OPreach
Dominican Preaching through Word and Image
God Didn’t Chose Just “Good” People; God Chose You and Me
The Advent Gospel Reading on December 17th is always Matthew 1:1-17 – the Genealogy of Jesus. And what a motley crew! Murders, thieves, liars, harlots . . . Looks a little like us, I’d say. And these are the people – and we are the people – that God loves. I invite you to read the stories in the Hebrew Scriptures that tell about these ancestors’ lives. If they were are ancestors (and they are most definitely our spiritual ancestors), we would find things about their lives that would make us proud, and things that would shame us.
Isn’t it comforting that God hasn’t chosen just the “good” people? If God had only chosen “good” people, then I would be out in the cold!
I came across a quote in an Advent reflection booklet from 1991 – no author listed – in a booklet called Advent Journey.
Just because God is for us and with us.
God is not against others.
If God has made a “covenant” with God’s people,
it is not to erect walls
which separate and oppose
believers and non-believers,the good and the evil,
the just and the guilty.God’s salvation has no limits;
it is offered to all who are open to
God’s love.
To be open to others and
to witness to
God’s greatness
is to be ready to listen to God’s Word:
“I will make all things new.”
Yes, Advent is the Season of Hope!
Weekly Photo Challenge: Delicate
Today’s Advent reading is from the Prophet Zephaniah.
God Rejoices Over You!!
This good news tells us how great is God’s rejoicing over each one of us! Sometimes we may feel like an insignificant weed, but truly we are creations of great and delicate beauty!
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
God has removed the judgment against you,
and has turned away your enemies;
the Ruler of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst,
you have no further misfortune to fear.
On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!
The Lord, your God is in your midst,
a mighty savior;
God will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in God’s love,
God will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.
May the Light of Dawn Illuminate Our Hearts
The “Collect” is a prayer that is said at the beginning of a Eucharistic Liturgy (Mass), and is meant to be a gathering prayer. The following is the Collect in today’s Advent liturgy.
May the splendor of your glory dawn in our hearts, we pray, Almighty God, that all shadows of the night may be scattered and we may be shown to be children of light by the advent of your Only Begotten Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever.
Let Us Be like the Tree Planted by the River
Today’s Advent reading is from Psalm 1.
Those who follow you, Lord will have the light of life.
[The one who meditates on God’s law] is like a tree
planted near running water,
that yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever that one does, prospers.Those who follow you, Lord will have the light of life.
May We Bring Justice to the Earth this Advent
Today’s Advent quote is from the Gospel Acclamation, which is taken from Isaiah 45:8.
Alleluia, Alleluia.
Let the clouds rain down the Just One,
and the earth bring forth a Savior.Alleluia, Alleluia.
We Celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe
I am reposting this blog today on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We have many feasts of Mary in the Church. And this is , by far, my favorite.
The Trees of the Forest Rejoice!
Today’s Advent Reading is the Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 96.
The Lord our God comes with power.
Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all you lands.
Sing to the Lord; bless God’s name;
announce God’s salvation, day after day.The Lord our God comes with power.
Tell God’s glory among the nations;
among all peoples, God’s wondrous deeds.
Say among the nations: The Lord is ruler;
God governs the people with equity.The Lord our God comes with power.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in the!
Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice.The Lord our God comes with power.
They shall exult before the Lord, for God comes;
for God comes to rule the earth.
God shall rule the world with justice
and the people with constancy.The Lord our God comes with power.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Changing Seasons
Let Us Catch the Changing Seasons
It is a spectacular thing when cacti blossom! The flowers have a way of overshadowing the cactus, and in the stark landscape of the desert, we can be overcome by their beauty. It is wonderful to catch the changing of the seasons by seeing the bloom of the cactus.
And really when we can catch the change of any season, it is amazing! To catch the color of the leaves in autumn – to catch the ice crystals hanging from a tree – to catch the butterfly emerging from its cocoon – to catch the warm sun on long summer nights. When we truly catch these moments and allow them into our souls, we just might “rejoice with joyful song.”
Today’s Advent reading comes from the Prophet Isaiah.
The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song.
(Isaiah 35:1-2)
Advent – The Season of Hope
Today’s reading is from the Prophet Baruch, who lived at the time of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. A time of great mourning and sadness for the Hebrew people. And yet the prophet says to them:
Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem,
and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God.
For God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven.
– Baruch 5:1,3
Advent is the season of hope. And the prophets, like Baruch, though sometimes they rightly predict the downfall of those who are walking in the wrong direction, offer us words of hope in the midst of sadness and tragedy. We sometimes may think of them as speaking gloom and doom. But when we keep listening, we find abundant sources of encouragement.
Mary Trusted God
Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception – a Feast of Mary. We look to her as a model in the way she responded to God’s call. She listened to God’s word, believed in its’ blessing, and thus acted on it, trusting that God would be there for her and see her through. Her words:
Be it done to me according to your word.
– Luke 1:37
Might I have that kind of trust.
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