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Let us not forget that advent is a time for reflection, repentance and preparing our hearts to receive our Lord anew at Christmas. It is not yet a time for merry making and celebrations!

We should be leading the way for our family and friends, preparing in the WILDERNESS a way for the Lord. Making a straight highway for our Lord across the DESSERT. So that all our hearts will be grace filled and truly joyful on Christmas morn.

For the Lord seeks out repentant and willing hearts to be fully reconciled and made whole. Great is His love us. His resurrection power sets us free to live fully in His love. Amen

Our Lady of Loreto pray for us…


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First reading
Isaiah 40:1-11

Consolations from the heart of Jerusalem


‘Console my people, console them’ says your God.
‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem
and call to her that her time of service is ended, that her sin is atoned for, that she has received from the hand of the Lord
double punishment for all her crimes.’

A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord.
Make a straight highway for our God across the desert.
Let every valley be filled in,
every mountain and hill be laid low.
Let every cliff become a plain,
and the ridges a valley; then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all mankind shall see it;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’

A voice commands, ‘Cry!’
and I answered, ‘What shall I cry?’”
– ‘All flesh is grass and its beauty like the wild flower’s.
The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on them. (The grass is without doubt the people.)
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God remains for ever.’

Go up on a high mountain,
joyful messenger to Zion.
Shout with a loud voice,
joyful messenger to Jerusalem.
Shout without fear,
say to the towns of Judah,
‘Here is your God.’

Here is the Lord coming with power, his arm subduing all things to him.
The prize of his victory is with him, his trophies all go before him.
He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms, holding them against his breast
and leading to their rest the mother ewes.



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Gospel
18:12-14

The one lost sheep gives him more joy than the ninety-nine that did not stray

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? I tell you solemnly, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.’

Has your faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ opened Your eyes to see that He is truly alive today! Sisters and brothers in Christ today in His name are opening blind eyes to see, opening deaf ears to hear, healing the sick and leading many to the awareness that Heaven is open to us! Are you ministering to His flock as you are called to?

Or are you still wallowing in sin, blind to the presence of our Lord. Deaf to His word and will for you? Inward looking with little or no love for those around you?

Come to Jesus now! Come before Him as you are, He is waiting with open arms. Turn back to Him, and His light will shine bright once again, in and through you. Amen

Saint Nicholas, pray for us…


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First reading
Isaiah 29:17-24

In a very short time, the deaf will hear and the eyes of the blind will see

The Lord says this:

In a short time, a very short time,
shall not Lebanon become fertile land and fertile land turn into forest?
The deaf, that day, will hear the words of a book and, after shadow and darkness, the eyes of the blind will see.

But the lowly will rejoice in the Lord even more and the poorest exult in the Holy One of Israel;
for tyrants shall be no more, and scoffers vanish, and all be destroyed who are disposed to do evil: those who gossip to incriminate others, those who try at the gate to trip the arbitrator
and get the upright man’s case dismissed for groundless reasons.

Therefore the Lord speaks, the God of the House of Jacob,
Abraham’s redeemer:
No longer shall Jacob be ashamed, no more shall his face grow pale,
for he shall see what my hands have done in his midst, he shall hold my name holy.
They will hallow the Holy One of Jacob, stand in awe of the God of Israel.
Erring spirits will learn wisdom
and murmurers accept instruction.

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Gospel
Matthew 9:27-31

‘Take care that no-one learns about this’

As Jesus went on his way two blind men followed him shouting, ‘Take pity on us, Son of David.’ And when Jesus reached the house the blind men came up with him and he said to them, ‘Do you believe I can do this?’ They said, ‘Sir, we do.’ Then he touched their eyes saying, ‘Your faith deserves it, so let this be done for you.’ And their sight returned. Then Jesus sternly warned them, ‘Take care that no one learns about this.’ But when they had gone, they talked about him all over the countryside.

Like Lent before Easter, Advent is an opportunity to go out into the desert, that is to free ourselves from all that weighs us down and holds us back from being fully reconciled with God our loving Father. To make straight the path so that Jesus can come deep into our hearts. We are healed, restored, liberated such that we can leap for joy as we praise and worship the Lord our God. Through this journey we will arrive at the oasis that awaits us. An oasis only to be found in our Lord Jesus Christ!

Come Lord Jesus, come… Amen

Bishop St Ambrose pray for us…

First reading
Isaiah 35:1-10 ·
The return of the redeemed through the desert

Let the wilderness and the dry-lands exult,
let the wasteland rejoice and bloom,
let it bring forth flowers like the jonquil,
let it rejoice and sing for joy.

The glory of Lebanon is bestowed on it,
the splendour of Carmel and Sharon;
they shall see the glory of the Lord,
the splendour of our God.

Strengthen all weary hands,
steady all trembling knees
and say to all faint hearts,
‘Courage! Do not be afraid.

‘Look, your God is coming,
vengeance is coming,
the retribution of God;
he is coming to save you.’

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
the ears of the deaf unsealed,
then the lame shall leap like a deer
and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy;

for water gushes in the desert,
streams in the wasteland,
the scorched earth becomes a lake,
the parched land springs of water.

The lairs where the jackals used to live
become thickets of reed and papyrus…

And through it will run a highway undefiled
which shall be called the Sacred Way;
the unclean may not travel by it,
nor fools stray along it.

No lion will be there
nor any fierce beast roam about it,
but the redeemed will walk there,
for those the Lord has ransomed shall return.

They will come to Zion shouting for joy,
everlasting joy on their faces;
joy and gladness will go with them
and sorrow and lament be ended.

Gospel
Luke 5:17-26
‘Your sins are forgiven you: get up and walk’

Jesus was teaching one day, and among the audience there were Pharisees and doctors of the Law who had come from every village in Galilee, from Judaea and from Jerusalem. And the Power of the Lord was behind his works of healing. Then some men appeared, carrying on a bed a paralysed man whom they were trying to bring in and lay down in front of him. But as the crowd made it impossible to find a way of getting him in, they went up on to the flat roof and lowered him and his stretcher down through the tiles into the middle of the gathering, in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith he said, ‘My friend, your sins are forgiven you.’ The scribes and the Pharisees began to think this over. ‘Who is this man talking blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ But Jesus, aware of their thoughts, made them this reply, ‘What are these thoughts you have in your hearts? Which of these is easier: to say, “Your sins are forgiven you” or to say, “Get up and walk”? But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,’ – he said to the paralysed man – ‘I order you: get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.’ And immediately before their very eyes he got up, picked up what he had been lying on and went home praising God.
    They were all astounded and praised God, and were filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen strange things today.’

In a blink of an eye we are fast approaching the third Sunday of Advent. It is time to pause and reflect on how well we have been responding to God’s call to deepen our relationship with Him during this season of Advent. Have we been steadfast in our observances? Are we more prayerful? Have we been more charitable with our time? More merciful and forgiving of others? Have we grown in holiness? Have we touched anyone with a simple act of kindness? Have we spoken to anyone of God’s love for us and for them? If we have Not done any of the above then is it not time to reconsider? To turn our hearts to our Lord Jesus Christ so that He transform us from within so as to live in the Holy Spirit in His love.

Sisters and brothers let us look ahead as we live in the light of our Risen Lord. Let the excitement build as we prepare our hearts in anticipation of His second coming, for soon Gaudete Sunday will be upon us and we rejoice a little as One family in Christ our Lord. Amen

First reading

Isaiah 48:17-19 ·
If you had been alert to my commandments, your happiness would have been like a river

Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is good for you, I lead you in the way that you must go.
If only you had been alert to my commandments, your happiness would have been like a river, your integrity like the waves of the sea.
Your children would have been numbered like the sand, your descendants as many as its grains.
Never would your name have been cut off or blotted out before me.

Gospel

Matthew 11:16-19
The Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you

Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘What description can I find for this generation? It is like children shouting to each other as they sit in the market place:

“We played the pipes for you,
and you wouldn’t dance; we sang dirges,
and you wouldn’t be mourners.”

‘For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He is possessed.” The Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet wisdom has been proved right by her actions.’