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Saint Gertrude Parish - Lasne
December 1, 2024
On this page you will find:
The readings for Mass, the Mass leaflet with the choice of hymns
A sample universal prayer available for download , in PDF and editable Word formats.
A meditation on the Sunday Gospel , a spiritual text and a commentary by Marie-Noëlle Thabut
First Sunday of Advent
Stay awake and pray at all times:
so you will have the strength
to escape everything that is destined to happen,
and to stand before the Son of Man.
Luke 21:36
Readings from the Mass
Mass leaflet
Universal Prayer
Lectio Divina
Consult this page for a prayerful preparation for the liturgy and then read the meditations below.
Meditation
Today a new liturgical year begins in the Church, that is, a new journey of faith for the People of God. And as always, we begin with Advent. The Gospel reading (cf. Mt 24:37-44) introduces us to one of the most evocative themes of Advent: the Lord's visit to humanity. The first visit—as we all know—took place through the Incarnation, the birth of Jesus in the cave of Bethlehem; the second coming takes place in the present: the Lord visits us continually, every day, walking beside us, and this is a presence of consolation; and finally, there will be the third and last visit, which we profess each time we recite the Creed: "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead." Today the Lord speaks to us of his final visit, the one that will take place at the end of time, and he tells us where our journey will lead.
The Word of God highlights the contrast between the normal course of events, the daily routine, and the unexpected coming of the Lord. Jesus says, “In the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. And they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away” (vv. 38-39): this is what Jesus says. It is always striking to think about the hours preceding a great catastrophe: everyone is at ease, going about their usual business without realizing that their lives are about to be turned upside down. The Gospel certainly does not want to frighten us, but to open our horizons to the subsequent, greater dimension, which, on the one hand, puts everyday things into perspective, but, at the same time, makes them precious and decisive. The relationship with the God-who-comes-to-visit-us gives each gesture, each thing, a different light, an importance, a symbolic value.
From this perspective also stems an invitation to sobriety, to not be dominated by the things of this world, by material realities, but rather to govern them. If, on the contrary, we allow ourselves to be conditioned and dominated by them, we cannot perceive that there is something far more important: our final encounter with the Lord. That is what is important. This encounter. And the things of each day must have this horizon; they must be oriented toward this horizon. This encounter with the Lord who comes for us. At that moment, as the Gospel says, “Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left” (v. 40). This is an invitation to vigilance, because, not knowing when He will come, we must always be ready to go.
In this Advent season, we are invited to broaden the horizons of our hearts, to allow ourselves to be surprised by the new things life presents each day. To do this, we must learn not to rely on our securities, on our established patterns, because the Lord comes when we least expect him. He comes to lead us into a more beautiful and greater dimension.
May Mary, the Virgin of Advent, help us not to consider ourselves owners of our lives, not to resist when the Lord comes to change them, but to be ready to let Him visit us, an expected and welcome guest even if He disrupts our plans.
POPE FRANCIS
ANGELUS
Saint Peter's Square
Sunday, November 27, 2016
The Gospel for this Sunday
presented to children (and those who resemble them)
Interview with Bernadette Dumont
for Magnificat
(I highly recommend subscribing: here )
Show us, Lord, your love.
And grant us your salvation.
◗We explain to the children that Advent is a time to prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth of Jesus worthily on Christmas Day, and then the Gospel announces the end of the world!
“Advent” means “coming,” “arrival.” The solemn Advent blessing clearly conveys this meaning: “The only Son of God has already come, and you await his coming again.” During Advent, Christians prepare to celebrate worthily the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, the Savior of the world. But at the same time, they remember Jesus’ promise to return in glory at the end of the world, to give us “the reward of eternal life.”
◗ Christmas is the festival of joy; how can we explain to children that when speaking of his return, Jesus says: "Men will die of fear awaiting what is to happen to the world"?
Our life is a battle between the forces of good and love, and the forces of evil and death (cf. solemn blessing). When talking to children about this, we will easily find—alas—in world news, as well as in their own lives, material to convey the dramatic reality of this struggle. Above all, we must help them realize that this battle takes place first and foremost within each of us. Then, they will be able to understand why, during this Advent season, the Church invites us to mobilize and fight the good fight so that, even within ourselves, the side of Jesus may triumph: so that we may "escape all that is to come."
◗ What does mobilizing consist of, practically speaking?
With only our own strength, this battle is lost before it even begins. Jesus knows this well, telling us: “Stay awake and pray at all times.” Why? So that “Almighty God may strengthen your faith, rejoice in your hope, and make your love effective” (solemn blessing).
◗ It is good news that our hope is called to be joyful!
It cannot be otherwise! This good news can only fill us with joy! Moreover, the verse of Alleluia testifies to it: what God showed us at Christmas and what he will show us at the end of time is his love, nothing but his love!
◗ How then will our charity be made truly effective?
Simply by imitating Jesus: by loving others as Jesus loved us (cf. 2nd reading). Then, in this Advent season, we will have every reason to joyfully follow the advice Jesus gives us: “Stand up and lift up your heads!”
Catechist and author of children's books, Bernadette Dumont is a mother and grandmother.
Better understanding the Gospel
with Marie-Noëlle Thabut
Better understanding the Gospel
with Marie-Noëlle Thabut
THE APOCALYPTIC STYLE
If we take these lines literally, they're enough to make you shudder! But we've already encountered texts of this kind: they're described as "apocalyptic," and we know perfectly well that we shouldn't take them at face value! The problem is that, today, the word "apocalypse" has a very bad reputation! For us, it's synonymous with horror... when it's quite the opposite! So let's begin by restoring the word "apocalyptic" to its true meaning: we remember that "apocaluptô," in Greek, means "to lift the veil," it's the same word as "re-velare" (in Latin) – to reveal in English! We should translate "apocalyptic text" as "text of revelation." They reveal the hidden side of things.
The apocalyptic genre has at least four very particular characteristics:
Firstly, these are books for times of distress, usually of war and foreign occupation coupled with persecution; this is particularly true of the book of Daniel in the second century BC: in this case, they evoke the persecutors in the guise of hideous monsters; and this is why the word "apocalypse" has been able to become synonymous with terrifying characters and events.
Secondly, because they were written in times of distress, they are books of consolation: to strengthen believers in their faithfulness and to give them, in the face of martyrdom, reasons for courage and hope. And they invite believers precisely to persevere.
Third, they "unveil," that is, "lift the veil," "reveal," the hidden face of history. They announce God's final victory: therefore, they are always future-oriented; despite appearances, they do not speak of an "end of the world," but of the transformation of the world, the establishment of a new world, the "renewal" of the world. When they describe a cosmic upheaval, it is only a symbolic image of the complete reversal of the situation. In short, their message is "God will have the last word." We heard this message of victory last Sunday in the book of Daniel. It announced that the Son of Man, who is none other than the people of the Saints of the Most High, would one day see his enemies defeated and receive universal kingship.
Fourth, while awaiting this renewal promised by God, they invite believers to adopt an attitude not of passive waiting, but of active vigilance: daily life must be lived in the light of this hope.
These four characteristics of apocalyptic books are found in our gospel today.
A word for times of distress, it describes terrifying signs, coded language to announce that the present world is passing away: “There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars… the roaring of the sea and the tempest… the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” A word of consolation, it invites believers to hold fast: “Your redemption (translate your liberation) is drawing near.” A word that “lifts the veil,” “reveals,” the hidden face of history, it announces the coming of the Son of Man. Jesus repeats this promise twice here, and clearly he attributes to himself this title of “Son of Man,” a way of saying that he is taking the lead of the people of the Saints of the Most High, that is, the believers: “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and great glory.” “...You will be considered worthy to escape all these things that are about to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
THE CHALLENGE OF THE BELIEVERS
Finally, while awaiting this renewal promised by God, our text invites believers to adopt an attitude not of passive waiting, but of active vigilance: “When these events begin, stand up and lift up your heads.”... “Be on your guard, lest your hearts become heavy… stay awake and pray at all times...” “Lift up your heads” is indeed a gesture of defiance, as Jeremiah invited us to do in the first reading, the challenge of believers.
The word "believers" is not used even once here, yet it is clear that Luke contrasts two attitudes throughout: that of the believers and that of the non-believers, whom he calls the nations or other people. "On earth, the nations will be in anguish... people will die of fear... but you, stand up and lift up your heads," the implication being that you have been warned and know the ultimate meaning of human history: the hour of your liberation has struck, evil will be definitively defeated.
There remains a paradoxical thing in these lines: the Day of God seems to fall unexpectedly upon the world and yet believers are invited to recognize the beginning of events; in fact, and this too is part of the coded language of the Apocalypses, this day seems to come suddenly only for those who are not ready.
Let us recall Paul's words to the Thessalonians: “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When people are saying, ‘Peace and security,’ then destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, so that this day should surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of the light, children of the day…” (1 Thessalonians 5:2-5). Paul, like Luke, clearly illustrates two different attitudes.
As in all the other readings for this Sunday, Christians are invited here to an attitude of witness: the witness of faith to which the prophet in the first reading invited us in a situation that seemed hopeless from a human perspective; the witness of love in the Letter to the Thessalonians: “May the Lord make your love for everyone grow and overflow”; the witness of hope, even as everything seems to be collapsing in this Gospel: “Stand up and lift up your heads… You will be worthy… to stand before the Son of Man.” “People will faint from fear,” but you will stand because you know that “neither life nor death… can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ” (Romans 8:39). This threefold witness—that is indeed the Christian challenge. A beautiful program for this Advent that is beginning!
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Note
1 - We know that in the book of Daniel, the Son of Man is actually a collective character, the "people of the saints of the Most High".
2 – The dignity of believers lies precisely in this witness of hope in a troubled world. It is no coincidence that we say the prayers of the Mass standing: whatever happens within us and around us, since our baptism, we have already been resurrected.
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