Sunday Reflection with Canon Robin Gibbons: 7 December 2025

Prophet Isiah 1968 RG

Second Sunday of Advent

The prophecy of Isaiah about the coming Messiah is worth our reflection . Why? Because it gives to us a vision of what the Messiah brings and just what manner of person he shall be and in that way we, who know the revelation of our true Messiah the Lord Jesus, might take from the gifts, attributes and promises of Isaiah's words, tools for our spiritual and daily life-for we are the disciples of this Messiah called to reflect in our own personalities, relationships and works, the world of the Spirit's gifts he shows to us and has already promised us if we but ask! This is at the heart of John's message for us in the gospel of this Sunday, for these words are spoken to us now: "I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire".(Mt 3:11)

Having been reminded of our own baptism and confirmation, Isaiah gives us a key in the Messiah's character by helping us in re-imagining what is important in the values and standards of our world:

"Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide fairly for the land's afflicted" (Is 11:3,4)

Those two aspects of rule are based in a concept of peace, not warfare or domination within which the Messiah turns upside down the more insidious, common we tend to involve ourselves with of concepts of gossip, innuendo and prejudice. Before us in this quote is a measuring rod for our own pattern of life : Do not judge by appearance, nor involve yourself with gossip, instead try to act justly and fairly. This might seem simple, but its not because this is not a pick and choose way of behaving, it has and is to be a total vocation each and every day, where in any moment when we face decisions, choices and challenges, those words are to be our guide. In transforming our world.

But there is more, within this chapter Isaiah shows us the seven gifts which the Spirit of the Lord endows the Messiah, gifts which we ourselves receive, the aspects of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. Together they form for us a real basis for faith life as individuals, but are important for the community as well. These gifts, together with the corresponding seven virtues, namely the four cardinal or moral virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance) and the three theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity), are animated by the supreme gift of the Spirit, that of love/charity to help us towards perfection by the action of God's grace building on our human nature. There is plenty to reflect on and Advent is the right season to do so as we ponder on the comings of Christ and his presence with us now.May these words of John the Baptiser keep our minds and hearts focussed on what really matters: "Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance'.(Mt 3:8)

Lectio

Litany For Advent

Sisters of the Community of the Church

Response:

Come to our longing
O God of Eternal Joy.

Reader:

God our Creator,

You have created us in your image
and have placed within us a longing so great
that we hardly dare own it

Give us the courage
to dare to hunger for you with our whole being
so that in hungering for you,
we live for you
loving you in our every breath, thought and action.

Response:

Come to our longing
O God of Eternal Joy.

Reader:

O Christ
You are the immense longing of God
a longing which calls and embarrasses us
in its vulnerability and entirety,
a longing that delights
and terrifies us.

Come, come and confront our poor love
with the humility and recklessness
of your self giving
so that we may abandon all that binds us
and anoint you
with the fearless surrender of our lives.

Response:

Come to our longing
O God of Eternal Joy.

Reader:

O Holy life giving Spirit
You are the joy of Heaven
that longs to fill us,

The might of God
that longs to empower us

The brokenness of God
That longs to restore us

Come,
come to our fears and our reluctance
our apathy and our cowardice

For you can bring life to
the deserts of our hearts

You can bring song to the darkest night

Response:

Come to our longing

O God of Eternal Joy.

(The Community of the Sisters of the Church is a worldwide Anglican Religious Order)

ST POPE JOHN PAUL II
MEETING WITH ECCLESIAL MOVEMENTS
AND NEW COMMUNITIES

Saturday, 30 May 1998

I would like to cry out to all of you gathered here in St Peter's Square and to all Christians: Open yourselves docilely to the gifts of the Spirit! Accept gratefully and obediently the charisms which the Spirit never ceases to bestow on us! Do not forget that every charism is given for the common good, that is, for the benefit of the whole Church.

6. By their nature, charisms are communicative and give rise to that "spiritual affinity between persons" (Christifideles laici, n. 24) and that friendship in Christ which is the origin of "movements". The passage from the original charism to the movement happens through the mysterious attraction that the founder holds for all those who become involved in his spiritual experience. In this way movements officially recognized by ecclesiastical authority offer themselves as forms of self-fulfilment and as reflections of the one Church.

Their birth and spread has brought to the Church's life an unexpected newness which is sometimes even disruptive. This has given rise to questions, uneasiness and tensions; at times it has led to presumptions and excesses on the one hand, and on the other, to numerous prejudices and reservations. It was a testing period for their fidelity, an important occasion for verifying the authenticity of their charisms.

Today a new stage is unfolding before you: that of ecclesial maturity. This does not mean that all problems have been solved. Rather, it is a challenge. A road to take. The Church expects from you the "mature" fruits of communion and commitment.

7. In our world, often dominated by a secularized culture which encourages and promotes models of life without God, the faith of many is sorely tested, and is frequently stifled and dies. Thus we see an urgent need for powerful proclamation and solid, in-depth Christian formation. There is so much need today for mature Christian personalities, conscious of their baptismal identity, of their vocation and mission in the Church and in the world! There is great need for living Christian communities! And here are the movements and the new ecclesial communities: they are the response, given by the Holy Spirit, to this critical challenge at the end of the millennium. You are this providential response.

Preparing for Christmas

One old Advent custom that can be done with children is to draw or even construct in some way a Jesse Tree and to use it as a prayerful journey.

Through the scriptural figures represented we can explore ( and explain) the genealogy of Jesus, but told as part of our own ancestral history in faith.

Looking up the various characters and perhaps using them as an aid to our daily prayer, helps us understand just a little bit more the wonders and gift of the Old Testament for understanding Christ our Messiah!