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Meditation The Pope Reflections Parish News Liturgy

December 2017 (Year B) Vol. XV No. 12

First Sunday of Advent — 3 December 2017 First Reading (Is 63:16-17; 64:1.3-8). The prophet recalls God’s past goodness to his people, and pleads with him to save them from their present sinfulness. Second Reading (1 Cor 1:3-9). As we await the coming of Christ in glory, the Holy Spirit keeps us steadfast in bearing witness to him. Gospel (Mt 13:33-37). We need to stay awake at our appointed tasks, because we do not know the hour when the Jesus, our Master, will return.

Second Sunday of Advent — 10 December 2017 First Reading (Is 40:1-5.9-11). The people are urged to prepare a way for the Lord who is coming to save them. Second Reading (2 Pet 3:8-14). If the Lord appears to be slow in coming, it is to give people an opportunity to be ready to meet him when he comes. Gospel (Mk 1:1-8). John the Baptist urges the people to prepare for the imminent coming of the Savior.

Third Sunday of Advent — 17 December 2017 First Reading (Is 61:1-2.10-11) The writer declares that he has been sent by God to usher in the age of salva-tion. Jesus used this prophecy to announce the programme of his own ministry. Second Reading (1 Thess 5:16-24). St. Paul tells the Thessalonians how they ought to live as they await the second coming of Christ. Gospel (Jn 1:6-8.19-28). John the Baptist declares that he is not the Savior. His task is to prepare the way for the Savior, who is already among the people, though they do not recognize him.

Fourth Sunday of Advent — 24 December 2017 First Reading (2 Sam 7:1-5.8-11.16). David wants to build a house for God. But instead God promises to build an everlasting dynasty for him. Second Reading (Rom 16:25-27). God’s plan of salvation for Jews and Gentiles has come to fulfillment in Christ. Gospel (Lk 1:26-38). God’s promise to David was fulfilled in Jesus.

Christmas Midnight Mass — 24 December 2017 First Reading (Is 9:1-7). This prophecy about the coming of a Savior-child who will rescue his people from oppression, is fulfilled in Jesus. Second Reading (Tit 2:11-14). St Paul reminds us of what is expected of us if we are to enjoy the salvation won for us by Jesus. Gospel (Lk 2:1-14). We hear about the birth of Jesus, and how the news of his birth was brought by angels to shepherds.

Christmas Day Mass — 25 December 2017 First Reading (Is 52:7-10). This great hymn of exultation at the return of the exiles from Babylon is also a poem of joy at our redemption. Second Reading (Heb 1:1-6) The whole history of God’s dealings with his people in the past was a prepara-tion for the coming of his Son at a particular moment in history. Gospel (Jn 1:1-18). This is a great hymn to the Word of God, the source of all life, whose coming among us makes us children of God.

The Catholic Cathedral of The Immaculate Conception

Parish Bulletin

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Sometimes it seems as though we spend our lives waiting. Daydreaming about an upcoming vacation, worry-ing over a medical test, preparing for the birth of grandchild-our days are filled with anticipation and anxiety over what the future holds.

As Catholic Christians, we too spend our lives waiting. But we are waiting for something much bigger than a trip, bigger even than retirement or a wedding: We are waiting for the return of Jesus in glory. Advent heightens this sense of waiting, because it marks not only our anticipation of Jesus' final coming, but also our remembrance of his arrival into our world more than 2,000 years ago.

Overwhelmed by the demands of the season, we can wait for Jesus in a state of anxiety, or cynicism, or har-ried indifference toward the miracle that is upon us. Or we can take our cue from the prayer we hear every Sunday and "wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ." Welcoming Jesus into our homes and our hearts, full of hope and joy, prepares us to properly celebrate Jesus' birth and anticipate his return.

The stories of Advent help us strike the right note for our wait: the prophecies of Isaiah and John the Baptist, full of their own stern hope; the pregnancies of Mary and Elizabeth, each as joyous as it is unexpected; the miracles, cures and other signs pointing the way to the Savior. Use these reflections to immerse yourself in the season, and find your own hope and joy along the wait.

This Sunday's Gospel reading centers on the Second Coming. Some popular books, such as the Left Behind series, speculate on what the end of the world might be like. They envision millions of Christians whisked away to heaven, followed by a fervent battle between good and evil. These accounts may be entertaining, but Scripture does not support them. And the fact remains that we don't know what the future holds; we know only that God is good, and that his goodness will prevail in the end. That is why we wait in hope, rather than in fear.

"'Hope' is the thing with feathers — That perches in the soul —/And sings the tune without the words /And never stops — at all —" Emily Dickinson's definition of hope captures what many of us have a hard time defin-ing. Hope is not blind optimism, nor arrogant certainty, nor wishful thinking. Hope, the theme of today's Gospel, is the knowledge that God would not desert us, that we will endure difficult times to see a better day. Hope gives us the strength to seek peace and demand justice, and to envision the world as God intended it to be.

This week we light the rose candle in the Advent wreath, signifying joy. Too often we think joy means getting what we want. But consider the joyful mysteries of the rosary—events filled with surprise and often trepida-tion. Mary didn't ask to become pregnant before marriage, Elizabeth had despaired of conceiving in her old age, and it took a visit from an angel to convince Joseph that things would be OK. Their joy—and ours too—comes not in getting what we want, but in accepting God's will, even when we don't understand it.

Feast of the Holy Family - 31 December 2017 First Reading (Gen 15:1-6; 21:1-3). God promises the childless Abraham an heir and innumerable descendants. Second Reading (Heb 11:8.11-12.17-19). This stresses the faith of Abraham and Sarah, and how God’s promise to them was fulfilled. Gospel (Lk 2:22-40). This tells us about the presentation of the child Jesus in the temple, and also provides us with a glimpse of His life at Nazareth.

Liturgy – Relevant Websites: For meditation, prayer, spirituality — Bible, Prayer & Homiletic Resources (http://www.frtommylane.com) For on-screen prayer guidance & everyday scripture readings — Sacred Space (http://www.sacredspace.ie) For Parish info., visit the Cathedral website: http://cathedral.catholic.org.hk

or call (852) 2522-8212 or fax: (852) 2521-7957 or email to: cathedral@catholic.org.hk

by Julie Irwin Zimmerman

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The long wait is almost over. Jesus' birth is nearly upon us. As we get closer to the end of a wait, our expecta-tions grow, often into something that can't be fulfilled. We think a new job will solve our problems at home, or moving away will fix a broken heart. Christmas especially gets saddled with unrealistic expectations—perhaps of family togetherness or the perfect gift. Are you doing this to Christ's coming? Are you expecting something of Jesus? Or are you simply waiting to meet him and accept him for who he is?

The story of the birth of Jesus, as told to us by Luke, is full of joy in the midst of great conflict and sadness - even irony and rejection. It prepares us for the scandal of the cross by helping us see, in such a beautifully told story, that Jesus' mission is revealed to us, in how he came to us - in poverty and humiliation. There, in the hay, we begin to know. There, in the manger, we begin to understand. Our God is revealed to us by coming in the lowliest of possible places. It is a meditation for our whole lives. This story is here to bring us light in the midst of any darkness, poverty, rejection, emptiness, sinfulness we experience. By reminding us of where he comes, the Good News is also a revelation of who we are. We are the "people who walk in dark-ness." We are people who experience parts of our lives as dry and unwelcoming as that hay. We are people who, on our own, not only fail to know and understand; we are capable of tremendous infidelity and stub-born independence.

We get our word "manger" from the Latin (and so French, Italian, Spanish) root, which means simply "to eat." Jesus comes, into the greatest place of our poverty, not only to be "with us" but to nourish us. The man-ger can be the place we go this Christmas to be fed with the acceptance, love, and peace we need. There is no place of darkness in which we need ever feel alone. There is no situation, no loss, no tragedy that need ever leave us empty. There is no sin, no matter how selfish that will ever leave us apart from God's love.

We have prayed, "Come, Lord Jesus. Come and visit your people. We await your coming. Come, O Lord." Now, our eyes are opened to the wondrous joy of his coming to us in that manger 2,000 years ago, so that we will know and understand his coming to us in our hunger today, and ultimately so that we will long for his final coming to bring us to the banquet that has been prepared, to fill all our longing.

(http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Advent/manger.html)

An ox knows its owner, and an ass, its master's manger;

But Israel does not know, my people has not understood.

(Isaiah 1:2)

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Universal: For the Elderly

That the elderly, sustained by families and Christian communities, may apply their wisdom and experience to spreading the faith and forming the new generations.

Advent is a season of hope. It would be hard to exaggerate the value of hope. It is said that while there is life there is hope. This has an even deeper meaning in reverse: While there is hope there is life. As long as there is hope, no situation is impossible. It is the task of Christians to keep hope alive in the world. Advent summons us to wait in joyful hope For the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. In the final analysis, HE is our hope.

In our times Christmas has become very commercialized and very pagan. Many people are lured into overspending and excessive eating and drinking. However, these abuses must not blind us to the true meaning of Christmas. When thick smoke rises up, catches in your throat, and bring tears to your eyes, it is because a fire has been lit. Ever since the coming of Christ A bright fire has been burning on our earth, A fire that will never die. At this fire we experience the warmth of God’s love, And the glow of human fellowship. Let us not be afraid to come in out of the cold and warm ourselves at this fire.