Sunday readings help us grow closer to Christ
Monday, December 8, 2008
*Cheryl Whapham
In my last blog, I focused on conversion. I think the need for us, as adults, to grow closer and closer to Jesus is the most important task we have to accomplish each day. The question then arises, “How do I do that?” How do I come closer to Christ? There are as many answers to this question as there are Christians, but today I want to suggest that we grow closer to Christ by becoming more aware of the Church’s Liturgical Year.
The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (published by the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in July 2006) states, “In the Liturgical Year, the Church celebrates the whole mystery of Christ from the Incarnation until the day of Pentecost and the expectation of Christ’s second coming. The summit of the Liturgical Year is the Easter Triduum – from the evening of Holy Thursday to the evening of Easter Sunday” (USCCA, p. 173).
A new Liturgical Year began Nov. 30, 2008 with the First Sunday of Advent. The Church established a liturgical calendar to provide us opportunities for meaningful encounters with Christ during our Eucharistic celebrations. Each part of the Liturgical Year (Advent, the Christmas Season, Lent, the Easter Season, and Ordinary Time) reveals truths about Jesus’ ministry and mission. The Scripture readings in the Lectionary have been specifically chosen to allow us to enter in to the mysteries of our faith. These Sunday readings demand our attention and study.
A wonderful way to pray and study these readings is by using Catholic Conversations on the Scriptures. This resource is published by our Archdiocese and e-mailed to every parish each month. It is also posted on our Web site so that any person can access it. Catholic Conversations is a one page document that includes the Gospel reading, a brief commentary on the Gospel, highlights three significant messages the Gospel contains, and provides questions for personal or shared reflection.
I try to use the Catholic Conversations for personal prayer once a week. I also frequently use this resource for prayer before our staff meetings. Last month, just prior to our staff meeting, I quickly read the Gospel and then the discussion questions. As I was walking into the meeting I thought to myself, “this doesn’t make any sense”. As the Gospel was proclaimed aloud again a few minutes later, a rush of meaning and emotion overtook me. It was a keen reminder of how powerful the Scriptures are and how important it is for our lives to be connected to the life of the Church through understanding of the liturgical year and its cycles.
How have the Scripture readings for the Advent season touched your life? What are you doing to embrace the sense of joy and waiting that characterizes this season?
Cheryl J. Orwig Whapham
Director, Lay Ministry and Adult Faith Formation
Comments from readers
William - Thank you for sharing with us your faithfulness to the Seasons of the Church. I applaud you in your devotion to becoming closer to Christ through the liturgical year and for carrying this devotion with you to your place of work. It is so important that we witness our faith. Which is a perfect segue to Luis...
Luis - Good to hear from you and thank you for mentioning the example that John the Baptist is for all of us. What a challenge it represents, huh? To proclaim the coming of the Lord every moment of our lives...to live an awareness that deep, that profound, that authentic...I pray that I can do better.
Sean -
All the time. God is Good.
In 1994, I was youth minister at a parish in western Colorado. The pastor insisted that we pray the Gospel before each staff meeting, each parish meeting, any gathering at all. Each week, I would enter into the Gospel at least 7 times, often more (as you know, parishes have a lot of meetings!). The pastor himself was at many of these meetings. One of the most powerful things for me was hearing our pastor preach on Sunday and have his homily guided by the very same reflections that he and I had heard in some of these parish meetings. He demonstrated, week after week, how the Word of God was operating within our community.
ACND will continue to be blessed by the Word being proclaimed and prayed in your community.
Maria-
Thank you for sharing your faithfulness. I have no idea where I would be without the Word of God and I pray that I never find out! You and Luis point out that our God is a LIVING GOD. What a blessing it is to read these words and always experience them anew!
Jaime-
Thanks for participating in the blog. You have so much to offer our Church. Please do forward the blog along...I think this is such a powerful way for us all to be in dialogue with one another and to support one another in our journey to know Christ in a more profound way.
Advent Blessings,
Cheryl
Dr. Padro/Miramar
Maria E. Semper
Thanks for your strong affirmation of the power of sharing the weekly Gospel and for calling attention to the outstanding tool we have in Catholic Converstions. The faculty at ACND has helped to make engagement in the Catholic Converstions a weekly experience for each of our students. All meetings '' faculty, parents, administration '' begin with a brief reflection on the Gospel of the coming Sunday. The impact is palpable.
God is good. All the time.
Warmest regards,
Sean
Brother Patrick Sean Moffett, CFC Archbishop Curley Notre Dame HS
Thank you for that wonderful blog. You hit the nail right on the head! Our Catholic tradition offers a structure in the Scriptures proclaimed at mass with a systematic and educative foundation. Furthermore, we profess a true and living God whom continues to dialogue with us through prayer both public and private. The readings would remain simply ink on paper if they are not proclaimed, not brought to life. Your experience prior to your staff meeting and during is a perfect example. I would dare say that when you read it you did not read aloud, you probably would have gotten funny looks by your colleagues. Nonetheless, when you heard it in a loud voice, proclaimed the words came to life.
Personally, during this advent season the Gospel this past sunday speak to us about John the Baptist as he proclaims the coming of the Lord. For me every year this reading strikes a chord because it reminds me that we ought to be like John the Baptist proclaiming the coming of the Lord in every moment of our lives. We are to remind ourselves that there is One greater than us whom is coming and we have to be ready to receive Him and welcome Him.
Thanking you again and wishing you Advent Blessings,
Luis Rivero
Merry Christmas!