Photo: O Come. O Come.

 

Spirituality: Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee in Awakening the World

During the past era our focus has been on a transcendent, often disembodied spirituality. As a result we have forgotten the very practical nature of our true self. In the dimension of oneness everything is included. There is nothing higher or lower, nothing that is not sacred. Spiritual knowledge belongs to the whole of life, to each cell of creation. The soul is present within the whole body of each of us and also within the body of the earth. Spiritual principles offer us a very practical way to work with the energies of life.

The Attainable Kingdom: The Second Sunday in Advent 2025

                                                  The Attainable Kingdom:

The Second Sunday in Advent 2025 

December 7, 2025

www.johnpredmoresj.com | predmore.blogspot.com

predmoresj@yahoo.com | 617.510.9673

Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 2; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12

 

In our readings, we hear from the two great Advent figures – Isaiah and John the Baptist - each asking us to have right relations with God and neighbors. In the Gospel, the Baptist encourages us to properly dispose our minds and attitudes before God. We have the opportunity to reorder our values and change course if we need to do so. The prophet Isaiah lays out a vision of a peaceable world in which harmony exists among neighbors, including former enemies. This idyllic world is the vision of life within the kingdom of God. 

 

We wonder: Is this vision possible? I like to think “yes.” That is the goal and hope of every parent, especially around the holidays. Parents want their children to like each other and to get along well. They want them to hang out and to spend time together. They want them to develop a strong friendship based on genuine affection. It causes so much pain when family members do not speak or pull themselves apart from family events. Too many people upon their deathbeds want to reconcile with those whom they have hurt or have been hurt, and they miss the fruits of reconciliation during this lifetime. The peaceable kingdom is “now.” It happens whenever people reconcile, and it is far better to do it now than at the hour of one’s death.

 

Reconciliation restores right relations. Reconciliation works when we invite God into the process because it calls both people to be more open than they previously thought possible. It means taking big risks and making oneself vulnerable to further hurt, rejection, and unjust persecution. It means being the only adult in the room – once again. It means trusting in the already battered, elusive wings on hope, while hanging onto the last glimmer of possibility. It means possibly living with an eternally broken heart and a perceived sense of blame and failure. And, yet the attainment of reconciliation remains worthwhile.

 

God’s heart must be broken every time we hurt one another. God holds out the best for us because we can be better than we show. God wants us to see each other the way that God sees us – virtuously, as deeply caring souls, as redeemed persons with hearts formed by a mercy that is not deserved. I like to speak of God’s love as the love of a grandparent to a newborn. A fundamental change happens to the grandparent. Life and energy are rekindled, and the person holds that infant in one’s arms, marveling at the new life, cherishing the child with all of one’s senses, letting one’s breath be taken away, and gazing deeply into the mystery of life and love before them. The grandparent simply infuses love into the child and gets lost in hours of embracing and gazing and bringing the infant to one’s heart. All that one sees is beauty, magnificence, and perfection – just as the child is. The child does not do anything to earn one’s love; the child just has to exist, and love is born. This is how our God looks upon us – with wonder, appreciation, and stunning amazement, so much so that we take God’s breath away. This is the kingdom. This is the vision of Isaiah. We simply need to look at each other with the same astonishment.

 

God wants us to try out love. It is hard work, and this love is the threshold to another universe. It is the most tremendous and most mysterious force in the world, and it is often the most untested. When we give love a chance, we birth into the world the peaceable kingdom, a kingdom of right relations, a world of peace and harmony. This world, this time, this space, is worth every bit of our love. You are worth it too. 

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

Monday: (Isaiah 35) Here is your God, he comes with vindication. The eyes of the blind will be opened; the ears of the deaf will be cleared.

 

Tuesday: (Isaiah 40) Give comfort to my people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated.

 

Wednesday: (Isaiah 40) Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things. Do you not know? Have you not heard?

 

Thursday: (Genesis 3) After Adam ate of the tree, God called to him, “Where are you?” I heard you were in the garden, but I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.   

 

Friday (Isaiah 48) I, the Lord, will teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go. Hearken to my commandments.

 

Saturday (Sirach 48) A prophet named Elijah appeared whose words were as a flaming furnace. By the Lord’s word, he shut up the heavens and brought down fire three times.

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (Luke 5) After Jesus healed the man on a stretcher, he forgave his sins. The scribes and Pharisees protested and asked, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies?”

 

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

 

Wednesday (Matthew 11) Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.

 

Thursday (Luke 1) The angel Gabriel was sent to a virgin betrothed to Joseph to announce that the Holy Spirit would overpower her and she would conceive a son.  

 

Friday (Matthew 11) How shall I consider you? I played a dirge for you and you would not mourn; I played a flute for you and you would not dance.

 

Saturday (Matthew 17) As Jesus came down the mountain, the disciples asked, “Why do they say Elijah must come first?” Elijah has come and will indeed come to restore all things.

 

Saints of the Week

 

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.

 

December 12: The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated to remember the four apparitions to Juan Diego in 1531 near Mexico City shortly after the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs. Mary appeared as a native Mexican princess and her image is imprinted on a cloak that was presented to the bishop. 

 

December 13: Lucy, martyr (d. 304), was born into a noble Sicilian family and killed during the Diocletian persecution. In the Middle Ages, people with eye trouble invoked her aid because her name means "light." Scandinavia today still honors Lucy in a great festival of light on this day.

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• 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. 
• December 12, 1661. In the College of Clermont, Paris, Fr. James Caret publicly defended the doctrine of papal infallibility, causing great excitement among the Gallicans and Jansenists. 
• December 13, 1545. The opening of the Council of Trent to which Frs. Laynez and Salmeron were sent as papal theologians and Fr. Claude LeJay as theologian of Cardinal Otho Truchses.

El Reino Alcanzable: El segundo domingo de Adviento de 2025

                                                       El Reino Alcanzable:

El segundo domingo de Adviento de 2025

7 de diciembre de 2025

www.johnpredmoresj.com | predmore.blogspot.com

predmoresj@yahoo.com | 617.510.9673

Isaías 11:1-10; Salmo 2; Romanos 15:4-9; Mateo 3:1-12

 

En nuestras lecturas, escuchamos a dos grandes figuras del Adviento, Isaías y Juan el Bautista, quienes nos instan a tener una relación correcta con Dios y con el prójimo. En el Evangelio, el Bautista nos anima a disponer adecuadamente nuestra mente y actitud ante Dios. Tenemos la oportunidad de reorganizar nuestros valores y cambiar de rumbo si es necesario. El profeta Isaías presenta la visión de un mundo pacífico donde existe armonía entre los vecinos, incluso entre antiguos enemigos. Este mundo idílico es la visión de la vida en el reino de Dios.

 

Nos preguntamos: ¿Es posible esta visión? Me gusta pensar que sí. Ese es el objetivo y la esperanza de todo padre, especialmente en épocas navideñas. Los padres quieren que sus hijos se lleven bien y se lleven bien. Quieren que se reúnan y pasen tiempo juntos. Quieren que desarrollen una amistad sólida basada en un afecto genuino. Causa mucho dolor cuando los familiares no hablan ni se distancian de los eventos familiares. Demasiadas personas, en su lecho de muerte, desean reconciliarse con quienes han herido o han sido heridos, y se pierden los frutos de la reconciliación en esta vida. El reino de la paz es "ahora". Ocurre siempre que las personas se reconcilian, y es mucho mejor hacerlo ahora que en la hora de la muerte.

 

La reconciliación restaura las relaciones correctas. La reconciliación funciona cuando invitamos a Dios al proceso, porque llama a ambas personas a ser más abiertas de lo que creían posible. Implica asumir grandes riesgos y exponerse a más dolor, rechazo y persecución injusta. Implica ser el único adulto en la sala, una vez más. Implica confiar en las ya maltrechas y esquivas alas de la esperanza, mientras se aferra al último rayo de posibilidad. Implica posiblemente vivir con un corazón eternamente roto y un sentimiento percibido de culpa y fracaso. Y, aun así, lograr la reconciliación sigue mereciendo la pena.

 

El corazón de Dios debe romperse cada vez que nos lastimamos. Dios nos reserva lo mejor porque podemos ser mejores de lo que demostramos. Dios quiere que nos veamos como Él nos ve: con virtud, como almas profundamente compasivas, como personas redimidas con corazones formados por una misericordia inmerecida. Me gusta hablar del amor de Dios como el amor de un abuelo por un recién nacido. Un cambio fundamental ocurre en el abuelo. La vida y la energía se reavivan, y la persona sostiene al bebé en sus brazos, maravillándose de la nueva vida, acariciándolo con todos sus sentidos, dejándose llevar por la respiración y contemplando profundamente el misterio de la vida y el amor que lo rodea. El abuelo simplemente infunde amor en el niño y se pierde en horas de abrazos, contemplación y acercándolo a su corazón. Todo lo que uno ve es belleza, magnificencia y perfección, tal como es el niño. El niño no hace nada para ganarse nuestro amor; El niño solo tiene que existir, y nace el amor. Así nos mira nuestro Dios: con asombro, aprecio y asombro deslumbrante, tanto que nos deja sin aliento. Este es el reino. Esta es la visión de Isaías. Simplemente necesitamos mirarnos unos a otros con el mismo asombro.

 

Dios quiere que probemos el amor. Es una tarea ardua, y este amor es el umbral a otro universo. Es la fuerza más tremenda y misteriosa del mundo, y a menudo la menos probada. Cuando le damos una oportunidad al amor, nace en el mundo un reino de paz, un reino de relaciones correctas, un mundo de paz y armonía. Este mundo, este tiempo, este espacio, vale cada gota de nuestro amor. Tú también lo vales.

 

Escritura para la misa diaria

Lunes: (Isaías 35) Aquí está tu Dios, que viene con vindicación. Los ojos de los ciegos serán abiertos; los oídos de los sordos serán despejados.

 

Martes: (Isaías 40) Consuela a mi pueblo. Habla con ternura a Jerusalén y proclámale que su servicio ha terminado, que su culpa ha sido expiada.

 

Miércoles: (Isaías 40) Levanten la vista y vean quién ha creado estas cosas. ¿No lo saben? ¿No han oído?

 

Jueves: (Génesis 3) Después de que Adán comió del árbol, Dios lo llamó y le dijo: “¿Dónde estás?” Escuché que estabas en el jardín, pero tuve miedo porque estaba desnudo, así que me escondí.

 

Viernes (Isaías 48) Yo, el Señor, te enseñaré lo que te conviene y te guiaré por el camino que debes seguir. Escucha mis mandamientos.

 

Sábado (Eclesiástico 48) Apareció un profeta llamado Elías, cuyas palabras eran como un horno en llamas. Por la palabra del Señor, cerró los cielos e hizo descender fuego tres veces.

 

Evangelio: 

Lunes: (Lucas 5) Después de que Jesús sanó al hombre en una camilla, le perdonó sus pecados. Los escribas y fariseos protestaron y preguntaron: "¿Quién es este que blasfema?"

 

Martes: (Mateo 18) Si un hombre tiene cien ovejas y una de ellas se pierde, ¿no dejará las noventa y nueve en el monte para ir en busca de la descarriada?

 

Miércoles (Mateo 11) Vengan a mí todos los que están trabajados y agobiados, y yo les daré descanso. Carguen con mi yugo y aprendan de mí, que soy manso y humilde de corazón.

 

Jueves (Lucas 1) El ángel Gabriel fue enviado a una virgen desposada con José para anunciarle que el Espíritu Santo la dominaría y concebiría un hijo.

 

Viernes (Mateo 11) ¿Cómo debo considerarte? Te canté un canto fúnebre, y no te lamentaste; te toqué la flauta, y no bailaste.

 

Sábado (Mateo 17) Mientras Jesús bajaba de la montaña, los discípulos preguntaron: “¿Por qué dicen que Elías debe venir primero?” Elías ha venido y de hecho vendrá para restaurar todas las cosas.

 

Santos de la semana

 

7 de diciembre: Ambrosio, obispo y doctor (339-397) , fue un gobernador romano que medió justamente en una elección episcopal en Milán. Posteriormente, fue aclamado obispo, aunque no estaba bautizado. Bautizó a Agustín en 386 y es doctor de la Iglesia por su predicación, enseñanza y su influyente labor pastoral.

 

8 de diciembre: Hoy se celebra la Inmaculada Concepción de María , nueve meses antes de su nacimiento en septiembre. La Inmaculada Concepción la prepara para ser la madre del Señor. Las Escrituras relatan la anunciación a María por el ángel Gabriel. La aceptación de María de estar abierta al plan de Dios hace posible nuestra salvación.

 

9 de diciembre: Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548), un indígena pobre y sencillo, recibió la visita de María en 1531. Ella le encargó construir una iglesia en Guadalupe, cerca de la Ciudad de México. Durante otra visita, le pidió que le llevara flores al obispo. Al hacerlo, las flores cayeron de su capa, revelando una imagen de María que aún se venera.

 

12 de diciembre: Se celebra la festividad de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe para recordar las cuatro apariciones a Juan Diego en 1531 cerca de la Ciudad de México, poco después de la conquista española de los aztecas. María se apareció como una princesa mexicana y su imagen está impresa en un manto que se presentó al obispo.

 

13 de diciembre: Lucía, mártir (m. 304), nació en una familia noble siciliana y fue asesinada durante la persecución de Diocleciano. En la Edad Media, las personas con problemas de la vista invocaban su ayuda porque su nombre significa "luz". Escandinavia aún hoy honra a Lucía con un gran festival de la luz en este día.

 

Esta semana en la historia jesuita

 

• de diciembre de 1649: Charles Garnier fue martirizado en Etarita , Canadá, como misionero entre los indios Petun, entre quienes murió durante un ataque iroqués.
• 8 de diciembre de 1984: muere Walter Ciszek, prisionero en Rusia entre 1939 y 1963.
• 9 de diciembre de 1741: En París, falleció el padre Charles Porée. Fue un famoso maestro de retórica. Diecinueve de sus alumnos fueron admitidos en la Academia Francesa, entre ellos Voltaire, quien, a pesar de su impiedad, siempre sintió un profundo afecto 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 Melchor Cano y otros.
• 11 de diciembre de 1686. En Roma, el P. Charles de Noyelle, belga, murió como el duodécimo general de la Sociedad.
• 12 de diciembre de 1661. En el Colegio de Clermont, París, el padre James Caret defendió públicamente la doctrina de la infalibilidad papal, provocando gran agitación entre los galicanos y los jansenistas.
• 13 de diciembre de 1545. Se abre el Concilio de Trento, al que fueron enviados los padres Laynez y Salmeron como teólogos papales y el padre Claude LeJay como teólogo del cardenal Otho Truchses.

Photo: A Blaze of Color

 

Wake Up. The Time is Near: The First Sunday in Advent 2025

             Wake Up. The Time is Near: The First Sunday in Advent 2025 

Our readings exhort us to wake up and recognize the deeper, almost hidden signs of the times, often those events that we overlook or take for granted. We are called to be wise and patient while turbulent events swirl around us. We are also finishing Thanksgiving weekend in which we call to mind all those reasons to be grateful. Thanksgiving gives us a chance to catch our breath so we can gently enter Advent.

I suggest that we make sure to fully enter the sights, sounds, and smells of the season. Advent is a time of preparation and waiting as we walk vicariously with Mary and Joseph towards Bethlehem. Just as they took in the cool night sky, felt the pulse of the sandy winds, and met many interesting pilgrims on their journey, we likewise are called to feed and to heighten our senses.

Advent gives us an abundance of ways to engage – dances and performances, concerts and lessons and carols, festive parties and seasonal dinners, awe-inspiring night lights and long drives in the country to see tasteful decorations. The aromas, sounds, and silences of Advent lead to our solemn celebration of the Nativity. Take advantage of museum offerings, holiday markets, and creative ventures. All this is there for your enjoyment. And, if your family and friends do not want to go, take yourself out on a date with yourself. In fact, make sure that you do some cultural event on your own.

You need time to feed your soul. Advent is about connections. Joseph connects with his tribe in Bethlehem, Elizabeth meets Mary, the wise sages travel to see this soon-to-be born king, the Baptist leaps for joy. My prayer for you is that your heart will leap for joy. This is the season of the Ebenezer Scrooge really seeing Tiny Tim Cratchit as a person of dignity for the first time, and the green Grinch learning from the poor, but wise Cindy-Lou Who. The poor always teach us something fundamental. We know people who need their hearts softened and enlarged. We know people who cannot even see the poor and the suffering. We know people who are not happy in their lives and cannot see a path forward. We know people who are miserable and need hope, redemption, and reformed worldviews. This is the season of heart-softening tenderness as we get ready to hold the newborn in our arms anew. It is a time for solemn joy.

Write a poem, light a candle, add marshmallows to your hot chocolate, give yourself the gift of time. Do whatever you need to feed your soul, and do not let yourself feel guilty about taking care of your needs. Give yourself permission to feel joy. Celebrate what is right with the world and find something each day for which you are grateful. Soak it in. Let a word of kindness or affirmation really touch your soul. Ask a friend to really listen to you so you can share a happy moment.

Advent opens for us a night of promise, a night of journey, a night with open arms, gathering us into a circle of love, a love in which we will welcome an infant, through a mother’s caress, a father’s protection. This boy gives us a gift, ourselves. He gives us ourselves to enjoy, with great pride and honor, and we are to generously share who we are with others. He gives us a community so we can experience softened hearts, weak enough to grasp onto joy, a heart that leaps for joy.

Photo: Advent flowering

 

Spirituality: Henri Nouwen

To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all our lives—the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections—that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment.