Sunday, November 29
First Sunday of Advent
Roman Ordinary calendar
Book of Isaiah 63,16b-17.19b.64,2b-7.
You, LORD, are our father,
our redeemer you are named forever.
Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from your ways, and harden our hearts so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.
Too long have we been like those you do not rule, who do not bear your name. Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, with the mountains quaking before you,
While you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for,
such as they had not heard of from of old. No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen, any God but you doing such deeds for those who wait for him.
Would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in our ways! Behold, you are angry, and we are sinful;
all of us have become like unclean men, all our good deeds are like polluted rags; We have all withered like leaves, and our guilt carries us away like the wind.
There is none who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to cling to you; For you have hidden your face from us and have delivered us up to our guilt.
Yet, O LORD, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands.
Psalms 80(79),2-3.15-16.18-19.
Shepherd of Israel, listen!
From your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth
Rouse your power,
come to save us.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see:
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
First Letter to the Corinthians 1,3-9.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus (Christ).
God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 13,33-37.
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 work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.
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!'”
Saint John Chrysostom (c.345-407)
priest at Antioch then Bishop of Constantinople, Doctor of the Church
Homily on Psalm 49
Christ’s two comings
At his first coming, God came without any brilliance, unknown by most, prolonging the mystery of his hidden life by many years. When he came down from the mountain of the Transfiguration, Jesus asked his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. Then he came like a shepherd to look for his lost sheep, and in order to get hold of the unruly animal, he had to remain hidden. Like a doctor who is careful not to frighten his patient right from the start, in the same way, the Lord avoids making himself known right from the beginning of his mission: he only does so imperceptibly and little by little. The prophet announced this event without brilliance with these words: “He shall be like rain coming down on the meadow, like showers watering the earth.” (Ps 72:6) He did not tear open the heavens so as to come on the clouds, but rather, he came in silence into the womb of a virgin and was carried by her for nine months. He was born in a manger as the son of a humble craftsman (…) He went here and there like an ordinary man; his clothing was simple, his table even more frugal. He walked without resting to the point of being tired out. But his second coming will not be like that. He will come with such brilliance that it won’t be necessary to announce his coming: “As the lightning from the east flashes to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Mt 24:27) It will be the time of judgment and of sentencing. And the Lord will not appear as a doctor, but as a judge. The prophet Daniel saw his throne, the river flowing at the base of the tribunal, and that device made entirely of fire, the chariot and the wheels (7:9-10) (…) David, the prophet-king, spoke only of splendor, of brilliance, of fire flaming on all sides: “Before him is a devouring fire; around him is a raging storm.” (Ps 50:3) All these comparisons aim at making us understand God’s sovereignty, the brilliant light that surrounds him, and his inaccessible nature.
Traditional Latin Mass readings for the First Sunday of Advent
EPISTLE Romans 13: 11-14
Fratres: Sciéntes, quia hora est jam nos de somno súrgere. Nunc enim própior est nostra salus, quam cum credídimus. Nox præcéssit, dies autem appropinquávit. Abjiciámus ergo ópera tenebrárum, et induámur arma lucis. Sicut in die honéste ambulémus: non in comessatiónibus et ebrietátibus, non in cubílibus et impudicítiis, non in contentióne et æmulatióne: sed induímini Dóminum Jesum Christum.
Brethren, knowing that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. The night is past and the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day: not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in contention and envy: but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.
GRADUAL Psalms 24: 3, 4
Univérsi qui te exspéctant, non confundéntur, Dómine. Vias tuas, Dómine, notas fac mihi: et sémitas tuas édoce me.
All they that wait on Thee shall not be confounded, O Lord. Show, O Lord, Thy ways to me: and teach me Thy paths.
LESSER ALLELUIA
Allelúja, allelúja. Osténde nobis, Dómine, misericórdiam tuam: et salutáre tuum da nobis. Allelúja.
Alleluia, alleluia. Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy: and grant us Thy salvation. Alleluia.
GOSPEL Luke 21: 25-33
In illo témpore: Dixit Jesus discípulis suis: Erunt signa in sole, et luna, et stellis, et in terris pressúra géntium præ confusióne sónitus maris et flúctuum: arescéntibus homínibus præ timóre et exspectatióne, quæ supervénient univérso orbi: nam virtútes cælórum movebúntur. Et tunc vidébunt Fílium hóminis veniéntem in nube cum potestáte magna, et majestáte. His autem fíeri incipiéntibus, respícite, et leváte cápita vestra: quóniam appropínquat redémptio vestra. Et dixit illis similitúdinem: Vidéte ficúlneam et omnes árbores: cum prodúcunt jam ex se fructum, scitis quóniam prope est æstas. Ita et vos cum vidéritis hæc fíeri, scitóte quóniam prope est regnum Dei. Amen dico vobis, quia non præteríbit generátio hæc, donec ómnia fiant. Cælum et terra transíbunt: verba autem mea non transíbunt.
At that time Jesus said to His disciples: There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves: men withering away for fear and expectations of what shall come upon the whole world. For the powers of heaven shall be moved. And then they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty. But when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand. And He spoke to them a similitude: See the fig tree and all the trees: when they now shoot forth their fruit, you know that summer is nigh. So you also, when you shall see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand. Amen, I say to you, this generation shall not pass away till all things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away.
Catholicism Pure & Simple 
The Traditional Latin Mass readings for the First Sunday of Advent are better than the Novus Ordo readings.
LikeLike
We are living in very difficult times. Times very hostile to faith and to Christians. Times where there is great evil. Many evil people who commit many kinds of evil. In addition, technology has become oppressive to human beings. However, still other things have to happen, as said in the Gospel of the Traditional Mass.
May the return of Christ become closer. We are suffering a lot. We need our Savior. But we know that the final persecution will be triggered by the Antichrist.
LikeLike