What are we supposed to be doing during these four weeks leading up to Christmas? Are we preparing to celebrate the Lord’s birth, His second coming, or something else entirely? The Scriptures we read at Mass in the days before Christmas reveal the meaning of Advent. They turn our attention to various prophesies in the Old Testament of an unforeseen breakthrough, a making right of things gone wrong, an unimaginable end to Death and of the one who tyrannizes us. The Gospels reveal to us a Savior who fulfills the many things that had been prophesied so many years before and who exhorts us to prepare for His triumphant return when He will both render judgment and make all things new. They tell the story of God becoming Flesh in the person of Jesus who has come to fight for us, bring about definitive restoration to His creation, and transform the human family into the family of God. The Advent of Rescue is a resource inspired by The Rescue Project, providing daily reflections throughout the season of Advent and the Christmas Octave as well as Sunday preaching considerations. Pre-order your 2025 Advent of Rescue today! (fb)

As disciples of Jesus, that is, as men and women who have encountered Someone who has entirely changed our lives, who has brought us from darkness to light, we are called to proclaim to those with whom we work, study, play, and live that life is not in vain, that there is a God, and that He is good and knows what He is doing. Read or listen to the rest of this week's Thoughts from the Trailer from Fr. John Riccardo below: (fb)