Thursday, December 5, 2019

Advent Themes for Focusing Prayer Part 1 of 4: Hope


Happy Advent!  In his homily last Sunday, Fr. Erik talked about being prepared to celebrate the mysteries of our faith in the coming of our Lord at Christmas, but also at the second coming at the end of time.  This is a predominant theme in our readings for daily Mass this week.  One way to prepare is to focus our prayer in different “directions” during Advent.

Try focusing on the following themes during the four weeks of Advent.  During the first week, focus on hope, during the second, on peace, during the third, on joy, and during the fourth, on love.  Try to relate these themes to how you are preparing to welcome Jesus at Christmas.

With hope as the theme for this first week of Advent, think about what you hope for during this Advent and Christmas season.  Jesus’ coming at his birth in Bethlehem gave the shepherds hope as the angels announced to them that a savior had been born for them, “who is Christ the Lord” (Luke  2:11).  The shepherds would have recognized this to mean that this child who had been born was to be the savior of the world.

We can also see hope in the Mass readings during this week.  The first readings come from the book of the prophet Isaiah, describing the good things to come and the wonderful things that are to happen in the future when God the Father will provide for Israel.  As we read these passages today, we can think about the fact that, just as good things were promised to the early Israelites if they kept their faith alive and strong, if we strive to remain faithful as well, we do so in the sure and certain hope that we will one day share in eternal life with God.

How will you incorporate and develop hope during the rest of this first week of Advent?

Next week, the theme to focus on is Peace.  Stay tuned to our Facebook page for an Advent prayer for peace, which will be posted next Monday.

No comments:

Post a Comment