominicans wrote in defense of the Society of Jesus upon seeing it attacked in Spain by Melchior Cano and others. 

December 11, 1686. At Rome, Fr. Charles de Noyelle, a Belgian, died as the 12th general of the Society. 

Incrementa tu bondad El segundo domingo de Adviento 202

                                                Incrementa tu bondad

El segundo domingo de Adviento 2021

5 de diciembre de 2021

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predmoresj@yahoo.com | 617.510.9673

Baruc 5: 1-9; Salmo 126; Filipenses 1: 4-11; Lucas 3: 1-6

 

A menudo pensamos en el Adviento como tiempos pacíficos, tranquilos y armoniosos de espera sabiendo que nuestra salvación está cerca. Juan el Bautista nos recuerda que el Adviento está lleno de turbulencias, pero que debemos concentrarnos en la promesa de que el camino se enderezará y el camino se transitará con mayor facilidad. El Bautista predicó que deberíamos pasar por una metanoia en preparación para encontrarnos con el Señor, que deberíamos reformar nuestras vidas, preparar nuestros corazones para una conversión mayor. Con Jesús, expresado de la manera más elocuente a través de San Pablo, el mensaje da un giro, ya que enfatiza una vida de misericordia y compasión.

 

Escuche nuevamente los sentimientos en la palabra de Pablo. Mi regalo de Adviento para ti es que esta oración sea nuestra. Él escribe: “Yo oro siempre con alegría” por ustedes, todos ustedes, porque son creyentes y porque Dios está cerca de ustedes. Pablo ciertamente estaba lleno de afecto por la gente de Filipos. Esta es nuestra oración para ti hoy, que seamos llenos del mismo nivel de afecto y cuidado por ti, solo por la gente amable que eres y porque has hecho un trabajo tremendo en tu vida de fe. Cuando oramos el uno por el otro con tanta buena voluntad, solo puedo imaginar cuánto más ligero es el corazón de Dios.

 

La oración de Pablo es lo que quiero poder decir en mi propia oración por ti y mis seres queridos: que estoy orgulloso de ver que tu amor puede crecer cada vez más, porque eso es lo que hace que la vida sea significativa y feliz. Puedo ver tu bondad y agradezco a Jesucristo por las muchas formas en que está trabajando por ti, incluso cuando es posible que no lo sepas o no lo veas. Me siento orgulloso cuando veo la forma en que aumenta tu amor, lo que luego aumenta tu felicidad. Simplemente puedo sostenerte en oración y decirle al Señor: Mira a estas personas, tus amigos. Mire su bondad y amabilidad. Déjame verte contemplarlos con asombro y admiración. Me alegro de conocerlos. Cuando te presento a Cristo, me siento satisfecho con mi oración.

 

Quiero que seas como Jerusalén en la primera lectura: quiero que te despojes de tu manto de luto y miseria o de cualquier preocupación que tengas, y te vistes del esplendor de la gloria de Dios. Quiero que veas tu bondad, que veas que eres una luz que brilla en la oscuridad y que puedes ver todo el esplendor que Dios quiere que conozcas. Amigos míos, que su amor continúe creciendo, que vean los misterios de la obra de Dios y que se aferren firmemente a la esperanza de que su Dios quiere estar a su lado.

Escritura para la misa diaria

 

Lunes: (Isaías 35) El desierto y la tierra árida se regocijarán; la estepa se regocijará y florecerá. Florecerán con abundantes flores y se regocijarán con cánticos alegres. Se les dará la gloria del Líbano, el esplendor del Carmelo y de Sarón; Verán la gloria del SEÑOR, el esplendor de nuestro Dios.

 

Martes: (Isaías 40) Consolad, consolad a mi pueblo, dice vuestro Dios. Habla tiernamente a Jerusalén y proclamale que su servicio ha terminado, que su culpa ha sido expiada; De hecho, ha recibido de la mano del SEÑOR el doble por todos sus pecados.

 

Miércoles: (Génesis 3) Después de que el hombre, Adán, hubo comido del árbol, el SEÑOR Dios llamó al hombre y le preguntó: "¿Dónde estás?" Él respondió: “Te escuché en el jardín; pero tenía miedo, porque estaba desnudo, así que me escondí ". Luego preguntó: “¿Quién te dijo que estabas desnudo?

 

Jueves: (Isaías 41) Yo soy el SEÑOR, tu Dios, que agarro tu mano derecha; Soy yo quien les digo: "No temas, yo te ayudaré". No temas, gusano de Jacob, gusano de Israel; Yo te ayudaré, dice el SEÑOR; tu redentor es el Santo de Israel.

 

Viernes (Isaías 48) Yo, el SEÑOR, tu Dios, te enseño lo que es bueno para ti y te guío por el camino que debes seguir. Si escucharas mis mandamientos, tu prosperidad sería como un río, y tu reivindicación como las olas del mar.

 

Sábado (Eclesiástico 48) En aquellos días, apareció como un fuego el profeta Elías, cuyas palabras eran como un horno de fuego. Su bastón de pan quebró, en su celo los redujo a estrechos; Por la palabra del Señor cerró los cielos y derribó fuego tres veces.

 

Evangelio: 

Lunes: (Lucas 5) Un día, mientras Jesús enseñaba, estaban sentados allí fariseos y maestros de la ley, que habían venido de todas las aldeas de Galilea, Judea y Jerusalén, y el poder del Señor estaba con él para sanar. Y unos hombres llevaron en una camilla a un hombre que estaba paralítico. 

 

Martes: (Mateo 18) “¿Cuál es tu opinión? Si un hombre tiene cien ovejas y una de ellas se extravía, ¿no dejará las noventa y nueve en las colinas para ir en busca de las extraviadas?  

 

Miércoles (Lucas 1) El ángel Gabriel fue enviado por Dios a un pueblo de Galilea llamado Nazaret, a una virgen desposada con un hombre llamado José, de la casa de David,
y el nombre de la virgen era María. Y acercándose a ella, le dijo: “¡Salve, llena eres de gracia! El Señor está contigo ".

 

Jueves (Mateo 11) Desde los días de Juan el Bautista hasta ahora, el Reino de los cielos sufre violencia, y los violentos lo toman por la fuerza. Todos los profetas y la ley profetizaron hasta el tiempo de Juan.  

 

Viernes (Mateo 11) “¿A qué compararé esta generación? Es como los niños que se sientan en los mercados y se llaman unos a otros: "Tocamos la flauta para ustedes, pero no bailaron, cantamos un canto fúnebre pero no lloraron".  

 

Sábado (Mateo 17) "¿Por qué dicen los escribas que Elías debe venir primero?" Él dijo en respuesta, “Elías ciertamente vendrá y restaurará todas las cosas; pero les digo que Elías ya vino, y no lo reconocieron, sino que le hicieron todo lo que quisieron.

 

Santos de la semana

 

6 de diciembre: Nicolás, obispo (m. 350), vivía en el suroeste de Turquía y fue encarcelado durante la persecución de Diocleciano. Asistió al Concilio de Nicea en 324. Dado que hay muchas historias de sus buenas obras, caridad generosa y cuidado pastoral notable, su carácter se convirtió en la base de la imagen de Santa Claus.

 

7 de diciembre: Ambrosio, obispo y médico (339-397) fue un gobernador romano que medió justamente en una elección episcopal en Milán. Luego fue aclamado su obispo aunque no fue bautizado. Bautizó a Agustín en 386 y es doctor de la iglesia por su predicación, enseñanza y formas influyentes de ser pastor.

 

8 de diciembre: Hoy se celebra la Inmaculada Concepción de María , que es nueve meses antes de su nacimiento en septiembre. La Inmaculada Concepción la prepara para convertirse en madre del Señor. La Escritura habla de la anunciación a María por el ángel Gabriel. El asentimiento de María a estar abierta al plan de Dios hace posible nuestra salvación.

 

9 de diciembre: Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548) era un indígena pobre y sencillo que fue visitado por María en 1531. Ella le dio instrucciones para que construyera una iglesia en Guadalupe cerca de la Ciudad de México. Durante otra visita, ella le dijo que le regalara flores al obispo. Cuando lo hizo, las flores cayeron de su capa para revelar una imagen de María que aún hoy se venera.

 

Esta semana en la historia de los jesuitas

 

· Diciembre. 5, 1584: Con su bula Omnipotentis Dei , el Papa Gregorio XIII otorgó el título de Primaria a la Congregación de Nuestra Señora establecida en el Colegio Romano en 1564, y le dio poder para agregar otras cofradías similares.

· Diciembre. 6, 1618: En Nápoles, los jesuitas fueron acusados ​​de proponer al virrey que se celebrara una fiesta solemne en honor a la Inmaculada Concepción y que los sacerdotes hicieran una promesa pública de defender la doctrina. Esto se consideró una novedad que no debe fomentarse.

· Diciembre. 7 de diciembre de 1649: Charles Garnier fue martirizado en Etarita, Canadá, como misionero de los indios Petun, entre los cuales murió durante un ataque iroqués.

· Diciembre. 8 de octubre de 1984: Muere Walter Ciszek, prisionero en Rusia de 1939 a 1963.

· Diciembre. 9 de octubre de 1741: en París, el p. Charles Poree murió. Fue un famoso maestro de la retórica. Diecinueve de sus alumnos fueron admitidos en la Academia Francesa, incluido Voltaire, quien, a pesar de su impiedad, siempre sintió un afectuoso respeto por su antiguo maestro.

· 10 de diciembre de 1548. El general de los dominicos escribió en defensa de la Compañía de Jesús al verla atacada en España por Melchior Cano y otros.

· 11 de diciembre de 1686. En Roma, el p. Charles de Noyelle, un belga, murió como el duodécimo general de la Sociedad.

The Feast of Saint Andrew

 On this feast of St. Andrew, I reflect upon the work of our community that mirrors the work of Andrew, for the Romans passage asks: How can people believe if they cannot hear? How can they hear without someone to preach? The church intends to call out this feature of Andrew’s ministry as a responsibility of discipleship.

 

I pondered the work of the Four Apostolic Preferences in our community and the mysterious way that we point others to Christ in our interactions and relationships. For instance, our parish work offers alternatives to standard diocesan ministry, and the words we hear from parishioners is often, “You bring us hope. You bring us an essential message about Christ that we don’t get from our priests.” In our work with the deaf, we bring the light that tells all people that no one is forgotten and all are cherished in unique ways and is visited by God. In our work of spiritual direction and counseling, we show people that those unrevealed places of woundedness can meet the compassionate touch of healing. In our vocation work, we remind both our youth and adults that the Lord is calling each person to something greater, something deeper. In our work of administration, we hold delicately threads of communal life together so that the bonds of fraternity are strengthened. In our works of healing, education, the arts, and sacred conversation, we bring to others renewed energy and strength in their resolve to change the world for the better, to bring about a more merciful justice, a call to holiness for all people of goodwill. The work of each is the work of all, and collectively we point the world to a God, who is desperate for a fuller, deepening relationship with each person we send to God.

 

From our community, the collective work is exponential, and our Preferences remind us that there are many other lives that need to be told of God. As we are in each corner of our ministry, we recognize that there are scores of other populations that we are not yet reaching, not yet touching. We are assured that, regardless of our efforts, God is in their midst, but we are asked to live up to Andrew’s call to bring others to Christ. If not us, then who? We need to continually challenge ourselves to go beyond our Catholic world in order to encounter those who need to glimpse the face of God through human features. We need to take that step beyond our customs and traditional works to say, “You are welcome. Come meet Christ.” Before we act, we need to speak. Before we speak, we need to form ideas. Before we form ideas, we might need to let Christ help us imagine new possibilities and expand our consciousness, so that we are free enough to follow where He wants us to “be.” Wherever we are, we will find Christ, and there will be someone nearby who needs us to introduce him or her to our friend.