The 1st Sunday of Advent - Building a Kingdom of Love with Msgr. John Esseff

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The 1st Sunday of Advent – A Call to Wake Up, Repent, and Enter the Light of JesusBuilding a Kingdom of Love with Msgr. John Esseff

On the First Sunday of Advent, Msgr. Esseff shares two deeply moving testimonies that reveal the power of love, faith, and the kingship of Christ. The first story follows a Christian couple who defied medical advice to abort their “defective” child, trusting instead in God’s providence. Their faith was rewarded with the birth of a healthy baby who grew into a successful firefighter.

In this first Sunday of Advent reflection, Msgr. John Esseff invites listeners into the season with a call to spiritual wakefulness. Drawing from the Gospel of Matthew, he explains Jesus’ warning that some will be united with him at his coming while others will be left behind. The key difference is union with Christ, a union formed through baptism, nourished by grace, and renewed through repentance.

Msgr. Esseff speaks about the early Church, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and the ongoing need for every Christian to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” He warns that sin separates the soul from Christ and dims the light God desires to radiate through us. Advent is presented as a time to return to that light, confront the shadows in our lives, and seek healing through confession, prayer, and intentional spiritual discipline.

The episode also explores Advent’s connection to peace. Drawing from Isaiah, Msgr. Esseff prays for a world where nations turn weapons into instruments of cultivation, and where each person commits to the peace Christ brings. He shares personal experiences of confession, transformation, and encounters with families seeking deeper union with God.

As the episode closes, he encourages listeners to begin an Advent journal, undertake a sincere spiritual inventory, and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal areas of darkness that need grace. For Msgr. Esseff, Advent is the doorway to a renewed life in Christ, a season where hearts awaken, grace deepens, and the soul prepares to welcome the light of Christmas.

Discerning Hearts Reflection Questions

What area of my life most needs the light of Christ as Advent begins?
Where have I allowed habits or attitudes to separate me from Jesus?
What specific action can I take this week to grow in holiness and peace?
How is God calling me to make room for deeper union with him this Advent?
What step toward reconciliation or virtue is the Holy Spirit prompting in my heart?

Gospel Matthew 27:37-44

Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
In those days before the flood,
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage,
up to the day that Noah entered the ark.
They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.
So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be out in the field;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Therefore, stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton. Msgr. Esseff served as a retreat director and confessor to St. Teresa of Calcutta. He continues to offer direction and retreats for the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity around the world. Msgr. Esseff encountered St. Padre Pio, who would become a spiritual father to him. He has lived in areas around the world, serving in the Pontifical missions, a Catholic organization established by Pope St. John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world, especially to the poor. Msgr. Esseff assisted the founders of the Institute for Priestly Formation and continues to serve as a spiritual director for the Institute. He continues to serve as a retreat leader and director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians, and other religious leaders around the world.