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1st Sunday of Advent Year A: Advent Witness

November 26, 2019

Discussion Guide with Scriptures for 1st Sunday of Advent Year A is HERE

See the source image

Reflection Questions

• The 1st Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of a new ‘season’ – and a new Year (the Gospel of Matthew). Advent prepares and challenges us to be ready to welcome the second coming of Jesus while also turning us to celebrate and remember with joy the first coming of Jesus. How will you celebrate both Advent and Christmas? What do you do to prepare to welcome someone special? How could you apply those ideas to the 4 Advent weeks of preparing & waiting?

• Isaiah was written during war and injustice. It reveals that the relationship with God impacts all humanity and the environment, not simply our hearts. Swords & spears becoming farming implements suggests the in-breaking of radical peace and love itself; our true hope of trans-formation. Isaiah reminds us that God makes the movement toward us as the Lords house is established and raised up for us. What connections can you see with the hope we have in Jesus’ birth? What does it mean to walk in the paths and the light of the Lord?

•   What does it mean for you to ‘awake from sleep’, ‘put on the armour of light’ and ‘put on the  Lord Jesus Christ’?
•   Jesus uses 3 short parables to wake his hearers. To survive a sudden flood needs preparation. Society encourages overeating, drinking,
and spending on ‘stuff’ at Christmas. What impact does this have on families, communities and the environment? How  does it feel to be a Noah when the world doesn’t appreciate your faith perspective?
•   Imagine discovering that someone you see everyday is different than you believed. Parables  shock to provoke change. Do you want to deepen your relationship with God or go with the crowd and be left alone. God sees us differently.  What deep longings and hopes would divine perception see in you?
•    To stop a thief entering your house you have put in place certain practices or habits (locking doors and windows, turning lights on, having mail collected by a friend…) so that you are ‘always ready’ ‘awake’. What spiritual practices could you commit to help you to constantly keep
‘spiritually awake’? Have you ever been ‘broken into’? What did you change after the theft? What is the wisdom Jesus wants us to apply to daily Christian life?
•    A famous retreat leader had hundreds of excited people waiting for very wise words and deep insights into their problems. He arrived at the microphone and asked: ‘Hands up who wants to go to Heaven?’ Everyone put their hand up. ‘Hands up those who are ready to go now’? No-one put their hand up. He said: you may consider asking yourself why you are not ready… Are you ready?
•    What is one action that you will do to be ‘livingtheword’ this week?

web: www.livingtheword.org.nz  Email: nzlivingtheword@gmail.com   Livingtheword resources are created by Fr Frank Bird a Marist priest and Mrs Bev McDonald, ACSD, distributed by Marist Laity Auckland, NZ www.maristlaitynz.org

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 26th, 2019 at 5:54 pm and is filed under Active Christianity, Advent, Courage, desire, Discipleship, Faith, Love, Mission, Sunday Readings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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