Sunday, November 27, 2011 (First Sunday of Advent)

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
We know we are traveling together. If our pace is slow, go on ahead of us. We won't envy you but rather will seek to catch up with you. However, if you consider us capable of a quicker pace, run along with us. There is only one goal, and we are all anxious to reach it....some at a slow pace and others at a fast pace. Let everyone's sighs be uttered in longing for Christ. Let us run to Him and cry out for Him.
-- St Augustine

READINGS FOR TODAY
First Reading: Isaiah 63:16-17, 19; 64:2-7
16 You are our father. Our ancestors Abraham and Jacob do not acknowledge us, but you, Lord, are our father, the one who has always rescued us.
17 Why do you let us stray from your ways? Why do you make us so stubborn that we turn away from you? Come back, for the sake of those who serve you, for the sake of the people who have always been yours.

19 You treat us as though you had never been our ruler, as though we had never been your people.
64:2-7
2 They would tremble like water boiling over a hot fire. Come and reveal your power to your enemies, and make the nations tremble at your presence!
3 There was a time when you came and did terrifying things that we did not expect; the mountains saw you and shook with fear.
4 No one has ever seen or heard of a God like you, who does such deeds for those who put their hope in him.
5 You welcome those who find joy in doing what is right, those who remember how you want them to live. You were angry with us, but we went on sinning; in spite of your great anger we have continued to do wrong since ancient times.
6 All of us have been sinful; even our best actions are filthy through and through. Because of our sins we are like leaves that wither and are blown away by the wind.
7 No one turns to you in prayer; no one goes to you for help. You have hidden yourself from us and have abandoned
us because of our sins.
Psalms: Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19
2 reveal yourself to the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Show us your strength; come and save us!
3 Bring us back, O God! Show us your mercy, and we will be saved!
15 Come and save this grapevine that you planted, this young vine you made grow so strong!
16 Our enemies have set it on fire and cut it down; look at them in anger and destroy them!
18 We will never turn away from you again; keep us alive, and we will praise you.
19 Bring us back, Lord God Almighty. Show us your mercy, and we will be saved.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9(Blessings in Christ)
3 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
4 I always give thanks to my God for you because of the grace he has given you through Christ Jesus.
5 For in union with Christ you have become rich in all things, including all speech and all knowledge.
6 The message about Christ has become so firmly established in you
7 that you have not failed to receive a single blessing, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be faultless on the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is to be trusted, the God who called you to have fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Gospel: Mark 13:33-37
33 Be on watch, be alert, for you do not know when the time will come.
34 It will be like a man who goes away from home on a trip and leaves his servants in charge, after giving to each one his own work to do and after telling the doorkeeper to keep watch.
35 Watch, then, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming—it might be in the evening or at midnight or before dawn or at sunrise.
36 If he comes suddenly, he must not find you asleep.
37 What I say to you, then, I say to all: Watch!”