Opening Prayer Series: 4th Sunday of Advent year A

OPENING PRAYER SERIES.

OPENING PRAYER

The Opening Prayer for the Fourth Sunday of Advent Year A reads as follows:

Let us pray

(as Advent draws to a close, that Christ will truly come into our hearts)

Lord,

 Fill our hearts with Your love,

and as You revealed to us by an angel the coming of Your Son as man, 

so lead us through His suffering and death 

to the glory of His resurrection 

for He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, 

one God, for ever and ever.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS.

In making this prayer tangible the following reflection questions emerged:

1. What has my Advent journey been like-how can I make the most of this week?
2. What are the areas in my life that hinder Christ coming into my heart?
3. What is Christ’s love like and why is it important that I have my heart filled with His love?
4. Why does this 4th Sunday of Opening Prayer mention the suffering, death and resurrection?
5. How will the eternal Word take flesh in our lives this coming week?
6. What spiritual plan will I use during the Christmas season to grow spiritually?

GOSPEL REFLECTION

In today's Gospel, the focus is on Joseph- foster father of Jesus.  Joseph was betrothed (engaged) to Mary, but after finding out that Mary was already pregnant, he decides to spare her publicity by 'divorcing her informally'.  Here we catch a glimpse of the love of Joseph for Mary. He was still thinking of her feelings despite the hurt and/or confusion with the situation that he felt himself.

Joseph obviously had his own doubts and concerns, but his fears were allayed by the message of the angel in his dream. It confirmed for him what he needed to know and understand and he was able to act upon it with belief and certainty when he awoke.  Joseph was also a man of great faith, so when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his dream and told him all the details, He listened to what the angel said and he did not hesitate to act upon it- 'he took Mary home as his wife'.

We too can learn from Joseph. When we are troubled, we need to act after we have had confirmation with certainty. We need to allow 'the angel' to appear to us in our dreams. Dreams are powerful and can provide valuable information to us if we are open to allowing our psyche to give us the vital clues.  God will provide some confirmation for us and yes, sometimes it can be in our dreams when our defences are down that we are open to the message that we need to receive. We need to be like Joseph and wake up and act upon it.