This is the tenth volume from Father Looney it is another excellent read it is a wonderful resource for growth in your spiritual life during Lent. The volume contains a total of 31 reflections for the days in Advent and 2 for specific Proper’s of Saints during Advent. It was inspiring and challenging to read these reflections. I read the book through in order to write this review, but plan on rereading the volume during Advent this year.
The description of this volume is:
“At the beginning of every Mass, the priest-celebrant says, "Let us pray" and then offers a prayer to God the Father, through Jesus Christ, in union with the Holy Spirit. This Opening Prayer is called the Collect. During Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter, this prayer is specific to the day; in the season of Ordinary Time, the Collect for each Sunday is repeated during the following weekday Masses.
In Praying with the Church through Advent, Fr. Edward Looney offers a short daily meditation and reflection questions on that day's Collect to help you better appreciate the richness of these liturgical texts and apply them to your life. Journaling pages are included to aid you in your Advent journey so that you may more fruitfully contemplate the liturgy and incorporate the spiritual lessons it offers.
Fr. Looney invites you to spend a few minutes considering these meditations over a cup of coffee, or while resting in the Lord's Presence, and praying with them before or after Mass. The reflections and questions may also be used for group discussions. In these absorbing passages, you will find:
• A greater appreciation for the prayers of the Mass during Advent -- and throughout the year
• The secret to receiving the gifts that God is waiting to give you through the sacraments
• How to create space for Christ and welcome Him into your heart and your home
• Ways to deepen your prayer life and your relationship with God amid difficulties and dangers
• How to break free from darkness and sin and live in the joy and freedom of God's light
• Practical tips for living your faith through works of charity in every season
While you ponder these penetrating prayers, you will learn how to walk more closely with Our Lady and the saints, from biblical heroes to contemporary figures. By developing a more fervent devotion to the Blessed Mother, you will grow in greater love of her Son. As you enter into the mystery of the Word-made-flesh through these reflections, you will encounter Jesus' Presence in the Holy Eucharist anew and experience the life-changing power of His love so that you may be restored in mind, heart, and soul as never before.”
The chapters in this volume are:
Introduction
First Sunday of Advent
Monday of the First Week of Advent
Tuesday of the First Week of Advent
Wednesday of the First Week of Advent
Thursday of the First Week of Advent
Friday of the First Week of Advent
Saturday of the First Week of Advent
Second Sunday of Advent
Monday of the Second Week of Advent
Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent
Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent
Thursday of the Second Week of Advent
Friday of the Second Week of Advent
Saturday of the Second Week of Advent
Third Sunday of Advent
Monday of the Third Week of Advent
Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent
Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
Thursday of the Third Week of Advent
Friday of the Third Week of Advent
Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 17
December 18
December 19
December 20
December 21
December 22
December 23
December 24
Proper of Saints
December 8 Immaculate Conception
December 12 Our Lady of Guadalupe
About the Author
Father Looney ends the introduction with these words:
“My aim in writing this Advent meditation book is to make these reflections accessible. A meditation that would be a few pages might be too time-consuming for an individual. My hope is that you make a cup of coffee, sit down with this book, pray the Collect, reflect on the words, and spend a few moments in quiet prayer mulling over the question. If it doesn’t happen over coffee, this would be a good companion for daily Mass. Arrive at Mass a little early. If the Rosary is prayed beforehand, hopefully there is enough time for your quiet prayer and reflection before Mass begins. You can then pray over the Collect that will be prayed at that Mass (unless it’s a required memorial). Or if you want to allow the fruits of Mass to linger a bit longer, you can remain in your pew after Mass for a few moments of prayer and reflection, revisiting the Collect prayer.
I have chosen to omit most celebrations of the saints, even if they are required memorials (e.g., St. Ambrose). The proper of saints that I have included in this manuscript includes the two Marian feasts of the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadalupe. These can be found at the end of the main text, beginning on page 183.
My hope as you make your way through this Advent devotional is that you will better appreciate the texts of the Mass and that on any Sunday or daily Mass that you might attend throughout the year, you will listen more attentively to the opening prayer and reflect upon it yourself. And if you enjoyed this Advent devotional, be sure to look for the sister book for Lent, where I do the same thing: present the Collect, reflect, and encourage meditation. May your Advent be blessed and as the Church prays on December 24, “May the Lord come quickly and not delay!””
A sample reflection is:
“Friday of the Second Week of Advent
TODAY’S COLLECT
Grant that your people, we pray, almighty God,
may be ever watchful
for the coming of your Only Begotten Son,
that, as the author of our salvation himself has taught us,
we may hasten, alert and with lighted lamps,
to meet him when he comes.
Jesus is a teacher. We know this from the Gospel. His favorite way of teaching was through parables. Today’s Advent prayer draws our focus to the parable of the ten virgins, who are awaiting the return of the bridegroom. As the oil runs out of the lamps, some of the virgins go in search of more oil while those who were prepared are ready. When the five foolish virgins leave, the bridegroom returns and they miss him. You can read the parable in Matthew 25:1–13. The purpose of Jesus’ teaching here is to tell us that we do not know the day or the hour that Jesus will come back. Isn’t that the funny thing? Many people have tried to make predictions, but they have always been wrong. Jesus already told us that we won’t know when, but we think that maybe we broke the code and figured it out.
Another lesson that Jesus teaches us is that we must always be ready. Christians have waited for nearly two thousand years for the Parousia, the return of Christ. It hasn’t happened. We are still waiting. If Jesus does not return while we are alive, He will come for us at the hour of our death when we face our own judgment. The spiritual question we must ask here is Am I ready to meet the Lord right now? Today’s prayer asks that we may hasten, alert, and with lighted lamps, to meet Him when He comes. But for some people who live their lives indifferent to the teachings of God, they may not want to hasten or be alert. In fact, if they saw the Lord coming, maybe they would run away because they are not ready. A person who may not be ready is one who is conscious of mortal sin or unrepentant of their sins. It could be someone who has not forgiven their brother as Jesus wants. Some people are ready. Older people I visit with are ready for Jesus to come for them. They have lived their lives and tried to please Him and pray daily that He will bring them home to His kingdom. This is how Jesus wants us to live our lives right now. He doesn’t want us to be ready when we are seventy or eighty but at whatever age we are right now. He wants us to be ready because we are living a godly life right now.
Reflection Questions
1. Are you ready for the coming of Jesus at the unexpected hour?
2. What would hold you back from running to meet with Jesus?
3. What is the first thing that you will say to Jesus?”
Another from the Proper’s is:
“December 12 Our Lady of Guadalupe
TODAY’S COLLECT
O God, Father of mercies,
who placed your people under the singular protection
of your Son’s most holy Mother,
grant that all who invoke the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe,
may seek with ever more lively faith
the progress of peoples in the ways of justice and of peace.
Our Lady played a very special role in the life of St. Juan Diego, the visionary of the Guadalupe apparitions. Our Lady addressed him so tenderly, calling him her little Juan Diego. When it comes to these apparitions of Our Lady, it is God who sends her with a message. God desired the conversion of a people who had gone astray, and Our Lady would touch their hearts and bring them back. Many conversions and Baptisms resulted following the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
She said these words: “Let not your heart be disturbed. . . . Am I not here, who am your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything.” These words are so touching, and they echo the Gospel. Jesus so often repeated these words, “Do not be afraid.” Mary, who heard these words from the archangel, says them to Juan Diego and repeats them in many of her apparitions.
Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe is widespread. People will gather in Mexico City outside the basilica and sing to Our Lady, serenading her with prayer and song. This is the mother who promised to protect and hear her children. How is your devotion to Mary? Do you ask for her prayers often? Mary is a key figure of Advent, and we can journey with her during these days leading up to Christmas. If you have a Marian devotion, keep journeying with Mary. If you don’t have one, maybe this is the moment to begin in a simple way with the Hail Mary. As you begin or deepen your devotion, you will experience what Our Lady promised, her prayers and protection. And your fears will disappear.
Reflection Questions
1. What are the characteristics of your devotion to Mary right now? Do you have a statue or picture of her? Do you pray her Rosary?
2. Have you ever looked at the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe? If not, look it up and see what she looks like. This image was impressed on a tilma and is still viewed and venerated today.
3. What prayer petition do you want Our Lady to pray for today?”
I highlighted a number of passages while reading this volume, some of them are:
“What is unique about the seasons of Advent and Lent, Christmas and Easter, is that the Church offers a special Collect, prayer over the gifts, prayer after Communion, and prayer over the people. Every day the prayer is different. I have preached on the prayers and reflected on them at times. This book is a collection of those Collects from the Mass, and I offer a reflection on one aspect of the prayer and provide a few reflection questions for you to consider, perhaps using a prayer journal.
“My hope as you make your way through this Advent devotional is that you will better appreciate the texts of the Mass and that on any Sunday or daily Mass that you might attend throughout the year, you will listen more attentively to the opening prayer and reflect upon it yourself. And if you enjoyed this Advent devotional, be sure to look for the sister book for Lent, where I do the same thing: present the Collect, reflect, and encourage meditation.”
“During this Advent season, Jesus might want to come and knock on the door of your heart and soul. Today’s Collect draws our attention to the nature of Christ’s eventual return in glory at the end of time. We want to stay alert so that we are not caught off guard when Christ comes and knocks at the end of time.”
“Our Advent prayer today also asked God to let no earthly undertaking hinder us. We are busy people. A lot is expected and demanded of us. Sometimes these earthly undertakings are vying for our time and attention and might distract us from God. This Advent, we can choose to make learning heavenly wisdom a regular part of our lives.”
“Today, our Advent prayer asks God to grant that no infirmity may weary us as we long for the comforting presence of our heavenly physician. For some people, infirmity does indeed weary them.”
“May the splendor of your glory dawn in our hearts, we pray, almighty God, that all shadows of the night may be scattered and we may be shown to be children of light by the advent of your Only Begotten Son.”
“When it comes to God, He does in fact see us when we are sleeping, and He knows when we are awake. He knows what we do when no one is looking, and He hears the conversations we have with others. It is the Lord God who wants us to be holy and virtuous.”
“What do you think God thinks of your Advent preparation? Is He pleased or do you think He knows you could do better?”
“The old way of doing things has been usurped by the new way of living proposed by Jesus. As I decide to follow Jesus and live His teachings, that old way will begin to disappear. Bad habits will be eliminated, and godly ways will take over.”
“We pray to God all the time. We lift prayers of petition for people we love and those for whom we promise to pray. We offer prayers of gratitude to God for the many blessings that He has bestowed upon us. We ask Him for forgiveness. When we pray, God hears us. He listens to our prayers. He helps us in unimaginable ways. Sometimes we are unaware of God’s provident grace at work in our lives, and other times it is very apparent.”
I hope those quotes and 2 reflections give you a feel for this excellent volume. I admit I was a little disappointed there was not a reflection for some of the other saints days, but maybe Father will release another volume on some of those following the around the year. Each reflection follows the same format. The Collect, followed by the meditation, and then three Reflection Questions. There are some excellent reflections in this volume, and each will inspire, challenge, and encourage readers. This is a great volume to pick up and work through during Advent. The volume is available in print, eBook and audio formats.
This volume is well written, and easy to engage with. It is a wonderful volume that will spark curiosity and it will foster engagement and growth. It is a book that will benefit any Catholic readers. I can easily recommend this volume and the companion volume for Lent.
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