Adult Faith Formation & Initiation

The Messiah is coming!  Emmanuel!  How do we know this?  Prophets through the ages have been telling us and their scribes have been preserving those words so that we can recognize the signs.  Our readings for this coming Sunday give a picture of who this deliverer will be, who he’s come for, and how we should respond: The Word for the 2nd Sunday of Advent Isaiah 11:1-10 Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17 Romans 15:4-9 Mathew 3:1-12 Our first reading is from the prophet Isaiah.  Here he describes for us a vision of the ideal king, the one who will “fear the Lord” and be a just judge; whose words will be his only weapons and whose reign will bring universal peace.  It will be so glorious that all the nations will seek it out.  To our Christian ears, this “shoot of Jesse” (King David’s father) sounds very much like Jesus himself.  But wait, This passage dates back some 720 years before Jesus.  Sometimes when we get a prophecy like this we need to pause and remind ourselves that Isaiah wasn’t sp

Joyful anticipation – this is the meaning of Advent!  The First Sunday Advent marks the beginning of the new Liturgical year.  The green vestments and décor of Ordinary Time are put away, replaced with the purple vestments and décor of Advent.  Like Lent, Advent is a season of penitent reflection.  So as our secular culture charges into the beginning of a frantic holiday season, we Catholics are asked to slow down, take a step back, and prayerfully consider if we are prepared for the coming of Christ… that is, his second coming. The Word for the 1st Sunday of Advent Isaiah 2:1-5 Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 Romans 13:11-14 Matthew 24:37-44 Our first reading comes from the second chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah.  The book of Isaiah is one of the longest of all the prophetic books and spans a period from before the Assyrian attack on the Northern Kingdom all the way through (and long after his death) to the end of the Babylonian Exile.  This Sunday’s passage comes from the

This Sunday we close our Liturgical Year with the Solemnity of Christ the King.  During these seemingly divisive times it’s important for us to remember that we owe our attention and allegiance primarily to Jesus Christ.  Everything else is secondary.  This celebration was created in response to the growing nationalism and secularism of the early 20th century.  Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in his 1925 encyclical letter Quas Primas .  At the time the world was still recovering from the first World War while revolutions in Russia, China, and Spain were sparking continued unrest.  All over the world citizens were calling into question their models of governance and economics.  It would seem today the world is in similar turmoil, calling us once again to recognize that above all else, we serve Christ. The Word for the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe 2 Samuel 5:1-3 Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5 Colossians 1-12-20 Luke 23:35-43 Our first reading from 2 Samuel where w

As we near the end of our Liturgical year, our readings take us to “the end of days.”  Jesus is in Jerusalem and he knows the end is near.  Our readings this week remind us that even in the face of adversity we must persevere if we are to gain eternal life: The Word for the 33nd Sunday of Ordinary Time Malachi 3:19-20a Psalm 98:5-6, 7-8, 9 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 Luke 21:5-19 We open with a reading from the prophet Malachi, who’s name literally means “my messenger” in Hebrew.  It was a pseudonym because the author feared retribution.  In this short passage the prophet gives us a view of post Exile Jerusalem, dating to around 445 BCE (around the same time as the Prophet Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem).  Here the prophet warns what will become of “evildoers” and the justice to be had for those who “fear the Lord”.  This was a time of great spiritual upheaval in Jerusalem.  God loves his people, but the prophet finds that love is not being reciprocated.  It’s been almost 100 years since th

The afterlife.  The Apostles Creed teaches that we believe “in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.”  The Nicene Creed substantiates that belief when we profess that we “look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.”  These beliefs are integral to our understanding of God and the nature of our souls, but yet we still have some doubts.  Our readings this week help us to lay some of those doubts to rest: The Word for the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14 Psalm 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5 Luke 20:27-38 or Luke 20:27, 34-38 Our first reading is a from 2 Maccabees, a book written about 100-150 years before Christ.  This week’s passage tells the story of a Hebrew family being tortured and killed by their Greek Seleucid overlords.  The reading shows their valiant desire to keep God’s law, which in itself is noble, But that’s not the point of the story.  Yes, bein