December 1 Class Update: Starting Advent

Advent Greetings!

Recent Class Summary

In our most recent class, we spent some time focusing on the meaning of Advent.

We watched this video for our opening prayer, the song "Even So Come", performed by Chris Tomlin:

And we watched this Busted Halo that summarizes Advent in 2 minutes:

Advent is a season when we look forward to the celebration of Christ's First Coming on December 25, His Second Coming at the End of Time, and how He is coming to be present with us in our lives even now.

We spent a little bit of time on the passage Isaiah 40:1-5, which is the 2nd reading for this coming Sunday's Mass.  Dr. King included words from this passage in his "I Have a Dream" speech.

During class, we also had a visit from Aura Lee and Nathan Kelly, two friends Paul knows from Valparaiso University.  They shared their perspectives on faith: Aura Lee talked about how she converted from the Presbyterian Church to the Roman Catholic Church, and they both discussed how they live faith as a married couple and in their professional work.

Exit Slip Questions

One exit slip question addressed in class was a follow-up from Father Rex's presentation on Jesus Christ back on November 17.  He mentioned that we don't know much about the early life of Jesus, and someone in class asked why.

In Luke 2:51-52, it says Jesus returned from Jerusalem to Nazareth with His parents, and "grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."  Jesus was fully human and fully divine, and all that He did during His early years was God's way of preparing Him for HIs mission around the age of 30.

Also, remember that the Gospel writers had a specific purpose in writing their Gospels, and as part of that, they chose to focus on specific parts of Jesus's life, while not mentioning much about other parts.

Paul also addressed a comment from November 10 when we looked at the Eucharistic prayer.  It's a great mystery that the wine changes into Jesus's blood, which the Church explains in the concept of transubstantiation.  As we spend time at Mass, we can better understand this mystery.

Faith Booster Activities

For class on December 8, please pick at least one of the following activities to do.

Here is the link to the submission form.

Your submission is due by class time on December 8.  Please be sure to indicate which option you chose along with your brief reflection of 1-2 sentences.  

And if your parents were contacted about missing submissions from previous weeks, please complete them as soon as possible.  You can let us know if you're not sure which ones you're missing.

Please note: In consultation with Ms. Lawrence, any of these activities count as Faith Boosters.  Even if you have completed all the required number of faith boosters, you must still complete at least one of these options. A minimum of 5 Faith Boosters are due by December 15.  A minimum of 10 service hours are also due by then.

1. Spend time with one of the following daily Advent reflection resources, or pick one of your own choosing.  Please click on the links to sign up for any of these programs.  Once you sign up, each day of Advent, you get a short reflection.

Relevant Radio "Advent Inspirations"

These are 1 minute long each.

Dynamic Catholic "Best Advent Ever"

These videos are about 3-4 minutes long.

Real Life Catholic "Unshakeable Joy" Advent program.

These videos are about 3-4 minutes long.  To access this program, you create a free account on the website.

Miracles Abound Advent booklet, which was mailed to all RE families

Please note that there are suggested activities for each day, and doing any of those counts as Faith Boosters.

For your activity submission, write a 1-2 sentence reflection on any 1 day of these Advent daily reflections.  You can also pick another daily Advent reflection resource not listed here, but please state in your submission which one you picked, and a web link, if applicable.

2. Watch the two videos for selections from G.F. Handel's oratorio, Messiah, in which the choir sings the words of prophecy from Isaiah 40, both "Comfort Ye" and "And the Glory of the Lord".  Write a 1-2 sentence reflection on what stood out to you in these words that were sung and why.

In-depth option: Listen to all the prophecies in part 1 of the Messiah, about 50 minutes long, or listen to the entire oratorio, just over 2 hours long.  Here are YouTube videos for part 2 and part 3.

3. Listen to any one Advent song in this YouTube video.  You can go to the description to view the entire list, by clicking on Show More if needed, and click on any of the links to go directly to that song.

For your reflection, write 1-2 sentences reflecting on what words in the song stood out to you and why.

In-depth option: Listen to all the songs in this video, about 45 minutes, and reflect on what stood out and why.

4. In-depth option: Watch the December Taize Prayer Service, posted on the Ascension YouTube channel.  You can watch it when it airs at 7:30 PM CT on Friday, December 4, or watch the archived video at a later time.  Write a reflection about what stood out to you, perhaps even song lyrics.  (You may also watch the Taize prayer services for September or November. All three of these prayer services are just under 30 minutes long.)  Please note, the video will go live on the YouTube channel close to 7:30, so please feel free to tune in 5 minutes ahead of time and refresh the webpage as needed until the video appears.

5. In-depth option: Watch the Advent Vespers Prayer Service at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for Sunday, December 6.  The livestream starts at 2:50 PM CT, with the prayer service beginning at 3 PM CT and lasting until about 3:30 PM.  You may also view an archived video of it later.  This link goes to a webpage where you can view the Vespers prayer service and it includes a PDF program booklet with the lyrics of what is sung.  The video and PDF for the Vespers likely won't appear until after 2:30 PM CT.  This link goes directly to the YouTube channel video.

Vespers prayer services will happen on this YouTube channel every Sunday of Advent at the same time.  You can watch an archived video of the prayer service for November 29 on the Shrine's YouTube channel.  Please note that the prayer service begins around the 15:00 mark.

Here is the link to the submission form for recording your service hours and faith boosters for Confirmation.  Please enter your submissions here for the RE office records in addition to the link above where Paul will check submissions and look at the reflections.  The reflections are only needed in the above link, not the one in this paragraph.

Looking ahead

In class on December 8, we'll spend some time on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. We're also scheduled to have another guest speaker who will talk about the social justice work of the organization Chicago Voyagers.

Please contact us if there are any questions, etc.

God's blessings on your Advent journey, that you may be ready to welcome Christ even in today's circumstances.

Debbie Lopez

Paul Rubio

Above is a photo of the Advent wreath in Church. Below is a photo of the Advent wreath in Paul's home.  Both photos are by Paul.