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EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR (Vol. 20, n. 2)

2^nd Sunday of Advent, Year B

December 10, 2023

“JESUS SAVIOR: We Prepare for His Coming”

 

 

(+) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

(A moment of silence)

 

SONG: An Advent song, a Eucharistic hymn or another appropriate song may be sung.

  

WORDS OF ORIGEN, CHURCH FATHER

(Cf. Homily on Luke’s Gospel 22, 4: SC 67, 302)

            Each one of us was once crooked; if we are no longer so, it is entirely due to the grace of Christ. Through his coming to our souls all our crooked ways have been straightened out. If Christ did not come to your soul, of what use would his historical coming in the flesh be to you? Let us pray that each day we may experience his coming and be able to say: It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Jesus my Lord has come, then. He has smoothed out your rough places and changed your disorderly ways into level paths, making in you an unimpeded road, a road that is absolutely clear, so that God the Father may walk in you and Christ the Lord make his dwelling in you and say: My Father and I will come and make our home in them.

 

SILENT ADORATION 

OPENING PRAYER

 Leader: Loving Father,

may nothing hinder us from receiving Christ with joy

for he is our true and living Way.

Open our hearts

that we may prepare a welcoming path for him in our hearts.

May we allow ourselves to be led by him

on the ways of eternal life

for he is the Good Shepherd who feeds his flock

and tenderly gathers the lambs and carries them in his bosom.

You live and reign forever and ever. 

Assembly: Amen.

 

Part I

JESUS MASTER TRUTH

Listening to the Word

 

FIRST READING: Is 40: 1-5, 9-11

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

GOSPEL READING: Mk 1:1-8

POINTS FOR REFLECTION

John the Baptist is a very important figure that accompanies the Church's preparation for the coming of Christ.  As we continue on our spiritual journey in the Advent season, the prophetic exhortation of the one who cries out in the wilderness resounds anew in the depths of our heart:  "Prepare the way of the Lord." 

Indeed, "Prepare the way of the Lord" is the living Word of God addressed to us today through the precursor John's prophetic cry.  What does it mean for us?  According to A. Tessarolo:  "The message of God's Word coming to us today is twofold: to convert ourselves first to the Lord who comes and then, to dedicate ourselves to the missionary task of witnessing.  In the first place, the committed task of preparing the Lord's way within us: in our hearts, in our lives.  Before thinking of converting others, we should first be converted to the Lord, seek him in our prayer, serve him in our brothers and sisters, and follow him in the eventful scandal of the cross."  The Advent programmatic cry "Prepare the way of the Lord" is therefore a call to personal conversion as well as a vocation to proclaim the message of consolation.

  

SONG: Any Eucharistic hymn or suitable song of praise may be sung.

 

Part II

JESUS MASTER WAY

Confrontation with the Word

 

POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART

Leader: We open our hearts to listen to the promptings of the living Word. Let us ask ourselves with limpid honesty:

1. The prophetic mission of John the Baptist in the wilderness was “to prepare the path of the Lord” and to point to Jesus. The author of Deutero-Isaiah speaks of a heavenly voice that cries out, “In the desert prepare the way of the Lord”. What am I doing in this Advent season “to prepare the path of the Lord”?

2. Have I allowed myself to be purified in the crucible of trials and sufferings? Have I embraced the mission to be a “herald of good news” in the time and space in which I work and live?

3. What is the progress of my exodus through the wilderness and challenges of daily life? In my spiritual journey, do I allow myself to be led by Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, just as the people of Israel were led through the desert by the cloud of God’s loving presence on their way to the Promised Land?

 

PRAYER

(Composed by Blessed James Alberione) 

Leader: Heavenly Father, I believe in your wisdom and love. I believe you created me for heaven, marked out for me the way to reach it, and await me there to give me the reward of the faithful servant. Give me light and show me this way. Grant me the strength to follow it generously. I beg this of you, through Jesus Christ your Son and through Mary, my Queen and Mother.

Assembly: At the moment of death, may I be able to say with St. Paul: “I have finished the course. I have fought the good fight. Now there is laid up for me the crown of the just. Amen.

 

SONG: Any suitable song may be sung. 

 

Part III

JESUS LIFE

Acting upon the Word

 

PERSONAL PRAYER

CONTEMPLATING WITH MARY THE FACE OF CHRIST: The Mysteries of Light of the Rosary may be prayed in part or in full.

 

THE WAY OF SOLIDARITY: PRAYER OF INTERCESSION

(Intentions n. 3-6 are from the Liturgy of the Hours, Morning Prayer, Tuesdays of Advent to Dec. 16) 

Leader: God the almighty Father stretches forth his hand again to take possession of the remnant of his people. Let us make our prayer to him:

(R.) LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER.

1. For the Pope’s Intention for this month of December – for persons with disabilities. We pray that living with disabilities may be the center of attention in the society, and that institutions may offer inclusive programs which value their active participation. We pray:

2. Lord, grant that our works of penance may please you, and that we may be ready for your kingdom which is near. We pray: (R.)

3. Prepare a path in our hearts for the coming of your Word, and let his glory be revealed among us. We pray: (R.)

4. Bring low the mountains of our pride, and fill up the valleys of our weakness. We pray: (R.)

5. Break down the wall of hatred that divides the nations, and make level for all mankind the paths to peace. We pray: (R.)  

(Other prayers may be added.)

 

THE LORD’S PRAYER

CONCLUDING PRAYER 

Leader: Almighty Father,

give us the joy of your love

to prepare the way for Christ our Lord.

Help us to serve you and one another.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God forever and ever.

Assembly: Amen.

 

FINAL SONG: Any suitable Eucharistic hymn or song of praise may be sung.

 

 

 

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EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR (Vol. 20, n. 3)

3^rd Sunday of Advent, Year B

December 17, 2023

“JESUS SAVIOR: In Him We Rejoice in the Lord”

 

(+) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

(A moment of silence)

 

SONG: An Advent song, a Eucharistic hymn or another appropriate song may be sung.

 

WORDS OF JEAN CARDINAL DANIELOU 

            As John the Baptist was the Lord’s precursor even before his birth, so also he was the forerunner of Christ’s public life. After the desert period came the crowning moment of a life spent preparing the way for Christ … A witness is someone who has first been granted an inner vision. God has introduced him to the divine viewpoint so that he can pass on what he has seen to others. So it is with John the Baptist. God first admitted him to his own counsel, revealing to him the mystery of the divine plan, drawing him into the desert to share with him his own joy. Then came the essential part of his vocation: he was a witness to Christ, that is to say he was the one who pointed out Christ to the people.”

 

SILENT ADORATION 

OPENING PRAYER

(Adapted from Cl. Bernard, Chant E 193 // cf. Days of the Lord, vol. 1, Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1991, p. 115) 

Assembly: You are the Other for whom we wait,

Jesus, Word and response,

you are our only song,

Emmanuel in our silences.

Reader: Are you the one who is to come

to make our desert bloom,

to free our hearts,

to bring our seeds to life

by the waters of the Jordan?

Assembly: You are the Other for whom we wait,

Jesus, Source of living water,

you are the springtime for the grain,

Emmanuel in our deserts.

Reader: Are you the one who is to come

and who comes each day

to free our lives,

to stir up our breath

by the movement of your own?

Assembly: You are the Other for whom we wait,

Jesus, the world’s strength,

you are the Living One who returns,

Emmanuel, God-with-us.

  

Part I

JESUS MASTER TRUTH

Listening to the Word

 

FIRST READING: Is 61:1-2a, 10-11

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

GOSPEL READING: Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

PERSONAL REFLECTION

In today’s Old Testament reading (Is 61:1-2a, 10-11), the joy-giving mission of the Messiah is depicted with lyrical beauty and poetry:  "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God".  The Christian tradition has seen in this prophetic passage the figure of the Messiah long expected, Jesus the anointed One.  The prophetic passage delineates, moreover, in terms of nuptial imagery, the salvation and joy that would result from the messianic intervention of the consecrated one:  "I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels".  The bride Jerusalem celebrates the fulfillment of love between herself and Yahweh, and this fruitful love is expressed poetically as the earth bringing forth its plants and a garden with its fresh growth. 

The recipients of the messianic mission are the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the prisoners and those who mourn.  The poor or the anawim, encapsulates all the others.  The anawim are people bowed down in helplessness and dire need, acknowledging the benevolent kindness of Yahweh whose help they humbly seek and await.  God intervenes on their behalf through the spirit-filled Messiah resulting in abounding joy and exultation.

  

SONG: Any Eucharistic hymn or suitable song of praise may be sung.

 

Part II

JESUS MASTER WAY

Confrontation with the Word

 

POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART

Leader: We open our hearts to listen to the promptings of the living Word. Let us ask ourselves with limpid honesty:

1. Are we the precursors and witnesses of Christ in today’s world, a prophetic voice “crying out on the desert, make straight the way of the Lord”?

2. Do we allow ourselves to be the recipients of the compassionate saving acts of Jesus, the Servant of Yahweh, whose mission is thus delineated in the “Third Isaiah”: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord and a day of vindication by our God” (Is 61:1-2a)?

3. Are we open to the grace of God and the gift of his joy? What do we do to make this Sunday truly a “Gaudete Sunday”?

 

 AN ADVENT PSALM

(Courtesy of Fr. Raymond Bodson, CICM of the CICM Justice, Peace, and Integration of Creation Commission, Philippines)

 Awaken, my heart,

God’s reign is near.

The Peaceable Kingdom is in my hands.

If the wolf can be the guest of the lamb,

and the bear and cow be friends,

then no injury or hate can be a guest

within the kingdom of my heart.

Eden’s peace and harmony will not only return

when first,

in my heart, there hides no harm or ruin;

for the Peaceable Kingdom is in my hands.

Isaiah’s dream became Jesus’ vision:

“Come, follow me.”

Emmanuel’s echo rings,

“Reform your life, recover Eden’s peace.”

For only then will salvation appear.

For Advent’s dream is the healing of earth,

when the eagle and bear become friends,

the child and the serpent playmates.

Arise, awaken, my heart,

the Peaceable Kingdom is in your hands.

 

SONG: Any suitable song may be sung. 

 

Part III

JESUS LIFE

Acting upon the Word

  

PERSONAL PRAYER

CONTEMPLATING WITH MARY THE FACE OF CHRIST: The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary may be prayed in part or in full.

 

THE WAY OF SOLIDARITY: PRAYER OF INTERCESSION

(Adapted from the Liturgy of the Hours)

 

Leader: To our Redeemer who came to bring good news to the poor, let us earnestly pray:

(R.) LORD, HEAR OUR PRAYER.

1. For the Pope’s Intention for this month of December – for persons with disabilities. We pray that living with disabilities may be the center of attention in the society, and that institutions may offer inclusive programs which value their active participation. We pray:

2. Show yourself to those who have never known you; let them see your saving work. We pray: (R.)

3. Let your name be preached to the ends of the earth, that all may find the way to you. We pray: (R.)

4. You first came to save the world, now come again and save those who believe in you. We pray: (R.)

5. You brought freedom to us by saving us; continue to save us and make us free. We pray: (R.)

6. You came once as a man; you will return in judgment; bring eternal reward to those who have died. We pray: (R.)   

(Other prayers may be added.)

 

THE LORD’S PRAYER  

CONCLUDING PRAYER

 Leader: Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

ever faithful to your promises

and ever close to your Church:

the earth rejoices in hope of the Savior’s coming

and looks forward with longing

to his return at the end of time.

Prepare our hearts and remove the sadness

that hinders us from feeling the joy

which his presence will bestow,

for he is Lord forever and ever.

 Assembly: Amen.

 

FINAL SONG: Any suitable Eucharistic hymn or song of praise may be sung.

 

 

 

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Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang, PDDM

 

 

PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI

SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER

3700 North Cornelia Avenue, Fresno, CA 93722 (USA)

Tel (559) 275-1656