Reflections on
Advent Readings 2025
First Week of Advent
Romans 13:11-14
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~Kathy Damon, Appleton, WI
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Today begins the season of Advent, a time of preparation, of expectation,
of exuberant waiting. We await the birth of Jesus, our salvation. The Letter to
the Romans advises that “the day of salvation will soon be here. So don’t live in
darkness.” This conjures up an image for me from many years ago. My son was afraid of the dark at bedtime. The solution? I gave him a flashlight. That small ray of light was his promise of security. It worked. He was no longer a captive of darkness. I have reflected on that simple story many times since. There is a message beyond that moment. A simple flashlight moved my son from darkness into light.
What is your darkness? What will prepare you for the birth of Jesus? What do you need to be a better person? What do you want to change in your life? And how will you do this? What is your “flashlight” that will enlighten Advent? I suspect we each have our own “flashlight.” It is up to each of us to keep it charged, spiritually energized.
Are your batteries charged for Advent?
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Second Week of Advent
Matthew 3:1-12 “I am not worthy to carry his sandals.”
Sr. Mary Peters, Green Bay
John the Baptist is telling people, “He who’s coming after me is mightier than I; whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.” A few lines later, John says to Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus came to us as one of us; Jesus treats everyone as equal—no first, second or third class. Jesus came to show us how to live. We know how he lived on this earth: spreading love, seeking justice, forgiving, healing, treating people with respect and dignity. Remember those bracelets that were once popular – ”WWJD?” (“what would Jesus do”) Jesus would be doing the same thing now as he did back then.
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As the saying goes–history repeats itself. It’s brutal out there folks! Physically, Jesus isn’t walking around in society as he was back in the day; but his Spirit is so much alive within each of us. God asks that we be present to people today and share Jesus’ Spirit with them–spread his love, forgiveness, compassion; help to bring healing to people, give dignity and respect; work for justice; to bring light and hope—not just during Advent, but always. We’ve been anointed and commissioned to do this through baptism. In the words of St. Teresa: “Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet, nor eyes but yours.”
Third Week of Advent
Matthew 11:3 "Are you the one...?"
Sr. Diane Baumann, New London, Wisconsin
In today’s gospel, John the Baptist sends his disciples to Jesus, asking, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3) Instead of simply answering “yes” or “no,” Jesus provides evidence for John’s disciples: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed…, but perhaps the most powerful is that “the poor have the good news preached to them.” (Matthew 11:5) In the culture of Jesus’ time, the wealthy are thought blessed by God; that leaves the poor without blessing – unworthy to hear the Word of God or to try to live it. Jesus’ preaching to the poor turns that societal value upside down. Christians who are following Christ continue to do the same as they set forth an alternative value system.
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The words, “are you the one,” capture the moments of doubt that almost every believer faces at one time or another. What if my lifelong commitment to Christianity and to the Catholic Church is misguided, not what God intended, not what God had planned for me and for us from the beginning? What if? At those moments, can we focus on the evidence of the reality of Jesus as the One who constantly teaches us to love God and neighbor? The One whose coming to earth as a human being changed everything, taught us about sacrificial love, continues to be with us as Risen Lord. What is the evidence on which you stand in your conviction that Jesus is the One?
