NOTE: Over the next few days we will be doing a series of meditations on the theme ‘Advent in Apocalyptic Times’. If anyone would like to listen to a meditation on the readings for the second Sunday of Advent, you can find it at the following link: https://en.elijamission.net/2021/12/05/
“Behold: though night still covers the earth and darkness the peoples, on you the Lord is rising and over you his glory can be seen” (Is 60:2). Read More
Eph 3:8-12
Reading from the Memorial of Saint Ambrose
To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in[a] God who created all things; that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confidence of access through our faith in him.
Ps 26:1,4,13-14
The Lord is my light and my salvation,
whom should I fear?
The Lord is the fortress of my life,
whom should I dread?
Isa 26:1-6
”That day, this song will be sung in Judah: ‘We have a fortress city, the walls and ramparts provide safety. Open the gates! Let the upright nation come in, the nation that keeps faith! This is the plan decreed: you will guarantee peace, the peace entrusted to you. Trust in Yahweh for ever, for Yahweh is a rock for ever. He has brought low the dwellers on the heights, the lofty citadel; he lays it low, brings it to the ground, flings it down in the dust. It will be trodden under foot, by the feet of the needy, the steps of the weak.”
The core of today’s message is the invitation to trust in God, so that He Himself may be our “fortress city”. We know that everything fades away, and that is why it is so important that we put our hope in God, and that in this faith we face all the adversities of life. Read More
Is 25:6-10a
On this mountain, for all peoples, the Lord Sabaoth is preparing a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines, of succulent food, of well-strained wines. On this mountain, he has destroyed the veil which used to veil all peoples, the mantle enveloping all nations; he has destroyed death for ever. The Lord has wiped away the tears from every cheek; he has taken his people’s shame away everywhere on earth, for the Lord has spoken. And on that day, it will be said, ‘Look, this is our God, in him we put our hope that he should save us, this is the Lord, we put our hope in him. Let us exult and rejoice since he has saved us.’ For the Lord’s hand will rest on this mountain, and Moab will be trodden under his feet as straw is trodden into the dung-heap.
1 Cor 9:16-19,22-23
Reading corresponding to the memorial of St Francis Xavier
”In fact, preaching the gospel gives me nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion and I should be in trouble if I failed to do it. If I did it on my own initiative I would deserve a reward; but if I do it under compulsion I am simply accepting a task entrusted to me. What reward do I have, then? That in my preaching I offer the gospel free of charge to avoid using the rights which the gospel allows me. So though I was not a slave to any human being, I put myself in slavery to all people, to win as many as I could. To the weak, I made myself weak, to win the weak. I accommodated myself to people in all kinds of different situations, so that by all possible means I might bring some to salvation. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, that I may share its benefits with others.” Read More
Rev 22:1-7
Then the angel showed me the river of life, rising from the throne of God and of the Lamb and flowing crystal-clear. Down the middle of the city street, on either bank of the river were the trees of life, which bear twelve crops of fruit in a year, one in each month, and the leaves of which are the cure for the nations. The curse of destruction will be abolished. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city; his servants will worship him, they will see him face to face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. Read More
Rev 20:1-4,11-15; 21:1-2
Then I John, saw an angel come down from heaven with the key of the Abyss in his hand and an enormous chain. He overpowered the dragon, that primeval serpent which is the devil and Satan, and chained him up for a thousand years. He hurled him into the Abyss and shut the entrance and sealed it over him, to make sure he would not lead the nations astray again until the thousand years had passed. At the end of that time he must be released, but only for a short while. Read More
Rev 18:1-2,21-23;19:1-3,9a
After this, I saw another angel come down from heaven, with great authority given to him; the earth shone with his glory. At the top of his voice he shouted, ‘Babylon has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, and has become the haunt of devils and a lodging for every foul spirit and dirty, loathsome bird. Then a powerful angel picked up a boulder like a great millstone, and as he hurled it into the sea, he said, ‘That is how the great city of Babylon is going to be hurled down, never to be seen again. Read More
Rev 15:1-4
And I saw in heaven another sign, great and wonderful: seven angels were bringing the seven plagues that are the last of all, because they exhaust the anger of God. I seemed to be looking at a sea of crystal suffused with fire, and standing by the lake of glass, those who had fought against the beast and won, and against his statue and the number which is his name. Read More
