This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz,
saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come,
the mountain of the LORD’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths.”
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
one nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
O house of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the Lord!
saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come,
the mountain of the LORD’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths.”
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
one nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
O house of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the Lord!
Please, if you are not Catholic, don’t be put off by this video. It’s simply great advice for another way to think about celebrating Advent and preparing for Christmas and the Second Coming of the Lord as well. Actually, I found Fr. Mike’s thoughts to be more like what I used to hear in Baptist churches.
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Every Christian Tradition has members who Fear God, and Walk the Christ-Path.
I’ll be glad to hear Fr. Mike.
wake up dead LOL
LOVE Fr Mike
never heard this one
what a treat…
1 down 3 to GO
( wE celebrate Christmas Season until Feb 2 🙂
Fr Mike STOLE my line, when he said “wake up dead”! BUT I’m glad that it’s being put to good use! LOL!
What a joyful priest! He gave me much to think about. Thank you, Menagerie.
Thank you for sharing.
Always good too be reminded, and be given, a new day and the hope of trying to be/do BETTER. Thank you for this important post. Love Fr Mike and will make him a daily part of my month.
As always, thank you Menagerie, your posts are a gift. Many blessings to you and yours.
Beautiful, beautiful!
Father, let your hope arise in our hearts! Lift our eyes up to see that you alone are where our hope comes from. Help us to shake off the anxiety, discouragements, and distractions that have filled this year.
May we pause to remember that we have hope in you.
You know the end of our stories, and we give thanks because you have promised that it will be a victorious ending. Give us the grace we need to wrap up this year joyfully.
We invite your Spirit into this beautiful Advent season. Renew our sense of holy anticipation! Let us be those who are waiting eagerly for Jesus to come again.
More than anything, we ask that you be glorified in this season of expectation. Amen.
Amen and Amen. O Come, Emmanuel also one of my favorites.
Lovely, Covertly!💕
Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if we have room for Jesus.
NEVER heard that before… so true
if anyone wants to dive deeper… fyi
https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/daily-readings/2022-11-27
An Advent prayer that I also use as a preparation for receiving Our Lord in Holy Communion…
Come my little Jesus, Come my Sweet Child, my arms are extended, my heart is prepared. Come make Your home in my heart.
Blessings for the coming Christmas season
The Priest spoke about the ‘Come to Jesus Moment’ as usually spoken about in a Catholic Church. … We are to contemplate our ~death. [The Last Four Things; Death, Judgement, Heaven or Hell.] …… A Priest often speaks about Forgiveness. We say at Mass, ‘forgive us our trespasses ~as we forgive those who trespass against us.’ [A contingency prayer, as Catholics understand freewill and forgiveness.]
Forgiveness and Mercy are essential to an understanding of Christianity. … The Priest reminds us, that we should want Christ to lead ALL souls to Heaven. Asking for forgiveness is an apology to other people we have hurt; we want them to forgive too.
*******************
Protestants will often speak about a ‘Come to Jesus Moment.’ ~ Especially, when there is a change in someone’s life, and they become more Christ like.
……. An example from the Tabloids, = One of the Greatest Presidents, Donald Trump (A Presbyterian) was ‘steppin out’ with other women, while Melania (A Catholic) was home, pregnant with their child. … Supposedly, Melania told Donald, ‘Stop it, or I’m leaving with our child!’
The Great Donald Trump had a ‘Come to Jesus Moment’ and became more Christ like. … He speaks about being a changed man. ~When Donald Trump is reminded of his past, he will say, ‘I’m NOT like that anymore!’
…….. God can work miracles in the lives of ordinary people and famous Billionaires. … We should pray for everyone.
Sleepy Joe and his crime family (+cronies) need our prayers too. … We are obligated to pray for everyone. [Lord have Mercy!]
Thank you Menagerie for the video.
Whatever church or religion one chooses to be a part of or not, it is always nice to get a reminder of what Christmas is truly about.
“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
Retired Magistrate here: It is the most wonderful time of the year. Yes, the decorations and presents are great but they are not the real reason for Christmas. The real reason is CHRIST, the most wonderful present this old earth was ever given.
Christmas carols are playing everywhere with most giving a presentation of the gospel for those who choose to listen. It is also a wonderful time to share with others what it means to have CHRIST in your life. Don’t worry about a formal presentation; just tell the person how your life has changed since you accepted CHRIST as your Personal Savior. Yes, you might get the “deer in the headlights” look (I know I have) but you have planted a seed.
So don’t be troubled if this Christmas may not look like your Christmas in the past; it can be a wonderful Christmas if we all keep in mind that it really is all about CHRIST; we look back to HIS birth and forward to HIS coming again!
Have a Blessed Day.
I offered this earlier under a different topic, but many probably did not see it.
Anton Bruckner, the great 19th-century composer of 10 symphonies (#0-9), also created many marvelous religious works.
Here is the motet Os Iusti, well worth 5 minutes of your time. The text comes from a few of the Psalms.
Translation: (partially from Wikipedia, I fixed a few things)
“The mouth of the righteous will contemplate wisdom,
and his tongue will speak what is just.
The law of his God is in his heart:
and his steps will not be hindered.
Alleluia.
I have found David, my servant;
I have anointed him with my holy oil.
Alleluia.”
Os justi meditabitur sapientiam:
et lingua ejus loquetur judicium.
Lex Dei ejus in corde ipsius:
et non supplantabuntur gressus ejus.
Alleluia.
Inveni David servum meum,
oleo sancto meo unxi eum.
Alleluia.
I used this in my grade-school Latin classes: one year, one of my 6th Grade boys exclaimed at the end:
“That’s the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard!” 🙂
A lovely Advent playlist….
MUSIC FOR ADVENT –
This is kind of off subject hope it’s ok? I’m not a Catholic but my walk of faith which took years in the making started with a Catholic Priest. I never had a specific born again moment that I can point to but rather a series of events over years including the birth of my two sons. I wanted them to be raised in the faith but found myself being inexplicitly drawn to newer versions/translations of the Gospel. Growing up my parents didn’t go to church but took us and dropped us off. That’s different! In the early 60s the translation most in use back then was the original King James Version which I couldn’t understand at all. So going off to college I never attended any church or any Christian services. But I was involved in a Catholic wedding in the early 70s. As I was standing up there at the alter with the groom, the Priest knew I wasn’t Catholic, I was asked when was the last time I had Holy Communion? I told the Priest I couldn’t remember it was so long ago and when he heard that he gave me Communion. I was kind of startled by it. But to that Priest it was more important to him that I got Communion than I was a Catholic and that stayed with me ever since. Father Mike reminded me of that Priest so long ago. Godspeed Father Mike!
This was the sermon I needed to hear. Prepare to die…. sounds ominous.
But that was the thought I had after reading Bakocarl’s morning devotion, Be Ready
As an old biddy, on the shady side of 70, time is growing short for me to be ready for Christ’s Second Coming and/or my own life’s end.
As Fr. Mike said, Advent is a good time to reconcile, to give and receive forgiveness, to extend healing and to be healed.
The Bible, Jesus said to do five things to our enemies, love, do good to, bless, pray for, forgive. Boy, that’s hard….and seventy times seven….that would take God’s Spirit and Power working in me.
But I believe He has called me to do these things in order to receive The Peace That Passes All Understanding….The Peace of Jerusalem….deep in my heart and soul.
I’m going to try my best.
Dear Father,
Please help all of us, both now and in the years to come.
Be present with us, whatever may happen in our lives, families, communities, states and nations.
Please bring us to readiness,
Make us clean and true,
Fill us full of hope,
That we may be ready to meet YOU.
In the Name of Jesus we pray,
Amen.
Psalms 51, 70
Can I tell you something that happened to me 25 years ago? I was woken up 4 o clock in the morning with a stern voice telling me to get my gun and wait in my daughters room. The voice was so overpowering that I just did it. Half a minute later I saw 5 invaders coming over my back yard wall. This was in South Africa. I didnt harm them but gave them something to think about. God is with us and never forget it. The Holy Ghost is everywhere and God made Him available to us poor souls.
and that was’nt the last time God saved myself and my family.
Damnit, I just realized that God is eveything.
In a very good way.
“Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths….
O house of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the Lord!”
Thank you, Menagerie, for focusing my Mama heart back to the promises of God, which are ETERNAL…
My own Jacob has walked away from his family and his faith but these verses are a reminder that God is still at work and that He is still the God of Jacob, whether he realizes it or not!
Many people (Americans especially) think that this is the “Season of Santa Claus” and of Winter Festivities and such.
The authentic Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Lycia, the Miracle-worker (+ 343) simply
> > > points > > >
the way to Our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ.
One very respectful website in honor of Saint Nicholas has a rich treasury of articles, hymns, Icons, sermons, and so much more about him from many sources and perspectives and corners of the world.
(Saint Nicholas is honored on December 6th on the Patristic Calendar of the Orthodox Church or December 19th on the civil calendar.)
http://www.stnicholascenter.org
Americans are more religious than you think. Do not go by what you see on the teevee
Wonderful!
I also watched and listened to this; just what I needed.
My children have been sending me the same message.
Because they are middle aged their friends are losing they’re parents. Some were messy circumstances.
They’re saying “ be ready ,plan your finances(she laughs) leave us your preferences and instructions.
But my faith says if Jesus comes in my lifetime he’s taking me out alive. All the stage is set for his return .
The previous message spoke of “watching,waiting”
As in for my loved one getting off the plane or coming round the corner.
We forgive because grudges weigh us down,we
Pray for our enemies so they can’t dishearten us, we are to Love them so we are not poisoned by hate.
Its all for our own highest good.
Thank God for his indescribable gift.
from Meditations on The Collects, The First Sunday in Advent:
“Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and for ever. Amen.”
the keynote for the meditation being: Purification of Character in preparation for the birth of Christ.
Went to the 7:30am Tridentine Mass in a modernist stronghold diocese with 1000 other souls this morning. Hope, Faith, Joy, and Peace will reign this Advent despite the state of the world. Look to the coming of the Lord.
Fabulous! I do breed rescue for dogs and for some reason Jesus Season is full of miracles for 25 years now. 🙂
Thank you Sundance, this was a good Christian message.
Just found this tonight…so beautiful:
Thank you for Father Mike’s post this morning. I needed it badly. I am not Catholic and I do not see any reason for someone to be put off by his words. Merry Christmas to all who venture here.
Until then… ‘he who turns his swords into plowshares will plow for those who don’t’…