Catholic TV Mass Online November 29, 2020: First Sunday of Advent
Presider: Fr. Matthew Widder
Parish: Catholic Community of Waukesha
TEXT FROM THE GOSPEL AND HOMILY
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy gospel according to Mark. Glory to you o Lord.
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 watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming. Whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at the cockcrow or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: 'watch!"
The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
We encounter this gatekeeper in the gospel and this parable that Jesus is telling and the theme of course is be watchful, be alert. Don't be found sleeping. This gatekeeper he had to be on guard so that when the master of the house came home he could open up and let him in. His job was to protect the place he was in control over and to let those who were supposed to be in, in. Be watchful. Be alert. It's interesting when Jesus says, don't be caught sleeping. We have an interesting relationship with sleep at times, because have you ever had it happen where when it's time to sleep, you find yourself scrolling through social media, online, , when you do go to bed all of a sudden it feels like the whole world is coming through your mind and it's time to sleep and you can't sleep! You can't sleep! And then finally you get to sleep and then when the alarm goes off it's time to wake up, what do we want to do when the alarm goes off? We want to sleep! And so it’s this complicated thing that when we should be sleeping we want to stay awake. When it's time to wake up we want to sleep. We want to sleep and then why is it when we should be waking up we want to sleep? It's because we're not sleeping when we should be sleeping. And it goes around and around in this complicated circle. And so what might be the spiritual message for us today as we enter into advent? It's the reality of to do what we're supposed to be doing when we're supposed to be doing it. To do what we're supposed to be doing when we're supposed to be doing it. This gate keeper that's on watch, there's no way he could have stayed awake for 24 straight hours. But when he was at the gate, his job was to be awake and so the message of advent as we enter into this time is to do what we're supposed to be doing, when we're supposed to be doing it. In other words what it might be another way of putting it is to offer God the sacrifice of our free will. To offer God the sacrifice of our free will that so often we want to do something that our feelings call us to something but to say God, what do you want? And to sacrifice our own will for God's will. I think parents do that better than anyone else in the entire world especially parents with young kids because your life is definitely not your own. Or those who are caring for those who are elderly or are recovering from a surgery. You have things that you want to do but you have to sacrifice your own free will for the good of someone else. As we enter into this season of advent that's the message of this gospel. To do what we're supposed to be doing when we're supposed to be doing it. To offer God the sacrifice of our own free will. To die to ourselves to live for the mission and the purpose that Jesus Christ has given us at any given moment. I invite you to join with me in praying the Apostles Creed found on page 42 of our prayer and worship guide.
Entrance: Come To Us Emmanuel
Text and Music: Deanna Light and Paul A. Tate
© 2017 by GIA Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.
Psalm 80: Lord, Make Us Turn to You
Text: Psalm 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20; 4, 2-3, 15-16, 18-19. Refrains © 1969, 1981, ICEL. All rights
reserved. Used with permission. Verses © 1970, 1997, 1998, CCD. All rights reserved. Used with
permission
Music: © 1996, Kevin Keil, ASCAP. Published by OCP Publications. All rights reserved.
Preparation: Instrumental
Communion: Waiting in Silence
Text: Carey Landry, b. 1944
Music: Carey Landry; arr. By Hal Wright
Text and music: © 2002 Carey Landry. Published by OCP. All rights reserved.
Sending Forth: The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns
Text: CM; Greek; tr. By John Brownlie, 1859-1925, alt.
Music: MORNING SONG; Sixteen Tune Settings, Philadelphia, 1812; Kentucky Harmony, 1816;
Keyboard acc. By Randall DeBruyn, b. 1947, © 1990 OCP . All rights reserved.
Mass of Christ the Savior
Text: © 2010 ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Music: Mass of Christ the Savior; Dan Schutte, b. 1947, © 2007, 2009, Daniel L. Schutte. Published by
OCP. All rights reserved.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this liturgy obtained from ONE LICENSE, License No. A-718591.
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