Advent Companion 2021

CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF HAMILTON

ADVENT COMPANION

“Advent is a continuous call to hope: it reminds us that God is present in history to lead it to its ultimate goal and to its fullness, which is the Lord Jesus Christ.”

- Pope Francis, November 29th 2020

ADVENT COMPANION Introduction “Let every heart prepare Him room.”

As we enter into the end of the year, often a busy time in all areas of life, the Church calls us amid the rush to prepare and start anew as she begins a new Church year with the season of Advent. The word ‘Advent’ is from the Latin word adventus, meaning ‘to come’ or ‘arrival’, and speaks of a season of waiting, of preparation.

John the Baptist, echoing the prophet Isaiah, calls each of us to “prepare the way of the Lord”. We each need to prepare for the arrival of the Messiah, who has come into the world to save us. How are we each to do this? By making room, preparing a place in our lives, our hearts, our minds, and in our families.

The purpose of this Advent Companion is to help you make room in your life for the arrival of the newborn babe, at Christmas, with the same love and affection with which Joseph and Mary did even in the midst of their messy, less than ideal circumstances. Our Lord wants to dwell in our lives, to reign over our hearts and minds as Prince of Peace.

Will we let him in?

In this Advent Companion, you will find: Reflections on each of the four Sundays of Advent, Prayers of blessing over the Advent wreath, nativity scene and Christmas tree, Links to Advent and Christmas craft and activity ideas From our Diocesan Pastoral Team and wider Chanel Centre whānau, we pray that you and your loved ones have a blessed Advent and Christmas season.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

- John 3:16

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ADVENT COMPANION A Note from Pope Francis MIDNIGHT MASS | SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD | HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS (CONDENSED) Thursday 24 December 2020, Vatican Basilica.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given” (Is 9:6).

To us a son is given. We often hear it said that the greatest joy in life is the birth of a child. It is something extraordinary and it changes everything. It brings an excitement that makes us think nothing of weariness, discomfort and sleepless nights, for it fills us with a great, incomparable happiness. That is what Christmas is: the birth of Jesus is the “newness” that enables us to be reborn each year and to find, in him, the strength needed to face every trial. Why? Because his birth is for us – for me, for you, for all of us, for everyone. “For” is a word that appears again and again on this holy night: “For us a child is born”, Isaiah prophesied. “For us is born this day a Saviour”, we repeated in the Psalm. Jesus “gave himself for us” (Tit 2:14), Saint Paul tells us, and in the Gospel the angel proclaims: “For to you is born this day a Saviour” (Lk 2:11). For me, for you.

Yet what do those words – for us – really mean? They mean that the Son of God, the one who is holy by nature, came to make us, as God’s children, holy by grace. Yes, God came into the world as a child to make us children of God. What a magnificent gift! This day, God amazes us and says to each of us: “You are amazing”. Dear sister, dear brother, never be discouraged. Are you tempted to feel you were a mistake?

God tells you, “No, you are my child!” Do you have a feeling of failure or inadequacy, the fear that you will never emerge from the dark tunnel of trial? God says to you, “Have courage, I am with you”. He does this not in words, but by making himself a child with you and for you. In this way, he reminds you that the starting point of all rebirth is the recognition that we are children of God. This is the starting point for any rebirth. This is the undying heart of our hope, the incandescent core that gives warmth and meaning to our life. Underlying all our strengths and weaknesses, stronger than all our past hurts and failures, or our fears and concerns about the future, there is this great truth: we are beloved sons and daughters. God’s love for us does not, and never will, depend upon us. It is completely free love. Tonight cannot be explained in any other way: it is purely grace. Everything is grace. The gift is completely free, unearned by any of us, pure grace. Tonight, Saint Paul tells us, “the grace of God has appeared” (Tit 2:11). Nothing is more precious than this... ... To us a son is given. In the lowly manger of a darkened stable, the Son of God is truly present. But this raises yet another question. Why was he born at night, without decent accommodation, in poverty and rejection, when he deserved to be born as the greatest of kings in the finest of palaces? Why? To make us understand the immensity of his love for our human condition: even to touching the depths of our poverty with his concrete love. The Son of God was born an outcast, in order to tell us that every outcast is a child of God. He came into the world as each child comes into the world, weak and vulnerable, so that we can learn to accept our weaknesses with tender love. And to discover something important: as he did in Bethlehem, so too with us, God loves to work wonders through our poverty. He placed the whole of our salvation in the manger of a stable. He is unafraid of our poverty, so let us allow his mercy to transform it completely!

This is what it means to say that a son is born for us. Yet we hear that word “for” in another place, too. The angel proclaims to the shepherds: “This will be a sign for you: a baby lying in a manger” (Lk 2:12). That sign, the Child in the manger, is also a sign for us, to guide us through life. In Bethlehem, a name that means “House of Bread”, God lies in a manger, as if to remind us that, in order to live, we need him, like the bread we eat. We need to be filled with his free, unfailing and concrete love. How often instead, in our hunger for entertainment, success and worldly pleasures, do we nourish life with food that does not satisfy and leaves us empty within! The Lord, through the prophet Isaiah, complained that, while the ox and the donkey know their master’s crib, we, his people, do not know him, the source of our life (cf. Is 1:2-3).

It is true: in our endless desire for possessions, we run after any number of mangers filled with ephemeral things, and forget the manger of Bethlehem. That manger, poor in everything yet rich in love, teaches that true nourishment in life comes from letting ourselves be loved by God and loving others in turn. Jesus gives us the example. He, the Word of God, becomes an infant; he does not say a word, but offers life.

We, on the other hand, are full of words, but often have so little to say about goodness.

To us a son is given. Parents of little children know how much love and patience they require. We have to feed them, look after them, bathe them and care for their vulnerability and their needs, which are often difficult to understand. A child makes us feel loved but can also teach us how to love. God was born a child in order to encourage us to care for others. His quiet tears make us realize the uselessness of our many impatient outbursts; and we have so many of them! His disarming love reminds us that our time is not to be spent in feeling sorry for ourselves, but in comforting the tears of the suffering. God came among us in poverty and need, to tell us that in serving the poor, we will show our love for him. From this night onward, as a poet wrote, “God’s residence is next to mine, his furniture is love” (EMILY DICKINSON, Poems, XVII)... https:/www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/220 0/documents/papa-francesco_220 01224_omelia-natale.html

ADVENT COMPANION 1st Sunday of Advent 1st Reading: Jer 33:14-16 Responsorial Psalm: Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14 2nd Reading: 1 Thes 3:12—4:2 Gospel: Lk 21:25-28, 34-36 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior, and for you I wait all the day. Ps 25:5 The beginning of Advent has readings which point us to the end times. They warn us to be on guard, ready for the Lord’s return.

In Advent, we prepare to commemorate the first coming of Jesus (his birth in Bethlehem), and yet the readings point us to the second coming. This is because while we remember and give thanks for the grace of God “pitching his tent among us” and being born for us a Saviour, the Church reminds us to live of that same grace of God, which is given to us anew today. That grace calls us to be ever ready to meet the Lord.

The coming of the Lord is always ‘just around the corner’ whether it is his coming to us at Mass; our death, or the Second Coming of the Son. Jesus warns us that there is no time to let our guard down, to think, ‘I’ll give time to the Lord tomorrow, today I will enjoy myself with food and drink and partying’.

God is ever-present to us, and he wants our lives to be grounded in this joy. Nothing is greater than to be in the presence of the Father, and Jesus gives us this haste of love. He wants to lead us as quickly as possible to the love of the Father. Jesus showed us this while he was on earth. While he spent much time visiting the poor and sick, he also took the evenings and mornings to be alone with His Father. He taught the disciples that all good works come from God and lead us to desire to be in his presence even more. Jesus is clearly not against the ‘good things of life.’ As God, he created them all, and as our Saviour, he attended weddings and other celebrations. When Jesus attended these events he elevated them.

His presence - at the Wedding at Cana, at Matthew’s dinner with the Pharisees, at Martha’s house - always superseded the actual celebration. These joyful occasions are not bad, but they are given a deeper meaning if they are lived for God. In this way they become sober, they become relative to a greater love.

This is the call of the Church to us in Advent – relativize all your other joys to the joy of being in the presence of God. This is our discernment. Am I fed by the Word of God, am I nourished by the Will of God, am I hungry for the Eucharist?

The heavens will be shaken, the signs in the sun and moon and stars will be in dismay. The ‘normal’ way in which we navigate our lives will be shaken up by this love of God. If it doesn’t change us, then the day of the Lord will assault us and catch us by surprise like a trap. If the love and truth of God does teach us to wait in anticipation, we will rejoice at the coming of our Saviour.

Fr Matthew Gibson

www.cdh.org.nz

ADVENT COMPANION

“Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my saviour, and for you I wait all the day.”

Psalm 25:5

ADVENT COMPANION 2nd Sunday of Advent 1st Reading: Bar 5:1-9 Responsorial Psalm: Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6 2nd Reading: Phil 1:4-6, 8-11 Gospel: Lk 3:1-6 On Monday, I had yet another ‘Frank Eggleton is getting senior moment’. I had just visited a family in Rototuna, Hamilton and on the drive home got that glug-glug feeling that I was lost. So, I stopped my car and checked my map. Sure enough, I was heading in the wrong direction.

Amidst our busyness, as we prepare for Christmas and the long holidays, the first two Sundays of Advent challenge us to stop and consider an all-important question. Am I on the right course on my journey through life?

Advent is about checking the direction we are heading in life; and, if we have taken some wrong turns, getting back on course.

In today’s Gospel, we meet that mysterious figure John the Baptist. He was a wild man, a frightening man, clad in animal skins, a man of the wilderness. He had no fancy knowledge. He wasn’t a rabbi or a priest. But he was a prophet- a man sent by God to prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah.

When John called out, “Prepare a way for the Lord. Every valley must be filled in; every mountain and hill laid low”, he wasn’t demanding that the Jericho County Council do something about the bumpy road-works between Jericho and Jerusalem. He was talking about the mountains of pride, the arrogance of heart that the People of Israel would have to clear away if they were to come to any sort of belief in the teachings of the coming Messiah. He was talking about the deep ravines of hatefulness and self-focus which would have to be filled in before the People of Israel could live harmoniously with someone like the Son of David.

And so it is with us.

The whole dynamic of these first two weeks of Advent is getting us set for a new year of Grace. That is why our reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation during Advent is a must for all of us.

Over the next few days, in preparation for our Advent Reconciliation, ponder: Where am I heading in life?

Am I any closer to the Lord than I was 12 months ago?

If my spiritual journey is stalled, what needs to change?

As we prepare to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation this Advent, may we allow that rough prophet to challenge us. And with our God’s wonderful graces overshadowing us, may a fresh fire be lit in our hearts as we bravely set out, refocused, into a new year of Grace.

Mons Frank Eggleton

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The LORD has done great things for us; and we rejoiced.

Psalm 126:3

ADVENT COMPANION 3rd Sunday of Advent 1st Reading: Zep 3:14-18 Responsorial Psalm: Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6 2nd Reading: Phil 4:4-7 Gospel: Lk 3:10-18 As a child I looked forward to Christmas. The gifts were always a highlight as a youngster. One year I remember really wanting a particular gift. My brother and I were told that we would get the gift at Christmas. As the time came nearer, we got so excited and began to look in the house for it. We looked in the regular places where Mum had hidden gifts in the past. Then a few weeks before Christmas we found it, not under the tree but still hidden, yet we knew that we had to wait. Still, the fact we found the gift meant we could be sure that it would be under the tree come Christmas.

Gaudete Sunday is reminding us to rejoice. There is great joy in remembering the true reason for this festive season. At a deeper level than my anxious brother and I in looking forward to our Christmas gift, the Church today is allowing a shaft of glorious white into the violet penitential colour of advent. It reminds us of the coming gift of Christ our King. The Church wants this joy to be deep in our heart!

In the Gospel John the Baptist is telling the people that Christ is coming with a winnowing fan. A winnowing fan is a device used to refine grain by separating the chaff, or outer shell from the grain itself. Likewise for us we too need to remove our chaff, as the grain is separated from the chaff, so to we are to purify of our hearts and prepare to receive him with joy. We all recall the sense of expectation in advent, yet we often forget it is also a penitential season. Penitential doesn’t mean we wallow around in muck and walk around feeling sorry for ourselves. But rather it encourages us to make simple and intentional acts of offering to help us look forward to meeting our infant King. Yet this Sunday, the violet theme has changed to rose in colour because of the glorious shaft of light. So instead we intentionally enter into this day rejoicing in anticipation of what is to come. Today we can relax some of our penitential offerings.

But why not go a little further. Why not find ways where you can make this Sunday a little extra joyous in the lead up to Christmas.

When it came to Christmas day, we opened our presents. Yet my brother and I didn’t find the particular present under the tree. We were devastated, yet come lunchtime we said to Mum, what about the rollerblades…

She had forgotten… we told her not to worry, we knew where they were, and ran to fetch them.

Christ won’t forget you this Christmas, but will you forget him?

Fr Isaac Fransen

www.cdh.org.nz

God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.

Isaiah 12:2

ADVENT COMPANION 4th Sunday of Advent 1st Reading: Mi 5:1-4 Responsorial Psalm: Ps 79 (80):2-3, 15-16, 18-19.

2nd Reading: Heb 10:5-10 Gospel: Lk 1:39-45 The Divine Visitation: with the message of joy and faith.

On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, just a few days away from Christmas, we await our divine visitation (the arrival of the child Jesus). Like Elizabeth, we could as well say, “how does this happen that the Lord should come to us at Christmas?” What prepares us to receive this amazing divine visitation? It is our readiness and watchfulness that prepares us to receive the wonderful divine Visitation.

Our readiness and watchfulness should transcend the lighted Christmas trees, beautiful cards, and gorgeous gifts we give and receive. Ideal readiness is the cleansing of the inner recesses of our being - our hearts - as this is where Jesus Christ wants to be born.

Divine visitation is not exclusive, reserved only for the great and influential, but a facility for the meek who wait for the Lord.

Michah (7:7) says, “I will watch for the Lord; I will wait confidently for God, who will save me. My God will hear me.” Yes, He is visiting soon!

The words of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta remind us, “In the mystery of the Annunciation and the Visitation, Mary is the very model of the life we should lead. First, she welcomed Jesus in her existence; then, she shared what she had received.” In our lives, we also can make the impossible things possible if God is with us.

Let this Christmas not just be a symbolic feast of God’s presence in the world or simply a ritual commemorating the birth of a religious figure. It is the Feast of God taking on a real body in the person of the child Jesus in our lives. Let us invite Mary to pray for us and spend some time preparing ourselves internally, making a promise to give up our bad habits and love unconditionally as Christ taught us, so Christ can be born again through us. If each one of us does that, we will put Christ back into Christmas.

The Divine Visitation: with the message of joy and faith through our lives.

1. We need to carry Jesus to others as Mary did.

2. We need to bless and encourage the younger generation like Elizabeth.

3. We need to recognise the real presence of the Emmanuel (God Is with Us) and say “yes” to Him: 4. Mary’s pilgrimage should be our model: As we journey with Mary to the hill country, let us continue to contemplate our own life’s journey -- its joys and sorrows, its triumphs, and its tragedies.

Our Christian journey began in Christ at the Baptismal font where He joined Himself to us forever. Our journey continues with Christ as he nourishes us along the way with the food of his Word and the food of his Flesh. It will end with Christ as we await our blessed end and join Him and all his Saints in Heavenly splendour. It is up to us to prepare for that great day by spending our lives glorifying God in serving others with love and commitment.

Fr Prakash Somu, CMF

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And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his GOD.

Micah 5:4

ADVENT COMPANION Blessing your Christmas Tree Leader: Blessed be the name of the Lord.

R./ Now and forever.

The leader may use these or similar words to introduce the blessing: This tree is a blessing to our home. It reminds us of all that is beautiful, all that is filled with the gentleness and the promise of God. It stands in our midst as a tree of light, that we might promise such beauty to one another and to our world. It stands like that tree of paradise that God made into the tree of life, the cross of Jesus.

Listen to the words of the apostle Paul to Titus 3:4-7: But when the kindness and generous love of God our Saviour appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in the hope of eternal life.

The Word of the Lord.

R./ Thanks be to God. After a time of silence, all join in prayers of intercession and in the Lord’s Prayer.

Leader: God of all creation, we praise you for this tree which brings beauty and memories and the promise of life to our home.

May your blessing be upon all who gather around this tree, all who keep the Christmas festival by its lights. We wait for the coming of the Christ, the days of everlasting justice and of peace. You are our God, living and reigning forever and ever.

R./ Amen.

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ADVENT COMPANION Blessing your Advent Wreath Leader: Our help is in the name of Lord.

R./ Who made heaven and earth.

The leader may use these or similar words to introduce the blessing: In the short days and long nights of Advent, we realize how we are always needing salvation by our God. Around this wreath, we shall remember God’s promise.

Listen to the words of the prophet Isaiah 9:1-2: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom, a light has shone.

You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing.

The Word of the Lord.

R./ Thanks be to God. After a time of silence, all join in prayers of intercession and in the Lord’s Prayer.

Leader: Lord our God, we praise you for your Son, Jesus Christ. He is Emmanuel, the hope of the peoples, he is the wisdom that teaches and guides us, he is the Saviour of every nation. Lord God, let your blessing come upon us as we light the candles of this wreath.

May the wreath and its light be a sign of Christ’s promise to bring us salvation; may he come quickly and not delay. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

R./ Amen.

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ADVENT COMPANION Blessing a Nativity Scene Leader: Our help is in the name of Lord.

R./ Who made heaven and earth.

The leader may use these or similar words to introduce the blessing: We are at the beginning of the days of Christmas.

All through the season we will look on these images Of sheep and cattle, of shepherds, of Mary and Joseph and Jesus.

Listen to the words of the Holy Gospel according to Luke 2:1-7: In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The Gospel of the Lord.

R./ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

After a time of silence, all join in prayers of intercession and in the Lord’s Prayer.

Leader: God of Mary and Joseph, of shepherds and animals, bless us whenever we gaze on this manger scene. Through all the days of Christmas may these figures tell the story of how humans, angels, and animals found the Christ in this poor place. Fill our house with hospitality, joy, gentleness, and thanksgiving.

R./ Amen.

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ADVENT COMPANION Activities If you’re looking for some fun Advent activities, we have plenty to choose from on our Pinterest board!

Scan the QR code provided by opening your phone camera and pointing it at the code - a link should pop down and take you to view our board full of ideas and activities!

www.pinterest.nz/cdh_nz/preparing-for-christmas

O Holy Night!

The stars are brightly shining It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth!

Long lay the world in sin and error pining Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary soul rejoices For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees Oh hear the angel voices O night divine O night when Christ was born O night divine O night divine Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming Here come the wise men from Orient land The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger In all our trials born to be our friend Truly He taught us to love one another His law is love and His gospel is peace Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother And in His name all oppression shall cease Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, Let all within us praise His holy name.

CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF HAMILTON