Jubilee Holy Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope
December is the month dedicated to Advent and the Coming of Christ.
Maranatha!
PRAY FOR US.
Dear Faithful Readers, Happy New Liturgical Year and welcome to the most holy season of Advent, on this first day of December 2025, the month dedicated to Advent and the coming of Christ. Come, and save us, Lord our God; let your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. Alleluia, alleluia.
The holy season of Advent is a time of preparation, a time to be still, a time to free ourselves from the obstacles that limit our experience of the presence of Jesus who has already come, who will come, and who continuously comes. One way to go about that is by embracing the wisdom of Abba Antony. As the story goes, "Someone asked the Abba Antony, 'What sort of practices do I need to maintain in order to please God?' In reply the elder said, 'Practice what I am prescribing for you: Wherever you go, keep God right before your eyes-always. Whatever you're doing, hold on to the testimony of the holy Scriptures. Wherever you're living, don't be in a hurry to move on. Keep these practices and you'll be saved.'"* Stay awake. Wait. Wait for the Lord. Be still and know that He is God. Recognize His presence at all times and in all places. And you will be saved.
At the same time, it is in this holy season that we anticipate Christmas with the great "O" Antiphons, listed here in part, traditionally sung before and after the Canticle of Mary at Vespers from December 17-23. May we proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Come, Lord Jesus, come.
O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High ...
come and teach us the way of prudence.
O Adonai and Leader of the house of Israel ...
come and redeem us with outstretched arm.
O root of Jesse, who stands as a sign among the people ...
come to deliver us and tarry not.
O Key of David, opening the gates of God's eternal Kingdom ...
come and free the prisoners of darkness!
O Rising Dawn, splendor of eternal Light and Sun of Justice ...
come and illuminate those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.
O King of the nations and their Desire, the Cornerstone who binds two into one:
come and save mankind, whom you fashioned from clay.
O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver ...
come and save us, O Lord our God!
United in faith and prayer, we go forth with words to inspire us ...
To prepare our hearts to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, will come one day to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize His presence in the events of daily life. Advent is then a period of intense training that directs us decisively to the One who has already come, who will come and who continuously comes.
(Pope Saint John Paul II, 1920-2005, General Audience, December 18, 2002)
The world might have expected the Son of God to be born in an inn; a stable would certainly be the last place in the world where one would look for Him. The lesson is: divinity is always where you least expect to find it. So the Son of God made man, is invited to enter into His own world through a back door.
(Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, 1895-1975)
You too, are mothers of the Child who has been born for you and in you ... Keep watch in your care for the newborn Child.
(Guerric of Igny, 1070/80-1157)
The whole of Christ's life was a continual teaching: His silences, His miracles, His gestures, His prayer, His love for people, His special affection for the little and the poor, His acceptance of the total sacrifice on the cross for the redemption of the world, and His resurrection are the actualization of His word and fulfillment of revelation.
(Pope Saint John Paul II, Catechesi Tradendae, 9)
When it is sincere and comes from the heart, deep emotion is the most eloquent response [to] a great love or a great sorrow ... No word or gesture or gift can substitute for it because it is the best gift. It means opening oneself to the other.
Strict with myself, I want to be only kind and gentle with my neighbor. To live in interior union with our God, and to make of all the monotony, triviality, and simple duties of my life so many prayers for others.
At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart? Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving others with God's own love and concern.
(Mother Saint Teresa of Calcutta, 1910-1997)
Strive to preserve your heart in peace; let no event of this world disturb it.
All my works, Lord, are truly nothing without your grace and mercy, which you so generously shower on all creatures, and this without number or measure. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God (Rom 11:33).
But because I ask for silence,
don't think I'm going to die.
The opposite is true;
it happens that I'm going to live.
No one heals himself by wounding another.
No one, whether shepherd or wise man, can approach God except by kneeling before the manger of Bethlehem and adoring Him hidden in the weakness of a new-born Child.
Let us imitate blessed Stephen as far as God gives us the grace to do so. Let us not only love our friends but also our enemies, because there is nothing whereby we can so well redeem our sins, overcome the devil, and please God.
Now Christmas is come
Let us beat up the drum,
And call all our neighbors together,
And when they appear,
Let us make them such cheer
As will keep out the wind and the weather.
(Washington Irving, 1783-1859)
SAINT BIBIANA,
SAINT CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA,
SAINT GERARD OF MAYO,
SAINT AMBROSE OF MILAN,
SAINT EULALIA OF MERIDA,
SAINT MELCHIADES,
SAINT EDMUND GENNINGS,
SAINT JOHN ROBERTS,
SAINT EUSTACE WHITE,
SAINT POLYDORE PLASDEN,
SAINT SWITHIN WELLS,
SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS,
SAINT VIRGINIA CEBTURIONE BRACELLI,
BLESSED URBAN V,
SAINT CHAEROMON,
SAINT JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL,
SAINT ADELAIDE,
SAINT GATIAN,
BLESSED MARY OF THE ANGELS,
SAINT OLYMPIAS,
BLESSED SCUBILION,
SAINT FACHANA OF KILFENORA,
SAINT FLANNAN, BISHOP,
SAINT DOMINIC OF SILOS,
SAINT JOHN OF KETY, PRIEST,
SAINT THORLAK THORHALLSSON,
SAINT STEPHEN, THE FIRST MARTYR,
SAINT JOHN, APOSTLE, EVANGELIST,
SAINT ANYSIUS,
THE HOLY FAMILY,
POPE SAINT SYLVESTER I,
PRAY FOR US.
* See Tim Vivian, Becoming Fire: Through the Year with the Desert Fathers and Mothers (Cistercian Studies/Liturgical Press, 2024), entry for December 2, p. 370.
This month's photo: The Light has come into the world; He is wrapped in swaddling clothes. For you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays (Malachi 3:20a).
© Gertrude Feick 2025
