“Today, for our sake, the King of Heaven chose to be born of His Virgin Mother, to reclaim lost men for the Heavenly Kingdom. All the angels cry aloud with joy, for God has come Himself to save mankind. Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on earth.” (Breviary, Vol 1, p.404)

In the first reading, God tells the king Ahaz to ask Him for a sign, and then gets exasperated he won’t ask. So many people in our world are mad at God for not showing up or for being silent, but how many of us are asking for signs? How many more of us refuse to see them or name them when they are given? God is constantly showing up, in a sunrise or a kind word from a neighbour, in nudges of intuition or unexplainable “coincidences” that we write off. Joseph has the most incredible reasons to dismiss Mary, but he believes God who appears as an angel in a dream. This saves Mary and Jesus from being cast out into shame and poverty. What are the signs God has for you? In these last three days before Christmas, be bold enough to ask God for a sign and to believe He will send one. Watch for it with vigilance and do not give up until it comes. If God can send His Son to a manger, angels to the shepherds, a star to the wise men, He can send you a sign of His abundant life for you now. Prayer: For eyes to see the signs God is sending us, we pray to the Lord. God of life, you have offered us all things to be gifts for your glory. Help us to pursue you above all things, and then to use your resources faithfully. May we be good stewards of your gifts, now and for ever. Amen. Reflection: CCCB #CatholicYYC #SundayMass #Advent Taken from the Facebook page of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary

We all need a Saviour. Some of us don’t want one, so we spend our lives trying to save ourselves, only to discover that life undoes us all at some point. Others of us know we need one, but we want to be saved on our own terms. Jesus came. He died and rose again so we could have new life, but we have to be willing to be rescued, and we have to let God’s timing and terms reign. Our salvation is being worked out in the course of our lives right now. Whatever we are going through, God will use to bring about good. When death, suffering and tragedy surround us, all this is especially hard to believe, let alone appreciate or participate in. But it is the promise. We would do well to pray with the Psalmist wherever we find ourselves today: “Lord, come and save us.” Whatever is happening today, in every moment of our lives, God can work new life. May we believe it, and ask for it.

Let us pray for trust in God’s saving work in every moment and circumstance of our lives, we pray to the Lord.

Saviour, you long to set us free. The waiting is over and you have already worked it out. Help us to live through the moments of our own salvation, in the messy and long ways that you work in this world and the world to come. May we place our own salvation in the manger with you. Amen.

Reflection: CCCB #SundayMass #CatholicYYC

Taken from the Facebook page of Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary

Doesn’t repentance sound like a great idea – for all the people who have wronged me? I’m less inclined to be excited about my own repentance! When John lives out his vocation to prepare his contemporaries for Jesus’ first coming, he starts by telling them to repent. Perhaps there is a reason he lived in the wilderness? To avoid the reactions of the people he spoke to in town? But the message is so necessary, then and now. If we want a world of peace and joy, we need to start with seeing, and then turning away from, our own attractions to and love for the very habits, attitudes and behaviours which prevent us from receiving God’s life. What valleys and mountains do you cling to that are obstructing God’s path to your heart? Is it your desire for things to be easy? Your addiction to the little white lies that seem easier than facing the truth? Make an appointment with your journal, or make a plan to go to Reconciliation this week. Turning away from your own sin feels great – once you can see how it is not helping you. So turn around and let God in. You’ll be glad you did!

For the desire to repent from the things we use to keep God’s abundant life from reaching us, we pray to the Lord.

Jesus, you came to give us abundant life. Just like every generation before us, we get attached to the hills and valleys and sins that keep you at a “safe” distance. Help us to turn back to you, to see the obstacles. Give us the grace to desire a smoother way by letting go of our sins, so you can fill our hands and hearts with new life. Amen.

#CatholicYYC#SundayMass
Taken from the Facebook page of Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary

So often we hear about the Gospel reading, but it may be worth starting Advent with a reflection on the reading from Isaiah. This text is roughly 2700 years old and the message is that the time is coming when there will be peace on earth, and that God is working to bring it about. Our invitation from Jesus is we should be ready for this to happen imminently, and working with God to bring it about at all times and in all places. Now, at the beginning of Advent, we can root our hope again in God’s ancient and ever-new promise that the Prince of Peace is coming. We carry so many challenges in life; the solutions are complex and sometimes take years or decades. God is not afraid of our big problems. His promises are true through generations and centuries. Let us wrap up our troubles and entrust them to the manger, where God is coming to hold them and us again.

Let us pray for joyful anticipation of God who is coming again to breathe life and hope into our broken world.

God of Isaiah, speak your promises into our broken world. Give us hope, anticipation and child-like faith that you can make all things new. Renew our longing for you to come among us again. Amen.

Reflection: CCCB
#CatholicYYC #SundayMass #IamBlessed

Taken from the Facebook page of Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary