Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13 The third week of Advent continues to offer us texts that can challenge us. Today we hear from the prophet Zephaniah. Zephaniah is called, as all prophets are, to see the world as God sees it. There is a crisis looming for the people in Jerusalem as Babylon gains power and threatens …
Author Archives: Turvey Nuns
Third Week of Advent, Monday
Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17Matthew 21:23-27 Today’s first reading is a rather unfamiliar text from the Book of Numbers. We hear one of the oracles of the prophet Balaam. How fair are your tents, O Jacob!How fair your dwelling, Israel!Like valleys that stretch afar,like gardens by the banks of a river,like aloes planted by the Lord,like cedars …
Third Sunday of Advent (A)
Isaiah 35:1-6, 10Matthew 11:2-11 Today Isaiah offers us poetic vision of all that God promises for the people of Judah: everybody and everything will be restored in a land governed by God. Judah has experienced a period of barrenness and dryness in her relationship with God. All of this God will turn into fertile land …
Second Week of Advent, Friday
Isaiah 48:17-19Matthew 11:16-19 Our reading from Isaiah is short today. It’s just three verses. But those verses contain so much. Here God speaks with a tone that is tender and deliberate: ‘This says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is good for you. I …
Second Week of Advent, Thursday
Isaiah 41:13-20Matthew 11:11-15 ‘For I the Lord, your God,am holding you by the right hand;I tell you, ‘Do not be afraid,I will help you.’ From the very beginning of the history of salvation we see the part that fear can play in how we relate to God and each other. The primitive ‘fight or flight’ …
Second Week of Advent, Wednesday
Isaiah 40:25-31Matthew 11:28-30 Today’s text from Isaiah continues the themes of God’s promise of rescue and re-assurance. The words of prophesy re-assure Judah that God is more than able to subdue the power of Babylon. God is the original creative agent in the world and cannot be confined by anyone. His power is cosmic and …
Second Week of Advent, Tuesday
SECOND WEEEK OF ADVENTTUESDAY Isaiah 40:1-11Matthew 18:12-14 Today Isaiah paints the scene of a triumphant homecoming for Judah, their time of exile ended. Isaiah uses the familiar biblical theme of reversal, and we are invited to picture a landscape where valleys, hills, ridges and mountains are transformed. It’s likely that the image of ‘a straight …
Immaculate Conception
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Genesis 3:9-15, 20Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12Luke 1:26-38 In her book Born Contemplative, Madeleine Simon writes about the spiritual development of young children and explores her thesis that we are all born with an innate capacity for God. She says that a child’s faith journey begins the moment the mother knows that she is pregnant. …
Second Sunday of Advent (A)
SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT Isaiah 11:1-10Matthew 3:1-12 While last week’s Gospel text invited us to ‘Stay Awake!’, the message this week is no less urgent: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of God is close at hand.’ John the Baptist walks into our Advent landscape with a message that is uncompromising. His cry of ‘Repent’ is for …
First Week of Advent, Saturday
Isaiah 30:19-21.23-26 I’ve often been asked how I knew I wanted to be a nun. I think people know when they ask me that me that I didn’t have a Damascus road experience. I usually answer by talking about my growing conviction that I wanted to follow Christ and put my whole trust in his …