Each year, at Advent and at Lent, the Justice and Peace Group prepare a set of reflections to make us think and pray about social issues. Below are the reflections for Advent 2018.
1st Sunday of Advent 2018
Introduction
Advent is a time of dual anticipation. As we wait for the birth of Christ celebrated at Christmas, we also wait for the second coming of the son of God, for Jesus’ return. In the midst of preparing ourselves for Christmas, as we purchase gifts and fill our homes with festive decorations, it is easy to forget that the living God also asks us to prepare the way for Christ’s return. This is a great promise, but also a great challenge.
Each Sunday of Advent prayers and reflections will be attached to the newsletter and highlighted by a member of the Justice and Peace Group as an aid to our preparations through Advent. Each week focuses on a different way we might prepare for the coming of Christ, and provide prayers and considerations based on the lectionary readings for that Sunday of Advent
Reflection : Welcoming Refugees
Readings
Jeremiah 33 14-16
“The time is coming when I will fulfil the promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah
Luke 21 25-28, 34-36
“Be on your guard! Don’t let yourselves become occupied with too much feasting and drinking and with the worries of this life.….”
“Be alert and pray always that you will always have the strength to go safely through all those things that will happen and to stand before the Son of Man”
To Consider
1. In Luke’s reading we are warned to keep alert for the coming of the son of man at any time. What does keeping alert look like for you? And for our Church?
2. What might keeping alert look like when we think beyond ourselves and to how we treat our neighbour?
3. The community of God knows no boundaries or borders. If those who live on the other side of the world are as much our neighbours as those who live next door to us, how do we discern and act on God’s will in the way we welcome them?
Prayer
Journeying God, You revealed yourself to us through Christ on the move, Christ in the manger, Christ fleeing to Egypt, Christ travelling across the Holy Land to fulfil his ministry.
As we prepare to celebrate this gift of God made flesh, by wrapping presents, writing cards, decorating trees and preparing feasts, move us to prepare for your second coming by remembering the people who have been forgotten. By turning to the people who have been ignored, and by inviting those people who have been left uninvited.
May we always find you in the least expected places: at the borders, in temporary accommodation, in the detention centre, and lying in a stable. Amen.
Introduction
Advent is a time of dual anticipation. As we wait for the birth of Christ celebrated at Christmas, we also wait for the second coming of the son of God, for Jesus’ return. In the midst of preparing ourselves for Christmas, as we purchase gifts and fill our homes with festive decorations, it is easy to forget that the living God also asks us to prepare the way for Christ’s return. This is a great promise, but also a great challenge.
Each Sunday of Advent prayers and reflections will be attached to the newsletter and highlighted by a member of the Justice and Peace Group as an aid to our preparations through Advent. Each week focuses on a different way we might prepare for the coming of Christ, and provide prayers and considerations based on the lectionary readings for that Sunday of Advent
Reflection : Welcoming Refugees
Readings
Jeremiah 33 14-16
“The time is coming when I will fulfil the promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah
Luke 21 25-28, 34-36
“Be on your guard! Don’t let yourselves become occupied with too much feasting and drinking and with the worries of this life.….”
“Be alert and pray always that you will always have the strength to go safely through all those things that will happen and to stand before the Son of Man”
To Consider
1. In Luke’s reading we are warned to keep alert for the coming of the son of man at any time. What does keeping alert look like for you? And for our Church?
2. What might keeping alert look like when we think beyond ourselves and to how we treat our neighbour?
3. The community of God knows no boundaries or borders. If those who live on the other side of the world are as much our neighbours as those who live next door to us, how do we discern and act on God’s will in the way we welcome them?
Prayer
Journeying God, You revealed yourself to us through Christ on the move, Christ in the manger, Christ fleeing to Egypt, Christ travelling across the Holy Land to fulfil his ministry.
As we prepare to celebrate this gift of God made flesh, by wrapping presents, writing cards, decorating trees and preparing feasts, move us to prepare for your second coming by remembering the people who have been forgotten. By turning to the people who have been ignored, and by inviting those people who have been left uninvited.
May we always find you in the least expected places: at the borders, in temporary accommodation, in the detention centre, and lying in a stable. Amen.
2nd Sunday of Advent 2018
Introduction
As we move into the 2ndweek of Advent and our sense of anticipation increases we ask God to renew the face of the earth, through the gift of his Son, our Lord Jesus. Our reflection focuses on bringing peace to our world in the modern day.
Reflection : Bringing Peace
Readings
Baruch 5 1:9
“Jerusalem, take off your dress of sorrow and distress, put on the beauty of the glory of God for ever, wrap the cloak of the integrity of God around you, put the diadem of the glory of the Eternal on your head, since God means to show your splendour to every nation under heaven, since the name God gives you for ever will be:
Peace through integrity and honour through devotedness”
Luke 3 1:6
“ He went through the whole Jordan district proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah:
A voice cries in the wilderness: "Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.”
To Consider
1. Today’s gospel tells us that the word of God had come to John the Baptist in the desert and that he set out on his ministry as one preparing the way for the Lord. What does it mean to prepare the way for someone who is more powerful than us?
2. What role does constructing peace have in preparing the way for the Lord?
3. During this season of Advent can you seek peace and reconciliation with any family member or friend with whom you may have had disagreement with?
Prayer
A voice cries out ‘in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord’. We live in a world troubled by conflict, where concern for power and prestige often dominates. We long for the day when people will put down their weapons. We pray for peace in the Middle East and pray that world leaders may be given the vision to work constructively towards a more peaceful world. We pray for all those engaged in the work of non-violence, peace and reconciliation. We pray especially for the work of Pax Christi, the international Catholic movement for peace.
Lord God, you have created us to live in peace and unity with one another. Help us to understand the part that each one of us must play in this plan. Hear our prayers and be with us in our journey to peace. Amen
3rd Sunday of Advent 2018
Reflection : The Poor and Needy
On this 3rdSunday of Advent our reflection focuses on the poor and needy.In the UK the word “poor” has become associated with personal failure and shame. It is a label given to others, and one that British people rarely give to themselves. At the same time poverty has increased.
Child poverty has been rising since 2011/12;
Four million children are living in poverty, a rise of 500,000 in the last five years;
Four million workers are living in poverty – a rise of more than half a million over five years;
In-work poverty has been rising even faster than employment, driven almost entirely by increasing poverty among working parents.
Today’s poverty is different from the recent past: it visits working families more often than those out of work, and visits the young moreoften than the old. The struggle, the shame and the fear that poverty has always brought remains the same today.
Reading
Luke 3 10 -18
“If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same”
To the tax collectors John the Baptist said “Exact no more than your rate.”
To the soldiers John the Baptist said “No intimidation! No Extortion! Be content with your pay!”
To Consider
1. Who are today’s “poor”? Is it you, is it the people you worship or work alongside?
2. How can we make sure those who experience the hardships of today’s poverty can hear that they are valued and welcomed and that Jesus’ Good News is for them?
3. What might Good News for the poor look like today?
Prayer
Wake us up Lord! God of Salvation.
Wake us up Lord! The night is nearly over so let us continue our Advent journey.
Move us from our lives of greed and selfishness, from our globalised world of inequality and exploitation to your Kingdom of righteousness and mercy, to a transformed world where peace is built on understanding not weapons, where the poor are empowered to live their lives to the full, where businesses are built on need not greed, and your creation is nurtured not abused.
Wake us up Lord! Let us live as people of the light. Amen
Introduction
As we move into the 2ndweek of Advent and our sense of anticipation increases we ask God to renew the face of the earth, through the gift of his Son, our Lord Jesus. Our reflection focuses on bringing peace to our world in the modern day.
Reflection : Bringing Peace
Readings
Baruch 5 1:9
“Jerusalem, take off your dress of sorrow and distress, put on the beauty of the glory of God for ever, wrap the cloak of the integrity of God around you, put the diadem of the glory of the Eternal on your head, since God means to show your splendour to every nation under heaven, since the name God gives you for ever will be:
Peace through integrity and honour through devotedness”
Luke 3 1:6
“ He went through the whole Jordan district proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah:
A voice cries in the wilderness: "Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.”
To Consider
1. Today’s gospel tells us that the word of God had come to John the Baptist in the desert and that he set out on his ministry as one preparing the way for the Lord. What does it mean to prepare the way for someone who is more powerful than us?
2. What role does constructing peace have in preparing the way for the Lord?
3. During this season of Advent can you seek peace and reconciliation with any family member or friend with whom you may have had disagreement with?
Prayer
A voice cries out ‘in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord’. We live in a world troubled by conflict, where concern for power and prestige often dominates. We long for the day when people will put down their weapons. We pray for peace in the Middle East and pray that world leaders may be given the vision to work constructively towards a more peaceful world. We pray for all those engaged in the work of non-violence, peace and reconciliation. We pray especially for the work of Pax Christi, the international Catholic movement for peace.
Lord God, you have created us to live in peace and unity with one another. Help us to understand the part that each one of us must play in this plan. Hear our prayers and be with us in our journey to peace. Amen
3rd Sunday of Advent 2018
Reflection : The Poor and Needy
On this 3rdSunday of Advent our reflection focuses on the poor and needy.In the UK the word “poor” has become associated with personal failure and shame. It is a label given to others, and one that British people rarely give to themselves. At the same time poverty has increased.
Child poverty has been rising since 2011/12;
Four million children are living in poverty, a rise of 500,000 in the last five years;
Four million workers are living in poverty – a rise of more than half a million over five years;
In-work poverty has been rising even faster than employment, driven almost entirely by increasing poverty among working parents.
Today’s poverty is different from the recent past: it visits working families more often than those out of work, and visits the young moreoften than the old. The struggle, the shame and the fear that poverty has always brought remains the same today.
Reading
Luke 3 10 -18
“If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same”
To the tax collectors John the Baptist said “Exact no more than your rate.”
To the soldiers John the Baptist said “No intimidation! No Extortion! Be content with your pay!”
To Consider
1. Who are today’s “poor”? Is it you, is it the people you worship or work alongside?
2. How can we make sure those who experience the hardships of today’s poverty can hear that they are valued and welcomed and that Jesus’ Good News is for them?
3. What might Good News for the poor look like today?
Prayer
Wake us up Lord! God of Salvation.
Wake us up Lord! The night is nearly over so let us continue our Advent journey.
Move us from our lives of greed and selfishness, from our globalised world of inequality and exploitation to your Kingdom of righteousness and mercy, to a transformed world where peace is built on understanding not weapons, where the poor are empowered to live their lives to the full, where businesses are built on need not greed, and your creation is nurtured not abused.
Wake us up Lord! Let us live as people of the light. Amen
