Interrupting the Silence

Tag: Advent

  • When Our World Ends

    I don’t know when the world will end but I could tell you stories about when my worlds have ended. They would be stories of loss and grief, stories of disappointment and failure, stories of broken relationships, stories of sin and guilt, stories of shattered dreams and hopes, stories of when life seemed empty and Read more

  • Expectations, Baggage, and God

    Remember packing for the last trip you took? Suitcases, backpacks, bags. Sometimes packing can be the most stressful part of the journey. What did you take? What did you leave behind? Why did you take what you did? Most of us, I suspect, pack for our trips based on our expectations of where we are Read more

  • Advent Credo of Daniel Berrigan, SJ

    “It is not true that creation and the human family are doomed to destruction and loss—This is true: For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life; It is not true that we must accept inhumanity and discrimination, hunger Read more

  • When Exile and Words of Comfort Meet – A Sermon on Isaiah 40:1-11, Advent 2B

    The collect and readings for today, The Second Sunday of Advent, may be found here. The following sermon focuses on Isaiah 40:1-11. “Comfort, o comfort my people.” These are God’s ancient words to his people; spoken through the prophet Isaiah in the 6th century b.c. Their relevance and timeliness, however, are not lost on us Read more

  • Alma Redemptoris Mater

    With the First Sunday in Advent the Marian hymn following compline changed from the Salve Regina to the Alma Redemptoris Mater. This will be used until the  Feast of the Presentation. There are two concluding collects: one for the Season of Advent one that is used from Christmas Eve until the Presentation. The Commonweal blog has Read more

  • “In Those Days….” – A Sermon on Mark 13:24-37, Advent 1B

    The collect and readings for the First Sunday in Advent, Year B, may be found here. The following sermon focuses on Mark 13:24-37. “In those days….” So begins our entry into the Season of Advent. It sounds ominous and it is. Advent is not just a liturgical season of the church year. It is a Read more

  • The Final Work of Advent

    “Now the birth of Jesus took place in this way….” (Matthew 1:18-25) Matthew’s description of how the birth happens does not mention anything that is on my to-do list. So maybe the real work, the final work of Advent, is to get out of the way and let the baby be born. Get out of the Read more

  • Archbishop Williams’ Reflections on Advent

    This Sunday begins a new liturgical year with the Season of Advent. Archbishop Rowan Williams offers his reflections on this holy season of waiting, expectation, and hope.   More Advent videos. Read more

  • Advent 4C – Greeting our Coming Salvation

    Every year on the last Sunday of Advent, the Sunday before the Nativity, the lectionary presents us with a gospel concerning the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the Church’s reminder that the time of our salvation is approaching. In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill Read more