Today is the 2nd Sunday of Advent!
Gospel MK 1:1-8
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way.
A voice of one crying out in the desert:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.”
John the Baptist appeared in the desert
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
People of the whole Judean countryside
and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem
were going out to him
and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River
as they acknowledged their sins.
John was clothed in camel’s hair,
with a leather belt around his waist.
He fed on locusts and wild honey.
And this is what he proclaimed:
“One mightier than I is coming after me.
I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.
I have baptized you with water;
he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
The children in our home have really enjoyed Holy Heroes Advent Adventure! The decade of the Rosary has been a hit as it is lead by children! We are also decorating our dinning room tree with Jesse Tree symbols! Not a lot on there yet, but by Christmas it will be full!
December 8 is the Immaculate Conception of Mary! What are we celebrating here!? We are celebrating the conception of Mary in the womb of her mother Ann and we celebrate her birth on Sept. 8!
The Catechism of the Catholic Church as this to say about the Immaculate Conception:
490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.” 132 The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as “full of grace”. 133 In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God’s grace.
491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God, 134 was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:
The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin. 135
On Dec. 6 we celebrated St. Nicholas and before going to be on the 5th the children put out their shoes and found this in the morning:
The day ended with Santa Claus coming to Town at the Town Christmas Celebration!
Have a Blessed 2nd week of Advent!