Word Wide Open: The First Sunday of Advent (B) - 12/3/23

First Reading (Isaiah 63:16B-17, 19B; 64:2-7)

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.

You, LORD, are our father,

our redeemer you are named forever.

Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from your ways,

and harden our hearts so that we fear you not?

Return for the sake of your servants,

the tribes of your heritage.

Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,

with the mountains quaking before you,

while you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for,

such as they had not heard of from of old.

No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen, any God but you

doing such deeds for those who wait for him.

Would that you might meet us doing right,

that we were mindful of you in our ways!

Behold, you are angry, and we are sinful;

all of us have become like unclean people,

all our good deeds are like polluted rags;

we have all withered like leaves,

and our guilt carries us away like the wind.

There is none who calls upon your name,

who rouses himself to cling to you;

for you have hidden your face from us

and have delivered us up to our guilt.

Yet, O LORD, you are our father;

we are the clay and you the potter:

we are all the work of your hands.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? Why does God allow us to stray away from Him? What are the deeds God does for those who wait for Him?

Second Reading (1 Corinthians 1:3-9)

A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians. 

Brothers and sisters:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I give thanks to my God always on your account

for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,

that in him you were enriched in every way,

with all discourse and all knowledge,

as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,

so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift

as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He will keep you firm to the end,

irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is faithful,

and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son,

Jesus Christ our Lord.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? What are the spiritual gifts Paul is referring to?

Gospel (Mark 13:33-37)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark.

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Be watchful! Be alert!

You do not know when the time will come.

It is like a man traveling abroad.

He leaves home and places his servants in charge,

each with his own work,

and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.

Watch, therefore;

you do not know when the lord of the house is coming,

whether in the evening, or at midnight,

or at cockcrow, or in the morning.

May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.

What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this Gospel reading? What do we need to be watchful and alert about? What has the master left us to do while he is away?