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Word Sharing Circle (WSC) Reflection Guide
December 1, 2024 (Cycle C, Yr. I) – 1st Sunday of Advent
Community Word: Advent is the season of preparation and vigilance for the coming of Christ.
Theme: We prepare for the coming of our Savior when we pray constantly and conduct our lives pleasing to God.
Promise: “All paths of the Lord are kindness and constancy toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.” (Ps 25:10)

Reflection:
We begin the new liturgical year with the first Sunday of Advent, thus we now start the Advent season. Our Community Word tells us that Advent is the season of preparation and vigilance for the coming of Christ. As we prepare to commemorate the arrival of Christ on Christmas day, what immediately comes to mind is the secular preparation of decorating and putting up our holiday displays. However, our liturgical readings remind us to reflect on Christ’s second coming and on how we can prepare ourselves spiritually.

In the 1st reading, the Lord speaks to the prophet Jeremiah about hope. Because God is justice, we are told that His coming will be accompanied by a time of peace and justice. The responsorial psalm is a prayer to completely trust in the Lord, with expectation of His coming and spoken with confidence that God will restore those who follow His decrees. In St. Paul’s exhortation to the Thessalonians, he reminds us how we can continue to live holy lives of anticipation and readiness by conducting ourselves in a manner that is pleasing to God. And in the gospel of St. Luke, Jesus speaks of the second coming with a message of vigilance – the need to be alert and ready. Hence, our theme for the 1st week of Advent counsels us – We prepare for the coming of our Savior when we pray constantly and conduct our lives pleasing to God.

The Church sees this time of year as a new beginning, a time to focus on what God has done in the past and to look forward to what God promises to do. Advent is a time of renewal when we re-dedicate ourselves through prayers to what is most essential in our lives as followers of our Lord Jesus. We are given this special time to retreat from the busyness of this world and focus on what life is really all about. We must be joyful, not with a wrong sense of merriment, but with a sense of the life God wants us to have, an abundant life with Jesus, who has come and who is coming again.

Although it may be hard to be spiritually reflective at this time of year when everyone is busy partying and celebrating the holidays with family and friends, we have to pause and take time to be with our Lord Jesus, to renew ourselves and show our love and dedication to Him. It is essential to realize what the true meaning of Advent and Christmas is.

Let this Advent be a special time of challenge, to step out of our normal activities and do something more positive, more caring, more Christ-like during this time of preparation. For Jesus promises, “All paths of the Lord are kindness and constancy toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.” (Ps 25:10)

Prayer:
Lord God, thank You for sending us Your Son Jesus, our Emmanuel (God with us). Help us spend this Advent season with much thanksgiving for Your many blessings of this past year. As You bless us, may we be a blessing to others by sharing not only our resources but sharing who You are to them, the God of love. We are sorry if we have not lived vigilant lives, immersing ourselves in the ways of this world. We pray that You continue to inspire and strengthen us as we prepare for Your coming and in celebration of the birth of Your Son. This we pray in the name of Jesus, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, our one and only God, forever and ever. Amen.

Reflection Guide Questions:
1. What must I do in my life to show that I am truly vigilant for Jesus’ return? How can I manifest my readiness to please Him?
2. What special activities can I do for those who cannot afford to celebrate Christmas while focusing on the spiritual theme of Advent?

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
Dec 1, 2024 (Sun) – Jer 33:14-16/ Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14/ 1 Thes 3:12-4:2/ Lk 21:25-28, 34-36
Dec 2, 2024 (Mon) – Is 2:1-5/ Ps 122:1-9/ Mt 8:5-11
Dec 3, 2024 (Tue) – Is 11:1-10/ Ps 72:2, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17/ Lk 10:21-24
Dec 4, 2024 (Wed) – Is 25:6-10/ Ps 23:1-6/ Hb 15:29-37
Dec 5, 2024 (Thu) – Is 26:1-6/ Ps 118:1, 8, 9, 19, 21, 25-27/ Hb 7:21, 24-27
Dec 6, 2024 (Fri) – Is 29:17-24/ Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14/ Mt 9:27-31
Dec 7, 2024 (Sat) – Is 30:19-21, 23-26/ Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6/ Mt 9:35 – 10:1, 5, 6-8

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”

Weekly: Theme, Promise, Order, Direction and Prophesies (bldworld.org)