Daily Reflections for Advent & Christmas: Catholic Daily Reflections Series Two

By John Paul Thomas

"My Catholic Life!" now offers two complete four-volume series of daily Gospel reflections that cover the entire liturgical year. Each four-volume series can be used from year to year since every Gospel option is covered in each series. "Daily Reflections for Advent & Christmas" is Volume Four in the second four-volume series. As a devotional, it is a great resource for daily meditation and prayer offering reflections on the Gospel of the day in a practical, faithful, and down-to-earth way. It is formatted in such a way that it can be used for any liturgical year, offering reflections on every Gospel option, including Sunday Years A, B & C, every daily Mass option, and all Feasts and Solemnities.
Note: Some of the weekday reflections in this series were first published in book form for Ordinary Time 2021. This new and updated version contains all new Sunday reflections for Years A, B & C as well as other new weekday reflections.
Like the first series, the books in this second series are as follows:
Catholic Daily Reflections: Series Two:
1. Advent and Christmas
2. Lent and Easter
3. Ordinary Time: Weeks 1–17
4. Ordinary Time: Weeks 18–34
All reflections are available free of charge from our website, through our mobile app, or through our daily email service. Both of the complete four-volume series are also available in paperback and eBook format.

• Language: English
• Publisher: My Catholic Life Inc.
• Release date: Sep 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005334130

John Paul Thomas

"John Paul Thomas" is the pen name this Catholic priest chose in honor of the Apostles Saints John and Thomas and the great evangelist Saint Paul. This name also evokes the memory of the great Pope Saint John Paul II.John is the beloved apostle who sought out a deeply personal and intimate relationship with his Savior. Hopefully the writings in this book point us all to a deeply personal and intimate relationship with our God. May John be a model of this intimacy and love.Thomas is also a beloved apostle and close friend of Jesus but is well known for his lack of faith in Jesus' resurrection. Though he ultimately entered into a profound faith crying out, "my Lord and my God," he is given to us as a model of our own weakness of faith. Thomas should inspire us to always return to faith when we realize we have doubted.As a Pharisee, Paul severely persecuted the early Christian Church. However, after going through a powerful conversion, he went on to become the great evangelist to the gentiles, founding many new communities of believers and writing many letters contained in Sacred Scripture. His letters are deeply personal and reveal a shepherd's heart. He is a model for all as we seek to embrace our calling to spread the Gospel.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Advent—Week One

First Sunday of Advent (Year A)

First Sunday of Advent (Year B)

First Sunday of Advent (Year C)

Monday of the First Week of Advent

Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent

Thursday of the First Week of Advent

Friday of the First Week of Advent

Saturday of the First Week of Advent

Advent—Week Two

Second Sunday of Advent (Year A)

Second Sunday of Advent (Year B)

Second Sunday of Advent (Year C)

Monday of the Second Week of Advent

Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent

Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent

Thursday of the Second Week of Advent

Friday of the Second Week of Advent

Saturday of the Second Week of Advent

Advent—Week Three

Third Sunday of Advent (Year A)

Third Sunday of Advent (Year B)

Third Sunday of Advent (Year C)

Monday of the Third Week of Advent

Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent

Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent

Thursday of the Third Week of Advent

Friday of the Third Week of Advent

Advent—December 17–24

Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A)

Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year B)

Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year C)

December 17, Advent Weekday

December 18, Advent Weekday

December 19, Advent Weekday

December 20, Advent Weekday

December 21, Advent Weekday

December 22, Advent Weekday

December 23, Advent Weekday

December 24, Advent Weekday

Christmas Octave

The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas Day)

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Sunday within the Octave of Christmas (Or, if there is no Sunday, December 30)

Feast of St. Stephen, First Martyr, Second Day of the Octave of Christmas, December 26

Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, Third Day of the Octave of Christmas, December 27

Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs, Fourth Day of the Octave of Christmas, December 28

Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas, December 29

Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas, December 30

Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas, December 31

Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, The Octave Day of Christmas, January 1

Christmas Season

January 2, when before Epiphany

January 3, when before Epiphany

January 4, when before Epiphany

January 5, when before Epiphany

January 6, when before Epiphany

January 7, when before Epiphany

Second Sunday after Christmas (When Epiphany is not transferred to the Sunday after January 1)

The Epiphany of the Lord, January 6, or the first Sunday after January 1

First Christmas Weekday after Epiphany, Monday after Epiphany or January 7

Second Christmas Weekday after Epiphany, Tuesday after Epiphany or January 8

Third Christmas Weekday after Epiphany, Wednesday after Epiphany or January 9

Fourth Christmas Weekday after Epiphany, Thursday after Epiphany or January 10

Fifth Christmas Weekday after Epiphany, Friday after Epiphany or January 11

Sixth Christmas Weekday after Epiphany, Saturday after Epiphany or January 12

The Baptism of the Lord, Sunday after January 6

Feasts and Solemnities

Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle, November 30

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, December 8

Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12

Additional Books in This Series

Advent—Week One

Wake Up!

First Sunday of Advent (Year A)

Jesus said to his disciples: As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man." Matthew 24:37–39

Are you awake? Spiritually speaking? As we begin the liturgical season of Advent, we are given the future coming of the Son of God to ponder. As this passage goes on, Jesus says, Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.

By the day your Lord will come, we should understand three things. The first coming of Christ is obviously that which we most clearly ponder in Advent and Christmas. The unity of human nature with divine nature, in the Person of Jesus, is truly awe-inspiring. But that already took place long ago.

Thus, a second coming of Christ that we must continually ponder is His coming by grace, every moment of every day of our lives, once we have chosen to freely give our lives over to His service, for His glory, in accord with His will. When we live with such an interior disposition by which we seek His ongoing coming by grace, then we will find that we need to continually stay awake! If we do not, then we can be certain that we will miss countless opportunities to become more united to Christ every day and to be used as an instrument of that very grace for His service and glory. If we do not diligently build a habit of becoming attentive to every prompting of grace in our lives, then we will, unquestionably, begin to become drowsy and will fall asleep, spiritually speaking.

A wonderful measure of our daily attentiveness to the innumerable gifts of grace given to us every day is to also consider how attentive we are to the final and glorious coming of Christ at the end of time. Just as Jesus explains, most people will pay little attention to this final coming, presuming it will not even be in their lifetimes. But if you have that attitude, then you have completely missed the point. The point is preparedness—today, tomorrow and always. True preparedness for the final coming of Christ will not only help you enter the mysteries of these Advent and Christmas seasons by which we ponder the first coming of Christ, it will also help you form a habit of daily attentiveness to grace.

Reflect, today, upon how ready you are for the final coming of Christ at the end of time. Are you ready if Christ were to come today? If not, understand that a lack of preparedness for the final coming also means a lack of preparedness to celebrate His first coming at Christmas long ago, as well as His daily comings by grace. Prepare today. Do not wait. If you do, God will daily transform you in ways that are glorious beyond comprehension.

My ever-present Lord, You come to us, day and night, calling to us, leading us and offering to enter our lives. Please help me to always be attentive to You and to always open my heart fully to Your daily coming by grace. Jesus, I trust in You.

Do Not Miss Out…

First Sunday of Advent (Year B)

Jesus said to his disciples: Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come." Mark 13:33

To which time is our Lord referring? He is referring to the time of His coming. But it must be understood that even though He came to us once in the flesh long ago, and though He will return again in the flesh to judge the living and the dead at the end of time, He never ceases to come to us day and night by the transforming gift of grace. Are you attentive to this coming? Or do you miss out on the countless blessings of God’s grace that He wants to bestow upon you every day, all day?

The world has many distractions. We are distracted by the lure of riches, the indulgence of our appetites, and the constant noise of modern media, electronic gadgets and the like. These and many other daily distractions make it very difficult to be constantly watchful and alert. This is because our attention span is limited. Though some may learn to multi-task to a certain extent, no one can continually divide their attention between the presence of God and the distractions of the world.

Some may argue that it is necessary to engage the world today. It is not possible to continually pray and think only about God. But those who would be tempted to think this do not understand the attentiveness and watchfulness to which we are called.

Being watchful and attentive simply means that God is central in our lives and is the motivation and purpose of all we do every day. Our love for and service to God cannot be divided. We cannot set aside some time for the world and other times for God. Instead, everything we do, every day, all day, must have the glory of God and the fulfillment of God’s perfect will as the central and exclusive purpose of our lives. Thus, if we interact with the world, tune into social media, fulfill household chores, put in extra hours at work, etc., we must constantly ponder the simple question, Lord, am I doing this for Your glory and in accord with Your will? We must never fail to ask ourselves that question. We must always have the glory of God and the fulfillment of His will as the central purpose and motivation for all that we do. If we can live this way, then we will discover that it becomes increasingly easy to always and everywhere be attentive to and watchful for God’s will.

Reflect, today, upon that to which you most often turn your attention. What is it that you think about the most each day? To what are you most attentive and watchful? If the answer to that question is not the ongoing promptings of God and His grace, then make note of that fact. Humbly pray that you can change and begin to form a transforming habit of daily keeping your attention on our Lord so that He will become your daily guide and focus in all things.

Lord of all grace, You come to me day and night, speaking to me, calling me and desiring to guide me. May I learn to turn my full attention to You every day so that nothing but You and Your holy will lead me always. Jesus, I trust in You.

Supernatural Instinct

First Sunday of Advent (Year C)

Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.  For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man. Luke 21:34–36

That day. These two words are spoken twice in the passage above. To which day is our Lord referring? Clearly, He is referring primarily to the day of our final judgment and is warning us to make sure we are prepared for it in case it were to come at an unexpected moment. So how do we prepare?

Animals have the natural gift of instinct. They know how to survive, how to reproduce, how to gather food and how to avoid danger. They know this because God has implanted this knowledge within them. By this natural gift of instinct, they know what to do and what to avoid.

We, as humans, also have basic natural instincts. But our natural instincts