THE DAILY GROTTO

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

 

Dear Readers,

I hope that you are all experiencing a Blessed Advent. Our home is starting to look a bit like Christmas. I must admit that I love the coziness of colorful lights, candles flickering in the night, vintage decorations, and our beautiful 8 foot Frazier fir beautifully adorning our living room. 

As we light our second candle this week, let us remember to thank our Lord that we still have the resources to make our Christmas merry and bright. So many people are hurt by a tough economy, and won't be able to afford much in the way of Christmas decorations or even presents. Let us all be charitable and share some of our things with those that don't have much.

How many ornaments do we really need anyway? Let us all make it a goal to pack up a box or two of Christmas things, and take it to our local resale shop or Homeless shelter. Then things will be merry and bright for others too. Let us always remember that Jesus is the reason for the season!!!!!

God Bless,

Kathy

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Week 1: First Sunday of Advent  Prayer for the Advent Wreath Lord, our God, we praise You for Your Son, Jesus Christ, for He is Emmanuel, the Hope of all people. He is the Wisdom that teaches and guides us. He is the Savior of us all. O Lord, let your blessing come upon us as we light the first (purple) candle of this wreath. May the wreath and its light be a sign of Christ’s promise of salvation. May He come quickly and not delay. We ask this in His holy name. Amen. Waiting  We light a candle today, a small dim light against a world that often seems forbidding and dark. But we light it because we are a people of hope, a people whose faith is marked by an expectation that we should always be ready for the coming of the Master. The joy and anticipation of this season is captured beautifully in the antiphons of hope from the monastic liturgies: See! The ruler of the earth shall come,  the Lord who will take from us the heavy burden of our exile The Lord will come soon, will not delay. The Lord will make the darkest places bright. We must capture that urgency today in the small flame of our candle. We light the candle because we know that the coming of Christ is tied to our building of the kingdom. Lighting the flame, feeding the hungry, comforting the sick, reconciling the divided, praying for the repentant, greeting the lonely and forgotten – doing all these works hastens His coming. HT/EWTN

THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT

O God,
as light comes from this candle,
may the blessing of Jesus Christ come to us,
warming our hearts and
brightening our way.
May Christ our Savior bring life
into the darkness of this world,
and to us, as we wait for his coming.