Christmas Day

"The power of this Child, Son of God and Son of Mary, is not the power of this world, based on might and wealth; it is the power of love.  It is the power which created the heavens and the earth, which gives life to all creation: to minerals, plants and animals; it is the force which attracts man and woman, and makes them one flesh, one single existence; it is the power which gives new birth, pardons faults, reconciles enemies, and transforms evil into good.  It is the power of God.  This power of love led Jesus Christ to strip himself of his glory and become man; it led him to give his life on the cross and to rise from the dead.  It is the power of service, which inaugurates in our world the Kingdom of God, a kingdom of justice and peace." 
Pope Francis' Christmas message.

Wednesday, December 21

A reflection by Fr. James Martin, SJ, on the "God of surprises."
Pray to be surprised.

The Fourth Sunday of Advent

On December 16, we begin to sing the great "O Antiphons" at evening prayer, as the antiphon to the Magnificat.  There is also the traditional singing of the Christmas Novena which includes not only the "O Antiphons" but the prophecies - those short statements from the Old Testament that "prophecy" the coming of the Messiah.

Here is a contemporary reflection on the "O Antiphons":



Listen to the singing of the traditional antiphons, with the English translation:

The Third Week of Advent

Go and tell John that marvelous things are happening in surprising places.
Go and tell John that people who were deaf from want of good news are singing hymns.
Go and tell John that this is not the work of one lonely Messiah, but the work of God,
carried out by all who believe.
Go and tell John to search every face for the face of God.
What is happening here is bigger than any of us.
What is coming to pass is as big as the Kingdom of God.

Barbara Brown Taylor, in Give Us This Day

Listen:  Go and Tell John, Lloyd Pfautsch

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Good preaching by Dominican Sr. Barbara Reid on the
Feast of the Immaculate Conception:

http://catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/12082016

Listen to Ave Maria, by Franz Biebl

Advent Reflections and Resources

Follow the link below for a thorough listing of websites of women religious communities, offering daily and weekly Advent reflections:

https://giving-voice.org/advent-reflections

The 2nd week of Advent

Offering of preaching by women, for the season of Advent:
http://www.catholicwomenpreach.org/