Collect for 4th Sunday of Advent

COLLECT SERIES 

THE MASS: COLLECT SERIES ICON.

COLLECT

The Collect for the 4th Sunday of Advent Year A reads as follows:

Pour forth we beseech you O Lord your grace into our hearts

 that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ Your Son 

was made known by the message of an Angel 

may by this passion and cross 

be brought to the glory of His Resurrection.

We make this prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ

who lives and reigns with Him and the Holy Spirit, 

one God for ever and ever.

 REFLECTION QUESTIONS

In making this prayer tangible for my life during the week, the following reflections questions emerged:

1. What are the graces that I long for from the Lord?
2. What message of the angel do I bring to other people?
3. How can I reflect during this week on the Incarnation of Christ?
4. Why do you think this familiar prayer is chosen for this 4th Sunday of Advent?
5. How will you make the most of this final week of Advent spiritually?

GOSPEL REFLECTION
I don't know whether it is this time of the year, but I love to hear todays Gospel from Matthew.  There is always something comforting and reassuring to me about Joseph's obedience to the angel. What if he had wiped it off and said '' oh it is just a dream'' or worse still had forgotten the dream when he woke up.   Thankfully, Joseph was tuned in to God, and through his dream was able to communicate what Joseph he had to do, and he obeyed the angel. He had enough faith to realise that the angel's message was from God.

God can communicate with us awake or asleep, and like Joseph, when the message is more than our conscious could bear, can communicate to us in our subconscious- when we are relaxed and receptive to Him.  However, Joseph made a conscious decision to follow the angel's message.  The scripture says '' He got up.....''  .

From a psychological standpoint, we all do dream.  Whether we remember our dreams or not is another matter. God is always longing to communicate with us and is always kind because He knows how much we can bear.  However, we need to be relaxed and receptive to His message to us, whether awake or asleep.

The other aspect of Joseph's response was he acted upon the message.  He obeyed, because in his heart he knew it was a message from God.  Can we say the same?  Do we act upon the messages we receive in many forms knowing that they are from God? It is all very well to listen and be receptive to the message- this is a very important first step.  However, if that is all it is, a first step and it goes nowhere then, it remains a message that God will provide in another form.  God does not give up with us.   However, why not listen receptively whether awake or asleep and answer God with our obedience with the faith of Joseph.

So as we prepare for Christmas during this final week of Advent,  we  may wish to revise our spiritual plans that we set up at the beginning of Advent and see how we are travelling.  We may also wish to consider our receptivity and obedience to God in our lives. 

What must we do this week to become more receptive to God and to obey His word to us?