Gospel Acclamation: Fourth Sunday of Advent

Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.

Our Gospel Acclamation today invites us to make the Blessed Virgin Mary's words our own. In her deep humility, Mary recognizes herself as God's handmaid, the one who stands beside the throne of a king waiting to fulfill his every request. Mary knows that God is the King of Kings, the Lord of the Universe, and she places herself before Him in willing service, freely accepting the request of the angel and becoming the mother of the Savior.

Mary's words of acceptance are a combination of permission and prayer. God never forces Himself upon anyone. He asks for Mary's free consent, and she gives it, praying that the angel's words may come to pass. Mary's heart is wide open, and she longs for God's will above all.

As we acclaim these words, we should reflect on whether, we, like Mary, stand ready and willing to serve God in all that He asks.

Gospel Acclamation: Third Sunday of Advent

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.

When Jesus gets up in His hometown synagogue to read a passage from the Scriptures, He chooses Isaiah 61:1-2a, which begins with the words of our acclamation today. Jesus applies these words to Himself in a very literal way. The Spirit of the Lord has fallen upon Him at His baptism when He symbolically accepted our sins as His own burden and when the Father's voice rang out announcing that Jesus is His beloved Son. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit at that very moment and prepared to begin His public ministry.

What is that public ministry? Jesus Himself tells us. He will bring glad tidings to the poor. And we are all poor. We are weak and sinful, and we fall continually. We need God at every moment to sustain us. We do nothing on our own.

Yet Jesus brings us good news. God does indeed sustain us at every moment, and Jesus has come to save us from our sins, to open the gates of Heaven, and to fill us with His grace that we might have eternal life.

On another level, we can make this Gospel acclamation our own. At our baptism, we were filled with sanctifying grace, and the Holy Spirit came upon us. At our confirmation, we were anointed and filled with the Spirit in an even deeper way and prepared for our adult mission in the Church. We are called to bring glad tidings to the poor, the materially poor but also the spiritually poor. By our words and our actions, we are called to spread the Gospel and to proclaim Jesus Christ to the world.

Gospel Acclamation: Second Sunday of Advent

Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths: all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Are we putting up road blocks in our lives and in our hearts? Road blocks that attempt to keep God at bay? To keep Him out of certain places? We do this by our sins, by our lack of prayer, by our resistance to God's will, and by the stubbornness of our hearts.

During Advent we are called to prepare the way of the Lord and to make straight His paths. We are called to demolish the road blocks, the clear away the rubble, and to build a wide open road for God to come into our hearts and into our lives. We can do this by going to Confession, by increasing our prayer (and our attention in prayer), and by offering our lives, ourselves, and everything we have to God.

We can also take down road blocks by reaching out in love to others. This helps us do our part in making the second half of this acclamation come true. We are to show the salvation to God to all those we meet, by our words, our actions, and especially our love.

Gospel Acclamation: First Sunday of Advent

The Gospel Acclamation can easily slide right by us during Mass. We are used to saying singing “Alleluia” (or “Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ...” during Lent), but we might not pay much attention to the Scripture verse that follows.

Yet these passages are designed to complement the readings and lead us into a deeper understanding and a higher worship. We would do well, then, to reflect on the meaning of the Gospel Acclamation each week and even adopt it as a prayer and point of meditation for the whole week.

For the First Sunday of Advent, cycle C, the Gospel Acclamation is

Show us, Lord, Your love; and grant us Your salvation.

During Advent, we strive to open our hearts to the Lord in new ways, fuller ways, deeper and more loving ways, than every before. We grow in our longing for Him. We recognize His coming to us in our experiences, in our prayers, in the Eucharist, even as we wait for the celebration of His birth at Christmas and as we beg Him to come again to usher in a new Heaven and a new earth.

Yet in our striving and our longings, we often fail. We fall, and we sin, and we forget God's love. This is why we cry out with today's acclamation. We ask our Lord to show us His love. He does this constantly, but we need to open our eyes to see it and our hearts to experience it, and this, too, requires grace. God's love is infinite; we should desire to be immersed in it and to allow it to flow in and through us.

We also need our Lord's salvation. We need His grace and mercy and forgiveness at every moment. We cannot save ourselves, no matter how we try, yet we must open ourselves to the salvation Jesus Christ has won for us and longs to give us. God wills that all people be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). But we must will that, too, for God has given us free will. May we pray this acclamation with sincere and open hearts.

Show us, Lord, Your love; and grant us Your salvation.

Minute Meditations: Matthew 8:15-20

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” He says that we will “know them by their fruits.” Thorns do not bear grapes, and thistles do not bear figs. “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit,” Jesus reminds us.

So what kind of “trees” are we listening to and following after? Are they trees that bear good fruit of love and peace and obedience to God? Or are they thorns and thistles that will only stab and poison us in the end? Are they wolves in disguise who only mean to devour us?

And perhaps more importantly, what kind of trees are we? Are we bearing good fruit in this world? Or are we the thorns and thistles or the wolves in disguise?

Pray to our Lord for discernment to know the truth.

Minute Meditations: Daniel 10

In the tenth chapter of the Book of Daniel, the prophet longs for understanding. He wants to know what God has planned for His people who are in exile. Therefore, Daniel prays and fasts. For three whole weeks, he eats plain food, abstains from meat and wine, and does not dress in fine clothing or anoint himself. He places himself before God in humility, praying that he might understand His will.

Daniel's prayer is answered as he stands on the banks of the Tigris river with some companions. He looks up and sees an angel. Only Daniel sees this magnificent vision, but his companions sense the angel's presence. They dash off in terror and hide. Daniel himself falls to ground on his face, his strength gone.

In the Old Testament, angels are not cute, chubby cherubs. That, in fact, is a pagan idea. Angels are the powerful, majestic messengers of God whose very presence inspires terror in people who encounter them.

The angel who appears to Daniel gently touches the terrified prophet, calls him “greatly beloved,” and tells him to get up. This angel is here in answer to Daniel's humble and persistent prayer. He has been sent to explain to Daniel what will happen to God's people in the future and how a new kingdom will one day come, a kingdom that will change the world.

Even with the angel's gentle concern, Daniel still has no strength to get up or even say a word. The vision is so overwhelming to him. The angel touches his lips so that Daniel can speak. Daniel then expresses his fear, so the angel tells him, “Do not fear, greatly beloved, you are safe. Be strong and courageous!” The angel strengthens Daniel so that he may rise up and hear the message for which he has prayed so long and hard. Through His angel, God answers Daniel's prayer, strengthens him with gentle care, and gives him the understanding he has longed for that he might pass it on to the people of his time and today.

Minute Meditations: Genesis 37

Joseph is a young dreamer. He imprudently tells his brothers all about his dreams of the sun, the moon, and eleven stars all bowing down to him and of his brothers' sheaves of wheat bowing down to his own sheaf. Since Joseph is already their father's favorite (so much so that their father gave Joseph a beautiful robe), his brothers are not inclined to be sympathetic or encouraging. In fact, they are violently jealous, and Joseph doesn't yet know how to keep his mouth shut.

When Joseph comes to check on his brothers and their flocks one day, the brothers decide that they will get rid of this kid once and for all. Reuben manages to talk them out of murder. He tells them to throw Joseph in a pit instead, meaning to rescue him later (and perhaps give him a bit of lecture in tactfulness). But before Reuben can do anything more, Joseph's other brothers sell him as a slave.

Just think of how Joseph must have felt. Sure, he's a little boastful and a little arrogant, but he doesn't deserve to be sold by his own brothers. Yet God has a plan for Joseph and for his family. God needs to set Joseph in a particular place so that he can actually provide for his family when the day comes.

We know how Joseph makes his way to Egypt and climbs the ladder of success all the way to second in command to the Pharaoh. We know how Joseph's brothers come to Egypt for food in time of famine. They don't recognize their brother, and he makes them squirm a bit (okay, more than a bit) before revealing his identity. God has indeed set Joseph up to save his family from certain death. He can see so much further than we can. He will work all things for our good. Why do we not trust Him?