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Thursday of the first week of advent

Advent 2023

Presence

I reflect on God’s life-giving presence, within me and around me, as I settle in to this moment of prayer…

First Reading

Isaiah 26:1-6 NRSVue

On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

We have a strong city; he sets up walls and bulwarks as a safeguard.

Open the gates, so that the righteous nation that maintains faithfulness may enter in. Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace, in peace because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord God you have an everlasting rock. For he has brought low the inhabitants of the height; the lofty city he lays low. He lays it low to the ground, casts it to the dust. The foot tramples it, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.

First Reading Reflection

We read today about trust. God is an “everlasting rock”. Rock may seem like an uninviting image of God. Rock can be a stumbling block on a pathway or a beach, or dangerous in the sea. But it is also something of God’s creation that lasts. We look at a rock and marvel at how long it has been and will be in place. God is always in place for us; year after year we celebrate that faith in the weeks of Advent. We know that in bad times we need a rock, and often think of someone supportive as a “rock of strength”. The rock that is God comes among us, as a little baby, weak and vulnerable. Our God is a God of surprises and contradictions, and we will never reach the end of his depths or his wisdom! God in Jesus is both vulnerable and strong. Maybe he wants to teach us not to be afraid of our vulnerability, but to know we have strength in him.

Gospel

Matthew 7:21,24-27 NRSVue

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

“Everyone, then, who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”

Gospel Reflection

Building a house can be an analogy for building a life. Jesus is telling us that the foundation is the most important part of it. With a foundation that is built upon God’s Word and teaching, on his faithfulness and love, the house will be strong and will be able to withstand anything that comes against it. How are the foundations of my own life? Are they solid and built upon the message, teaching and Word of God?

Closing Prayer

Dear Jesus, help me to strengthen my foundations in you, my solid rock, so that I can withstand whatever storms come my way. “I shall not be moved”. Amen.