Lectio Divina

(Sacred Reading)
December 1, 2023
For the First Sunday of Advent
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 Benedicite!
Let us remember that we are always
in the Most Holy Presence of God.

To those coming from other faith traditions

you may now make your sign of faith
as we make ours.

+In the Name of the Father, and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
 Opening Prayer
Prayer of St. John Chrysostom
before Reading the Sacred Scriptures

O Lord Jesus Christ, open the eyes of my heart

that I may hear your Word, and understand and
do your will, for I am a pilgrim upon the Earth.
Hide not your commandments from me, but open
my eyes, that I may perceive the wonders of your
Law. Speak unto me the hidden and secret things
of your wisdom.
 Opening Prayer
Prayer of St. John Chrysostom
before Reading the Sacred Scriptures

On you do I set my hope, O my God, that you

shall enlighten my mind and understanding with
the light of your knowledge; not only to cherish
those things which are written, but to do them;
For you are the enlightenment of those who lie in
darkness, and from you comes every good deed
and every gift. Amen.
 Lectio
“Take a Bite”
of the Word
 Gospel: Mark 13:33-37
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be watchful! Be alert!
You do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man traveling abroad.
He leaves home and places his servants in charge,
each with his own work,
and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.
 Gospel: Mark 13:33-37
Watch, therefore;
you do not know when the lord of the house is coming,
whether in the evening, or at midnight,
or at cockcrow, or in the morning.
May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”
Meditatio
“Chew”
on the Word
Meditate on the following questions:
• What word or words in this passage
caught your attention?
• What in this passage
comforted you?
• What in this passage
challenged you?
Contemplatio
“Digest”
the Word
 Reflection:
“Off our Knees”
by Fr. Arnel Aquino, SJ
 Reflection
My dear sisters and brothers, it’s the First Sunday
of Advent again, can you believe it? Time to
prepare for Christmas, or what I often think of as
the Feast of the Incarnation.

Isn’t that what Christmas is: a remembrance of that

cold desert evening when, “for us and for our
salvation, God came down from heaven and
became man”?
So to get right to the point, I ask, is the forgiveness
of sin the one and only driving force behind God’s
Incarnation?
 Reflection
In “for us and for our salvation,” does salvation
here refer to salvation from sin and only sin?
Because that’s what many of us Catholics answer
when we’re asked,
“Why did God become man?”
We say: “To save us from sin.”

So, I ask again, did Jesus come to the world only

to forgive sins, save people from sinning, and
prepare us for the end of the world when, we
presume, God will destroy all of creation because
of our sins?
 Reflection
Whenever Advent comes around, I get anxious
when our readings sound like they’re about the
“end of the world.”

Many of us, Catholics, read them that way,

anyway, like today’s Gospel—even if this Gospel
is really a prediction of the destruction of the
Temple, not of the world.
 Reflection
And if ever the world ends, we wish the Messiah
catches us before our altars, on our knees, praying
our sins away.

It doesn’t often occur to us that it would please

the Messiah more, if on that day, he catches us in
his favorite places with his favorite people: the
broken of our world.
 Reflection
In the following weeks of our preparation for the
Feast of the Incarnation, let’s keep remembering,
sisters and brothers, that the Incarnation is not just
all about the sinners that need saving.

The Incarnation is really more about a loving God

who keeps healing brokenness. Jesus was not just
prayer warrior on his knees.
He was ever on his feet, frontlining.
Oratio
“Savor”
the Word
 Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for the blessing of reading
your word together.
We ask that these words of life, truth and hope
would continue to impact us in the week
ahead.
May your love and grace follow each of us as
we return to our daily lives, refreshed and
blessed by you.
We recognize that your ways are not our ways,
your choices are not ours.
 Closing Prayer
Lord God our creator, you are the source of our
life. Grant us the grace never to be ashamed to
come to you even though we are sinners.

Help us to realize that you are the only one who

can heal and mend our brokenness.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
St. Benedict and St. Scholastica
Pray for us.
 Mary with her loving son,
+Bless us each and everyone
That in all things
God may be
glorified!
 Lectio Divina
(Sacred Reading)
November 24, 2023
For the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, King of the Universe