Fourth Sunday of Advent

✠ | TODAY'S READINGS

On this 4^th Sunday of Advent, there are some lines in Reading I, the Responsorial Psalm, Reading II, and the Gospel which very much resonate with me.  These include:

-      He shall be peace

-      Let us see Your face and we shall be saved

-      I come to do Your will

-      Blessed are you who believed

The last week of Advent is a very exciting - yet stressful and turbulent - time.  Exams still are to be taken, gifts are to be purchased/wrapped and grades need to be determined and submitted.

The above lines can very much provide insight during this season of busyness.  Peace, saved, will and believed are words which can especially provide comfort.

December 19 is a poignant day for me personally.  Twenty-one years ago today, my dear grammar school and high school classmate Vincent was tragically killed in an automobile accident - leaving behind a wife, three children, his mom and four siblings.  Vincent’s wake and funeral were unequivocally the worst three days of my life.

Every year I attempt to contact via phone Vincent’s wife and oldest sister.  We talk about peace and belief in God’s will.  Invariably, I hang up the phone with a greater sense of what is really important.

As we await the celebration of the birth of the Savior of the world, it will take wisdom, courage, strength and especially vulnerability to step away from the fray to reflect on what is really important.  Let us especially today pray for these.

Brother Gregory Cellini, OSF