The Fourth Week The Fourth Week of Advent is very short this year, just three days plus the Vigil of Christmas; yet the Fourth Sunday of Advent takes us a very significant step further in our journey. The liturgy of this Sunday builds on the insights of the previous weeks in the wilderness, and exemplifies ... Read more...

The Third Week The gospel passage for the Third Sunday of Advent is from the fourth gospel. Here again we are in the wilderness with John the Baptist, but now our attention shifts from the Second Sunday’s focus on the Baptist’s prophetic message, to this Sunday’s captivation with the identity of the messenger and his ... Read more...

The Second Week The Second and Third Sundays of Advent urge us to spend time in the “wilderness,” attentive to the wisdom of John the Baptist. On both Sundays, Second Isaiah, a prophet of the Babylonian exile, speaks again, now in the Gospel passages, shaping the essential message of each. From Isaiah 40 comes the ... Read more...

Jedes Jahr, ob im Messzyklus A mit Matthäus, oder B mit Markus, oder C mit Lukas: das Evangelium des Ersten Adventsonntags tut alles in seiner Macht, um uns aufzurütteln – “Wacht auf! Seid achtsam! Seid bereit! Seid euch bewusst! Bleibt wach! Passt auf! Wacht auf!” Die Dringlichkeit dieser Worte erinnert mich an drei Erfahrungen: die ... Read more...

The First Week Every year, whether in cycle A with Matthew, or cycle B with Mark, or cycle C with Luke, the Gospel of the First Sunday of Advent does everything in its power to grab our attention – “Wake up! Be alert! Be ready! Be aware! Keep awake! Be on your guard! Wake up!” ... Read more...