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Our Sunday Reflection - December 24, 2023- 4th Sunday of Advent
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Forever I will sing your goodness.
Psalm 89
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Introduction to the Liturgy of the Day
Every so often the fourth week of Advent consists only of the fourth Sunday of Advent. This is one of those years. For three weeks we have been encouraged to use this season to prepare for the Jesus’ coming. Now it’s time for the procrastinators to begin! But seriously, the fact that this Sunday falls on Christmas Eve is a wonderful opportunity for us all. On this day, may the word of God we hear and the Eucharist we share inspire us to prepare a home in our hearts for the Lord.Introduction to the Liturgy of the Word
In the first reading, David worries about finding a proper home for the ark of God. After all, it was housed in a tent as if they were still journeying through the desert. In the Gospel, the angel Gabriel comes to a young virgin in Nazareth to announce that God has chosen her to bear the son of God, to provide a home for the Lord. Let us now make a home in our hearts for the Lord, so that we, like Saint Paul, may make known to the nations the wonders and glories of Jesus Christ.Reflections
- Where do you house what is most important to you? For the Chosen People, the ark of the covenant was the most important object they had. David concluded that it should be housed in a palace, not a tent. But God’s perspective was different. For God, it was the house of David, his family line, that is, which was much more important than an object, no matter how sacred it was. Therefore, God blessed David’s lineage, establishing a house, not for the ark, but for David. Perhaps that can be a lesson to us to view the people in our lives as more important than our possessions. Do we take more care of our loved ones than we do our precious belongings?
- King David lived in a palace, but when it came for Jesus to be born, it did not take place in anything resembling a palace. Instead of a luxurious palace in the holy city of Jerusalem, our Lord was born in a meager stable in tiny Bethlehem. In fact, he was conceived in the remote village of Nazareth, days away from Judea. Why? The person of Mary was much more important than the City of David. God’s priority was not the external environment of the holy city, but the blessed womb in which Jesus developed.
- Gabriel’s visit is shocking and greatly troubling to this young, lowly, unmarried woman. Everything Gabriel said was as incredible as she could possibly imagine. Yet, she immediately assents to God’s will, saying, “May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). It is Mary’s faith and trust in the Lord that makes the incarnation possible. It is our faith and trust in God that continues to make Jesus’ incarnation possible in today’s world.
Question of the Week
How do I discern what God’s will is? Am I willing to trust in God and follow God’s will?
-from Pastoral Patterns
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readings of the mass
LISTEN HERE to the Audio Recordings of the Readings of Sunday, December 24, 2023
SELECT HERE for the Readings of Sunday, December 24, 2023
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Offerings
The Sunday offerings are a portion of our blessings that we give to God (Church) in gratitude to what God has done for us...ONLINE GIVING OPTIONS -
Reflections on the readings
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News from the Vatican
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yesterdaySeveral of the new cardinal-designates announced by Pope Francis have applauded the increased diversity of those getting a red hat, saying the appointments signal a shift in center of Catholicism... -
yesterdayIn his meeting with his brother Jesuits in Belgium, Pope Francis call secularization a “complex phenomenon” and noted sometimes the Church must “confront forms of paganism.” -
2 days agoParticipants in the ongoing Synod of Bishops on Synodality have said that while questions surrounding the role of women in the Church are important, they can be distracting from other key issues on...
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