Collect for Second Sunday of Advent Year B

 

COLLECT SERIES.

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT YEAR B

The Mass: Collect series icon.

COLLECT 

The Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent Year B reads as follows:

 

Almighty and merciful God,

May no earthly undertaking hinder those who set in haste to meet Your Son,

But may our learning of Heaven’s wisdom

gain us admittance to His company.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, 

who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

 one God, for ever and ever.

 

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

 

In making this prayer tangible, the following reflection questions emerged:

1.    1. How can our earthly undertakings ( our work) hinder us from Christ?
2.    What steps will I take this week to prepare a way for the Lord?
3.    What is heaven’s wisdom?
4.    How does my understanding of Heaven’s wisdom affect my life?
5.    How will you set out to meet Christ this coming week? 

GOSPEL REFLECTION

In he second week of advent we meet John the Baptist who exhorts us to prepare a way for the Lord, to make His paths straight and to fill in the valleys and the plains.  What are the valleys and plains in our lives?  How can I prepare a way for the Lord this advent?

 

Advent is a time of hope but it is also a penitential season. The priest wears a purple chasuble  to signify a penitential season.  We need to prepare by some form of penance, prayer and doing works of charity.  In this time of covid, where we may not be able to do something with each other, we can always provide hope for others in need by picking up the phone, doing a zoom or skype or facetime call. We can find ways to offer hope, support and love to others in need. We do this of course with the love of Jesus in our hearts foremost and in the process we show that we keep the commandment of love by helping others.

We can also set aside some time each day to read the Gospel of the day and to meditate upon it. We can see how the Lord speaks to us through His Gospel of the day.  You might like to also visit my Gospel Acclamation series to help you also in your advent journey.

 We need to set aside some time to do something penitential.   It might be holding back a word or two when we are tempted to make an unkind comment.  In some families they have the tradition of every time someone in the family does something positive, something worthwhile spiritually, they add a piece of straw to their cradle, so that when Jesus comes at Christmas, the cradle will be full of straw on which He can rest.

 

Some families and schools have what they call the Advent promises where each family member commit to doing something during advent.  I heard some lovely commitments last week at Mass.  One grade 1 child promised to feed the dog during Advent instead of dad doing it.  Of course, the dog needs feeding and walking every day, but promising to give Dad a break from feeding and walking the dog during Advent shows some responsibility and also some respect for dad out of love for Jesus. It shows that the child thought about what he was going to do-something practical.

Perhaps it may be worth thinking of your own promises. It is not too late to start. What will your advent Promises be?

 

The most important thing is that we use this time of advent, this season of hope to grow closer to Jesus and to want Him to really come to us not only at Christmas but into our hearts in a new and deeper way.  We need to long for Him and to really desire Him to come.  We can get caught up with family traditions and getting ready for Christmas but if we do these without considering the spiritual side of the season, we are definitely missing out.

 

Use these weeks wisely and grow closer to Jesus.  Come Lord Jesus and help me to prepare a way for You.