An Advent Prayer Service for a Spirit-Filled Christmas Celebration.

I have prepared here a service during advent for a gathering of family and friends. This is not my own but I compiled it from 3 sources that I would indicate below.

Hymn 

Greeting

Leader: We begin our prayer…In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

All: Amen.

Introduction

In these four weeks of Advent each year, we are reminded that we are called to be a people living in joyful hope, waiting for the time when Christ will come again in glory. The Scriptures we hear during these weeks remind us that we are to be ready for Christ whenever he comes, for we know not the day or the hour. We have gathered here together now, to think about our lives and our commitment to living in joyful hope, waiting for Christ. We will spend some time listening to God’s word in Scripture, a word that calls us to renewal, to forgiveness, and to peace.

As we now light our wreath in the middle of this, the darkest time of the year, we, as a church, a family, light candles reminding us that, in the darkest of nights, Christ is our light, a light no darkness can overcome. At the same time, when we focus on the evergreen wreath, let us be reminded that God is ever present to us, even in the midst of death.

In this spirit of hopefulness and trust, we say this pray together:-

All: O God our Father, we are waiting for your Son to come to us. Help us to see him when he comes to us in the words of the Scripture, in the love of our families, and in the daily events of our work, studies and recreation. Amen.

(Someone lights the advent candle while a hymn is sung)

Let us pray together our opening prayer.

All: God of Love,

Your son, Jesus, is your greatest gift to us.

He is a sign of your love.

Help us walk in that love during the weeks of Advent,

As we wait and prepare for his coming.

We pray in the name of Jesus, our Savior.

Amen.

Reading

 Isaiah 40:3–5

A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah:

A voice is shouting:

Clear a path in the desert for the Lord.

Build a straight road there for our God.

Fill in the valleys and flatten the mountains and hills.

Level the rough and rugged ground.

Then the glory of the Lord will appear for all to see.

The Lord has promised this!

The Word of the Lord.

Reflection

Sharing

·    John the Baptist told the people to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. They heard the Good News and responded. It might be easier for us to respond if John the Baptist were alive preaching today. Of course, he isn’t, but there are people like John who tell us about Jesus. Who are those people in your life? Take a moment now to talk with your family about the answer to that question.

·         What are some ways we respond to God’s invitation to live as Jesus did? Talk with your family about the things that you do to help others and show your love.

 Prayers of Petition

Leader: Sometimes one of the most challenging things for us to do is to learn to find God in our lives every day. Let us pray that Jesus will come more deeply into our lives and that we will be aware of his presence.

Our response is: Come, Lord Jesus!

Reader: Into our lives, we pray . . .

All: Come, Lord Jesus!

Reader: Into our troubled world, we pray . . .

All: Come, Lord Jesus!

Reader: Into our baking, shopping, and gift wrapping, we pray . . .

All: Come, Lord Jesus!

Reader: Into our hearts as we care for those in need, we pray . . .

All: Come, Lord Jesus!

Reader: Into our homes, we pray . . .

All: Come, Lord Jesus!

Leader: Let us pray together the Hail Mary.

Leader: Let us pray offer each other the Sign of Peace.

Dismissal

Leader: May the Lord bless us, keep us from all evil and bring us to eternal life.

(all make the sign of the cross)              

All: Amen

Leader: Let us praise the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God.

  

Closing Hymn 

Sources:-

1.Intergenerational Event—Advent, Loyola Press.

2. http://catholicism.about.com/od/catholicliving/ht/Adv_Wreath_Bl.htm

3. Oliver Crilly, Penitential Services, Twenty-Third Publications, Connecticut.

My letter to St. Francis Xavier.

Dear St. Francis Xavier, I would like to thank you for bringing Christianity to Malaysia. And I am very blessed indeed to be actually serving now in the very state that you visited which is in my diocese of Malacca-Johore. Every year we have your Feast Day Mass at the site where your body lay for 9 months while waiting to be transferred to Goa, India with people coming in thousands from all over Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand and even from Korea, Japan and Hong Kong. Though the site has been ruined during the war, the government tried to save the site and has named it a ‘Heritage Site’. We have many tourists including local Muslims coming to visit the site every day. I believe and hope that when they read about you and the life you have witnessed, they will be inspired by your zeal for preaching Christ and would want to know more of the Christ you preached.

I have three questions for you dear Saint. You are from a very rich family; you had everything including servants to look after your needs. My first question is how were you able to leave all these luxuries and a comfortable lifestyle to follow Christ and be his missionary? In another word, what was the zeal (or turning point) for wanting to preach Christ to all peoples?

Malacca was your stop-over for the various destinations you had traveled. And during your short stay at Malacca each time you came, you had some unique experiences such as the time when you faced a fierce storm and lost your precious cross and you found it later on the shore presumable that a crab was holding on to it only to give it back to you. I believe you had also many encounters with many different people from various countries coming to Malacca to do some trading and it is there you met Yajiro (Anjigo) and became his friend and your first Japanese convert who opened the door for your mission trip to Japan. So now it seems Malacca has a special meaning for you and for the Malaysians. My second question is; do you have any particular story for the Malaccans about their pioneers of the Christian faith?

Dear Saint, the church, recognizing your works and life for Jesus Christ, canonized you a Saint in the year 1622 and made you a Patron of the Missions.  Reflecting on your life, I can come to a conclusion that you feel you do not deserve this recognition. But it is important for us here living now. Through the proclamation that you are a Saint, invites each one of us to be like you, a worker in the Lord’s vineyard, and a missionary for the Lord of the Harvest. My third question is; what is your advice to all of us who is taking up missions in the various fields in the life of the Church especially priests and seminarians in this current era?

Once again, I would like to thank you for all the sacrifices and your missionary work especially in Asia and in particular in Malacca, Malaysia. You are indeed ‘a good and faithful servant’ and I know you are ‘sharing in your master’s joy’ (Matthew 25:21). I ask you to pray for me that I too may be faithful to my calling and be a missionary like you in the Master’s vineyard.

Yours sincerely,

Adrian Francis Mathews.

How does one retain “Christian Hope” in the situations of repression? (Reflection on Luke 21: 12-19)

We hear Jesus mentioning about persecutions that His faithful followers would have to face in the Gospel today, taken from Luke 21: 12-19 (click here to read the Gospel text).  Here are my reflections in response to the mass readings today based on Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical - Spe Salvi. 

Pope Benedict gives us a few suggestions on how Christian Hope can be retained in situations of repression. He first suggests that we have to practice our hope through prayer. When no one listens to us anymore, when no one wants to talk to us, when no one wants to help us, God is there. We can talk to God, for He listens and helps us in all situations. For when we pray we are never alone. The God of hope listens and is with us. This will enable us to be witnesses of hope for when we are open to God, our hearts then are open to all people.

 

The Pope goes on further to say that all serious and upright human conduct is hope in action. This is the performative dimension of our faith. The trials and struggles that we encounter does not fail us on our journey of faith for it becomes a stepping stone, for our hope gives us the meaning and importance on why we must carry on in the actions to build the Kingdom of God.  The Pope says. “It is the great hope based upon God's promises that gives us courage and directs our action in good times and bad.”

I now conclude with the Pope’s 2012 Easter message, He says; “Christ is hope and comfort in a particular way for those Christian communities suffering most for their faith on account of discrimination and persecution, and He is present as a force of hope through His Church, which is close to all human situations of suffering and injustice.” Now this is indeed a great inspiration for all us to hope in God, in His church and in His people in situations of repression we face. (Click here to read my article on 'How does one promote the faith under conditions of 'no religious freedom'?'

By your perseverance you will secure your lives (Luke 21:19)

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

I would like to share Fr. James McTavish, FMVD reflection on today's Gospel reading. Click here for today's reading:-

The Gospel of the 33rd Sunday can sound like the end of the world is near. Don't worry. What is coming the next Sunday is the end of the liturgical year and the Solemnity of Christ the King. All the saints had their eyes fixed on Him. We are called to be vigilant, not resting on our laurels - "I am great, I serve in the parish" or "I went to this school, seminary or that recollection, formation 5, 10, 20, 40, 50 years ago." No! Let us not stop running the race. Remember the Kingdom of Jesus does not belong to this world and that is why we pray for the intercession of the saints  to help us fix our eyes on the goal which is a life in Christ forever. But this eternal life, this everlasting friendship begins NOW! Don't wait until after death to cultivate this friendship with Jesus - it may be too late! Eternity starts here and now so let us run the race with determination.

Click here for the readings for the Solemnity of Christ the King.

Click here in reference to the word 'race'.

Is religious education enough for our children to defend their faith??

The recent happening in Malaysia in regards to the miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin Mary (click here to read about it) on the window pane of a hospital not only brought excitement, fear and curiosity among the faithful but also criticism especially from unbelievers. Reading a comment from a young man who left the Catholic Church recently and went to a Pentecostal church brought me thinking what do we actually teach our children in their Catechism classes? What do our children take back from the faith education classes? I personally know this young man and to read his criticism on the Catholic faith I was indeed very sad. I was thinking what did he learn from his catechism faith? What happened to all those prayers and practices while he was a Catholic? Why is there so much anger and confusion on the church now? His criticism was basically what he learned (or supposed to be taught) at the catechism classes. He seems not to understand the meaning behind what the Catholics do, pray and profess. I guess there must have been a sort of ‘brain-washing’ or rather false teachings of the Catholic faith in his new church but how was he able to bend over to the other just like that?

I fear now. I fear for the future of our children and their faith. Frankly the weekly 1hour or so of religious education for our children is not enough. Parents have to help and do more in this area if they want their children to be ‘faith-filled’ human beings having the tools to face life challengers. The happenings in Europe where churches are getting empty and being close down should be a lesson for us in Asia. Currently the Asian family values seem to be eroding too. Our children need to defend their faith. Can they? 

 

Reflecting on this I am challenged. I am challenged to teach my faith to others. To teach in a way that the Catholic faith is not a mere ‘feel good’ religion but a religion with full of love and joy that comes with a full pledge commitment of each individual baptized Catholic to be a priest, prophet and king. I hope to explain to all especially the beginners of the faith the meaning behind what we do, pray and profess. I look forward to my ministry of preaching and teaching and living life of faith in Jesus Christ in the Catholic Church. 

  

Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty,
my memory, my understanding and my whole will.
All that I am and all that I possess You have given me.
I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will.
Give me only Your love and Your grace;
with these I will be rich enough,
and will desire nothing more.

- St. Ignatius Loyola (Jesuit)- 16th century

How does one promote the faith under conditions of ‘no religious freedom’?

In line with the Year of Faith,  I was wondering on how does one promote the faith under conditions of 'no religious freedom'? Here are my answers after reflection:-

For one to promote the faith under conditions of ‘no religious freedom’, we can take cue from the Holy Scriptures especially from the example of the life of the first believers as we see in the book of the Acts of the Apostles chapter 2: 43-47:

“Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one's need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

1.    Living together in unity with fellow community can promote faith. This will awaken the curiosity of other people that would lead them to want to know how is such community living together and sharing everything in common thus the community of faith becomes an example to others.

2.     Another way that one can promote faith is to be of service to others especially those of not of the same faith. From experiences, we know that simple act of charity touches the hearts of many and these works of mercy speaks louder than words of doctrines.

3.    Praying for the oppressors and the government that is not open to religious freedom is a way of promoting faith. In this situation we can take the example of the recent Popes of our times who openly pray and ask for prayers for the situation in China, many people were touched by this gesture that the Pope cares not only for his flock but also those who persecute the Christians.

4.   One’s readiness and willingness to give one’s life for the sake of faith is also a way of promotion of faith. Their sacrifice and act of love for their faith will be a ‘witness’ which comes from the word martyrdom, would definitely touch many who have seen such a person of faith giving one’s life for God and in service to others.

5.    In times of persecution, one should also show joy and this is also one way of promoting faith. People want a religion of joy not sadness and difficulties because in life they are already going through hardships, so joy attracts others.

6.  Dialoguing with other people of faith helps to promote faith too because others will understand what the faith is all about especially if it is in a country or situation where they have never heard of such religion.

7.    Another way of promoting faith is to encourage the lay faithful who is capable to enter into the politics so as to eventually influence the government to promote and allow religious freedom.