O Lord, infant Jesus, bring us the Hope that saves! Your birth to the Virgin Mary brought a Hope to the world that continues to sustain us. We pray for a saving Hope this Christmas.
Divine Infant,
after the wonders of Your birth in Bethlehem,
You wished to extend Your infinite mercy to the whole world
by calling the Wise Men by heavenly inspiration to Your crib,
which was in this way changed into a royal throne.
You graciously received those holy men
who were obedient to the Divine call
and hastened to Your feet.
They recognized and worshipped You as Prince of Peace,
the Redeemer of mankind,
and the very Son of God.
Show us also Your goodness and almighty power.
Enlighten our minds,
strengthen our wills,
and inflame our hearts to know You,
to serve You,
and to love You in this life,
that we may merit to find our joy in You eternally in the life to come.
Jesus, most powerful Child,
We implore You again to help us
with the intentions we hold in the depths of our hearts.
Divine Child, great omnipotent God,
I implore through Your most Holy Mother’s most powerful intercession,
and through the boundless mercy of Your omnipotence as God,
for a favorable answer to my prayer during this Novena.
Grant us the grace of possessing You eternally
with Mary and Joseph
and of adoring You with Your holy angels and saints.
Amen.
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you, kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.
Sharon Doran serves as the teaching director of “Seeking Truth.” An experienced Bible Study teacher, Sharon has a passion for scripture that will motivate and challenge you to immerse yourself in God’s Word and apply His message to your everyday life.
“Seeking Truth” is an in-depth Catholic Bible Study, commissioned by the Archdiocese of Omaha in response to John Paul II’s call to the New Evangelization as well as Pope Benedict XVI’s exhortation for all Catholics to study scripture. To learn more go to:www.seekingtruth.net
O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised as a sign for all peoples;[1] kings stand silent in your presence;[2] The nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.[3]
Here we call on the Lord as the seed, flower or descendant of the root or stock of Jesse, the father of King David. The Messiah comes from a royal line sprung from his human ancestor Jesse. He is the sign born of the Virgin, for all the nations to see. The East portrays the prophecy of Isaiah, “the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son,” with the child enclosed in a circle on his mother’s breast and calls that icon the Virgin of the Sign. We call on him now to come and help our sinful and weary world.
Christ was born not because there was joy in the world, but because there was suffering in it. Not to riches, but to poverty. Not to satiety but to hunger and thirst. Not to security, but to danger, to exile, to homelessness, to destitution and crucifixion.
His incarnation now, in us, is in the suffering world as it is; it is not reserved for a Utopia that will never be; it does not differ from His first coming in Bethlehem, His birth in squalor, in dire poverty, in a strange city. It is the same birth, here and now. There is incarnation always, everywhere.
Commentary:Caryll Houselander reflects on the profound reality of Christ’s Incarnation, emphasizing that He entered the world not in comfort but in suffering, poverty, and vulnerability. Christ came to meet humanity in its brokenness, and Houselander reminds us that His presence continues to dwell within the hardships and suffering we encounter today. His Incarnation is not only a historical event but an ongoing reality in our lives, as Christ is continually “born” in our own moments of poverty, pain, and uncertainty. For Catholics, this resonates with the call to see Christ in the marginalized, the suffering, and the forgotten, understanding that He is especially present in places of need.
Personal Reflection: Today, reflect on an area of suffering in your life or in the world around you. How can you recognize Christ’s presence there, meeting you in that place? Consider how you might bring hope and compassion to a person or situation where His love is needed.
Caryll Houselander “The Passion of the Infant Christ”
An Advent Journey for the Discerning Heart:
Prepare your heart for Christ through Scripture, the saints, and the gentle practice of daily listening.
Part Four: Welcoming Christ with a Heart Fully Awake
DAY 20 – Love
“We love because he first loved us.”
1 John 4.19 (RSV
Love is the fullness of the listening heart.
After days of trust, surrender, silence, and hidden fidelity, the soul is ready for the deepest truth of the spiritual life: all love begins in God. We receive His love first, and grace teaches the heart how to offer that love back.
This is the quiet beginning of charity, born from the love that created us and holds us in every moment.
And when the heart receives God’s love, it begins to move outward. This is why Jesus gives the two great commandments: to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and to love your neighbor as yourself. The love we return to God becomes the love we extend to others.
Charity is always relational. It draws us into God and sends us toward those He places in our path.
Before we ever turned toward Him, God loved us into existence. We would not even be here had His love not first willed our being. And in every moment we live, He sustains us in that same love.
Within the Trinity, love is alive and eternal. The Father loves the Son. The Son loves the Father. The Holy Spirit is the living bond of love between them, unity so complete it is one God.
This divine exchange is not distant. Through Christ, we are drawn into it. The Spirit pours the love of God into our hearts. We receive the love that creates and sustains us, and we return it to God through adoration, gratitude, and obedience.
This is why love is a theological virtue. It is participation in God’s own life. It is the movement of divine love flowing in us, through us, and back to God again.
To welcome Christ at Christmas is to welcome Love Himself, to enter the life of the Trinity, and to allow God’s love to shape every movement of the heart.
Journey with the Saints –
St. Bernard of Clairvaux
“The measure of love is love without measure.” St. Bernard of Clairvaux, On Loving God, Chapter 1
Bernard teaches that the entire spiritual journey is ordered toward love.
For him, love grows as the heart learns to rest in God’s goodness, trust His presence, and offer itself in return. True love begins with gratitude, deepens into desire, and matures into generous self giving.
Bernard emphasizes that we do not begin this journey. God initiates it. He stirs the heart with His own love and gives the grace by which we love Him back.
Charity is not our achievement. It is God’s work in us.
To welcome Christ is to welcome this transforming movement of love that draws us into the very heart of the Trinity.
Reflection for the Listening Heart
Today invites you to stand before the truth of who you are: beloved by God.
You are not loved because you earn it. You are loved because God is love, and He chose to bring you into being through love and sustain you in every breath.
Let this truth shape the way you listen today. Ask Christ to awaken in you a renewed desire to love as you have been loved. Let His love soften your heart, steady your thoughts, and move you toward others with patience, warmth, and compassion.
Ask yourself: Where is Christ inviting me to love today. Who needs to experience God’s love through my presence or my kindness.
A Simple Practice for Today
Perform one quiet act of love today.
Let it be small, unseen, and done with intentional tenderness.
Offer it to God as your participation in the life of the Trinity.
Prayer
Lord Jesus,
draw me into the love You share with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
Let the love that created me and sustains me
live fully within my heart.
Teach me to love without measure
because I am loved without measure.
Shape my life according to the love that You are.
Amen.
Friday of the 3rd Week of Advent – An Advent Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart
As you begin, take a deep breath and exhale slowly. For at least the next few moments, surrender all the cares and concerns of this day to the Lord.
Say slowly from your heart “Jesus, I Trust In You…You Take Over”
Become aware that He is with you, looking upon you with love, wanting to be heard deep within in your heart…
From the Holy Gospel According to Luke 1:26-38
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
What word made this passage come alive for you?
What did you sense the Lord saying to you?
Once more give the Lord an opportunity to speak to you:
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
What did your heart feel as you listened?
What did you sense the Lord saying to you?
Once more, through Him, with Him and in Him listen to the Word:
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
What did your heart feel as you prayed?
What do you hope to carry with you from this time with the Lord?
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
May the Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen
Excerpt from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, copyright (c) 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc. Reprinted by Permission.
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
Sharon Doran serves as the teaching director of “Seeking Truth.” An experienced Bible Study teacher, Sharon has a passion for scripture that will motivate and challenge you to immerse yourself in God’s Word and apply His message to your everyday life.
“Seeking Truth” is an in-depth Catholic Bible Study, commissioned by the Archdiocese of Omaha in response to John Paul II’s call to the New Evangelization as well as Pope Benedict XVI’s exhortation for all Catholics to study scripture. To learn more go to:www.seekingtruth.net
O Sacred Lord of Ancient Israel[1] who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush,[2] who gave him the holy law on Sinai. Come stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.[3]
God gave his name Yahweh to Moses, and with that power over him; for to the Hebrew to use one’s name is to have intimacy with that person and thus to have power over him. Yet God cannot be like the gods of the pagans who are coerced by magical practices and so his name is not to be pronounced but instead “Adonai” or “Lord” is used. In the fulness of time, the Messiah will come and tell us to pray in his name of Jesus, with all the implications of that. We pray now that he come again with outstretched arm, that is with power to set us free. In the words of St. Justin, “He stretched out his arms on the cross,” and was rendered powerless and received from his Father the power of the Spirit to set us free from our sinful selves.
O Lord, infant Jesus, give us the gift of Faith! You, Lord, deserve our complete faith. We pray for deeper and more perfect faith in you this Christmas.
Divine Infant,
after the wonders of Your birth in Bethlehem,
You wished to extend Your infinite mercy to the whole world
by calling the Wise Men by heavenly inspiration to Your crib,
which was in this way changed into a royal throne.
You graciously received those holy men
who were obedient to the Divine call
and hastened to Your feet.
They recognized and worshipped You as Prince of Peace,
the Redeemer of mankind,
and the very Son of God.
Show us also Your goodness and almighty power.
Enlighten our minds,
strengthen our wills,
and inflame our hearts to know You,
to serve You,
and to love You in this life,
that we may merit to find our joy in You eternally in the life to come.
Jesus, most powerful Child,
We implore You again to help us
with the intentions we hold in the depths of our hearts.
Divine Child, great omnipotent God,
I implore through Your most Holy Mother’s most powerful intercession,
and through the boundless mercy of Your omnipotence as God,
for a favorable answer to my prayer during this Novena.
Grant us the grace of possessing You eternally
with Mary and Joseph
and of adoring You with Your holy angels and saints.
Amen.
If Christ is to come to flower and bear fruit in individual lives, there must be seasons of rest in which there is almost no activity but the giving wholly of self to nourish the supernatural life; just as the earth in which the seed is buried is given to nourish the bread. But, and this is even more important, there must be a permanent state of inward rest, founded in the peace of mind which comes from complete trust.
Commentary:Caryll Houselander emphasizes the importance of rest and trust as essential for spiritual growth. Just as a seed needs time in the earth to take root and grow, our souls need periods of stillness to allow Christ to take root within us. She encourages a state of “inward rest” based on complete trust in God, allowing us to nourish the supernatural life without constant activity or striving. For Catholics, this aligns with the value placed on contemplative prayer and the peace that flows from entrusting ourselves fully to God’s care, knowing that His work within us unfolds in His time.
Personal Reflection: Consider how you can create moments of stillness today to nourish Christ’s life within you. How can you cultivate a deeper sense of peace and trust, letting go of the need for constant activity and control?
Caryll Houselander “The Passion of the Infant Christ”
