A Homily – The Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A)

A Homily – The Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A)

  

First Reading – Isaiah 7:10-14

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 23(24):1-6 ©

Second Reading – Romans 1:1-7 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 1:23

The Gospel According to Matthew 1:18-24

 (NJB)

 

Listen!

 God is not a politician.

 The creator of the universe is not a kingmaker. God does not give victory in battle; God does not appoint winner and losers. God, Immanuel, the God of Jesus Christ, God is with all people, at all times, in all places.

God loves each and every one of God’s children, God’s love is without measure and flow through all people equally.

God stands with all people, whether or not any of them stand with God.

Be mindful of this.

All things and person have their being in God. God is the foundation of all that is. Without God there is nothing, and in nothing there is not even the possibility of being.

If you wish to climb the mountain, if your desire is to find God, that is fine, do it; God desire to be found. However, the path to God is closer than you might think; turn to your neighbor, see God reflected in their face.

God is there.

See them, behold the face of God, and in the presence of divine give thanks, give thanks for your neighbor, with your neighbor give thanks, demonstrate God’s faithfulness to you, demonstrate that faith living in you; trust the divine and demonstrate it through love.

There is no other way.

Do not worry about your own holiness, such pretensions are immaterial. Rather, believe that God loved you before the creation of the world, when only the possibility of you existed and know that even then you were loved and desired. Believe that this is true of all things and beings, this is true of everyone; everyone is loved by God, everyone is a vessel of God’s holiness.

Believe that this is true.

If you seek God’s blessing you will find it in the service you provide to your neighbor, to your mother and father, to your sister and brother, and know that God desires to see you blessed. If you seek to be justice, to be justified or justification in anything, find it in humility practice it in mercy.

Remember this:

God is not confined to the pages of a book, to inked scratching’s on parchment or vellum, or the printed word on paper, neither is God bound by the history and mythology of a single people. We may look to the histories and the traditions for glimpses of God, for the remembrances of past encounters, but we seek the living God in living beings, for God is alive in us.

Therefore always bear this metaphor in mind: the first time we saw God, when the first parent walked with the creator, then the world was a garden and that was paradise. There was no talk of kings, and no talk of the glory of God victorious in battle…let us return to that.

 Now listen!

 Do good and reject evil, and remember that the apostle Paul was not chosen, rather, he made a choice and chose to preach the Gospel.

 He was not converted, he converted; he underwent kenosis and metanoia, a turning around followed by the embrace of God.

 In all humility, remember this: Jesus descends from David through his father Joseph (if he was at all), he was a human being…this is a simple truth. And remember, Jesus was not a lord or king, he rejected those title and words to that affect were hung on the cross to mock him. Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary and Joseph, he was a Rabbi and a healer.

 The record of his life tells the story of a man whose life and works provide an unparalleled example of goodness and the fullness of grace. He was not a conduit of grace, he was a manifestation of grace, emanating from the seed of the divine (God in God’s fullness) that exists in potential within all of us. Jesus’ mission was not to confer on human beings something that they lacked, but to activate in them something that is innate, the inherent capacity for good and a receptivity for God’s love.

 Now consider this when you read the Gospel for today:

 Mary was betrothed to Joseph and Joseph was of the House of David. She became pregnant before their wedding, according to God’s, the design God put in place for the propagation of all human life, according to no other design.

 It is reasonable to assert that Matthew’s narrative, depicts Joseph as having second thoughts about his marriage, taking Mary into his house as he had promised, and about being a father even though he had gotten Mary pregnant already, and that in the examination of his conscience, by listening to the spirit of grace within him, he made a choice; he embraced the truth, and accepted responsibility for his child.

 David received Mary as his wife, he brought her into his house; they named their child Joshua, after the great hero of the Israelites. They gave him a great name and pinned their hopes on him, in that hope and trust (which means faith) they encountered the presence of God, knowing then   that God was with them, inasmuch as they were with each other.

 If Joseph had succumbed to his fear and weakness and rejected Mary when she was with child (and that was a real possibility), in that time and place, Mary would have been destroyed; she would have become an outcast with no standing in her community, she and her child would have gone into servitude and likely would have perished after much suffering.

 The narrative shows that Joseph was humiliated by his weakness and humbled by his doubt moment of doubt; he came through that moment have learned what it means to truly love.

 He choose good, he rejected evil.

 If you believe it.

 

First Reading – Isaiah 7:10-14

The Maiden is With Child

The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’

Then Isaiah said:

‘Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men without trying the patience of my God, too?

The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a sign.

It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel,

a name which means “God-is-with-us.”’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 23(24):1-6 ©

Let the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,

  the world and all its peoples.

It is he who set it on the seas;

  on the waters he made it firm.

Let the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.

Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?

  Who shall stand in his holy place?

The man with clean hands and pure heart,

  who desires not worthless things.

Let the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.

He shall receive blessings from the Lord

  and reward from the God who saves him.

Such are the men who seek him,

  seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Let the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.

Second Reading – Romans 1:1-7 ©

Our Apostolic Mission is to Preach the Obedience of Faith to All Pagan Nations

From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus who has been called to be an apostle, and specially chosen to preach the Good News that God promised long ago through his prophets in the scriptures.

This news is about the Son of God who, according to the human nature he took was a descendant of David: it is about Jesus Christ our Lord who, in the order of the spirit, the spirit of holiness that was in him, was proclaimed Son of God in all his power through his resurrection from the dead. Through him we received grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith to all pagan nations in honour of his name. You are one of these nations, and by his call belong to Jesus Christ. To you all, then, who are God’s beloved in Rome, called to be saints, may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send grace and peace.

Gospel Acclamation – Matthew 1:23

Alleluia, alleluia!

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son

and they will call him Emmanuel,

a name which means ‘God-is-with-us’.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to Matthew 1:18-24

How Jesus Christ Came to be Born

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home and, though he had not had intercourse with her, she gave birth to a son; and he named him Jesus.

The Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A)

A Homily - The Third Sunday of Advent (Year A)

 A Homily - The Third Sunday of Advent (Year A)

  

2022.12.11

  

First Reading - Isaiah 35:1-6, 10 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 145(146):6-10 ©

Second Reading - James 5:7-10 ©

Gospel Acclamation – Isaiah 61:1 (Luke 4:18)

The Gospel According to Matthew 11:2 - 11 ©

  

(NJB)

  

Listen to the prophet Isaiah is a prayer of hope. Listen and be mindful, do not mistake the poetry written here as the literal truth or the historical record of anything.

 This is a prayer from the school of Isaiah, it is a prayer for healing and restoration, it is a prayer for salvation: a state of being that God, the creator of the universe, that God intends for everyone …but not in this life.

 This prayer is not a promise concerning the expectations we should hold for our lives in this world. It is a prayer reflecting our hope for the next.

 The hope that is expressed here is the hope of divine deliverance, not from present peril but from the material condition altogether.

 There is a fundamental choice before us:

 We may choose to live our lives as if we believe in the things we hope for; the belief in what we hope for is an extension of trust in the divine, this mode of trust is the essence of faith, which is not a thing you can possess, nor a state of being, it is an action best expressed in the imperfect form…never complete in the present.

 In the next world we may witness the entirety of the created order lifted-up in the exultation of God; we may experience it like that, but this will not be a state of mindless adulation, it will not be a grand and endless glorification…that is not the way of the divine, whatever jubilation there will be, will have the form of thanksgiving and humility according to the simple—endless bounty of God’s love.

 I am with Isaiah when they express the hope that we will face our fears and watch them disappear; I am with those who teach us to have courage in the now, and patience in the present moment, being of service to one another.

 I am not with Isaiah when he petitions for vengeance in the hunt for retribution. Rather, I am with Jesus who took no enemies to himself, even from among his persecutors, who forgave those who hurt him, making that his final prayer…issued from the cross.

 This is a prayer for healing, for universal healing; take this prayer from Isaiah and seek in your own heart the will to heal everyone. Take up this prayer and in that moment you will experience world to come in the here and now.

 Now, listen to the psalmist who instructs us to praise God, creator of the universe, to praise God with words and song, God is the author of our salvation

 Praise God and leave aside the trust you give to princes and kings, and the other little lords of the church and the world. Listen to the psalmist and before wary of his words, knowing in your heart that God is not a king, and kings are not God.

 Consider the life of a human being, consider the many years that the human beings have walked the Earth; consider its brevity. Our window on life is but a spark in the night. We are born, we breathe for a time, then we are gone. Consider that the Earth itself will not survive the dying of our sun and that even our galaxy will vanish in the cold and dark.

 Consider these things and consider how happy are those whose help is God, the creator of the universe. Happy are those who assist God in the divine work of mercy and justice.

 Lift up the oppressed, wherever they are: feed the hungry, free the prisoner, teach the ignorant. Pray for your own faults to be forgiven, your own blindness lifted. Advocate for those who need an advocate, care for those who cannot care for themselves. Find those who are lost and bring them home.

 Be especially mindful of this:

 If we think of the second coming of Jesus as an actual return; we are mistaken. Jesus will not return in the flesh, because that is against nature, and like all human beings we each have but one life to live on this Earth.

 If we think of Jesus returning to Earth as God, of his coming to bring about the end of time, drawing down the curtain as if it was the closing of a play; we are mistaken. God will not intervene in the life cycle of our planet, of our solar system, of our galaxy or of the universe as a whole…God does not do that, the order of creation is absolutely free from divine coercion.

 This must be accepted and you must know that the apostle was wrong to engage in speculation of this nature.

 Be mindful of this error; it is not prophecy, do not repeat it.

 Take these words to heart: be patient, live a good and loving life; even in the midst of turmoil. When we fulfill the promise of the way, the way becomes the reality of our lives…even if only for a moment.

 Praise God, and pray for God’s servants wherever they are, knowing that when the will of God is done, the message is clear and the mission is pure.

 It sounds like this: love one another, as God loves you.

 Consider the Gospel for today:

 John came before Jesus; it is said that they were cousins, but the evidence for this claim is scant.

It is said that James, the apostle and bishop of Jerusalem was Jesus’ brother, but that claim has long been rejected by the Church. There is no way for us to know the veracity of these claims, and it does not matter.

 John came before Jesus; for a time the two of them worked as contemporaries, they were cousins who were both called to the same mission. It is said that they met at the river Jordan where John was carrying out his ministry of repentance and the baptism of restoration.

 John baptized Jesus when they had this meeting, the moment is presented in the Gospel for today as a passing of the torch from John to Jesus.

 There is no way for us to know if this event ever even happened, or if it did that John and Jesus viewed this encounter as such...but it does not matter, because the historical realities behind this narrative have been transcended by allegory and metaphor.

 John prepared the way for Jesus, just as the Gospel for today indicates. He was arrested shortly thereafter, and shortly after that he was murdered. 

 John and Jesus belonged to a movement, a movement of the people, the am haaretz, a movement for the people, a movement that called for justice, unity and salvation all people.

 They saw their work as something connected to the prophets like the School of Isaiah. They were reformers, they were people whose preaching synthesized the sacred texts, boiling the law and the commandments down to their essence, then returning them to the people in the simplest form.

 “Love God, with all your strength and all your heart, and all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

 That is the whole of the law, and all the words of the prophet were summarized therein.

 Many of John’s followers became followers of Jesus. The leaders in John’s group became leaders among Jesus’ disciples, but not all who had followed John came along, and it is to them that this gospel is pointed.

 It was written to remind all new Christians: first John, then Jesus.

 As a purely literary device this story builds upon a theme of the ancient Hebrews, derived from the patriarchal narratives wherein God’s favor falls to the younger son; for Able over Cain, for Isaac over Ishmael, for Jacob (Israel) over Esau, for Joseph over all of his brothers.

 Today’s gospel is in essence, a political screed. It is a message to the holdouts among John’s group, expressing love and pride in John’s work, while telling them in no uncertain terms that the way is with Jesus.

 This is the beginning of Church politics, and as with all such actions, it brought healing to some aspects of the divide while exasperating others.

 Such is the way of human beings.   

 Listen and be mindful.

  

First Reading - Isaiah 35:1-6, 10 ©

 God Himself is Coming to Save You

 Let the wilderness and the dry-lands exult, let the wasteland rejoice and bloom, let it bring forth flowers like the jonquil, let it rejoice and sing for joy.

 The glory of Lebanon is bestowed on it, the splendour of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord, the splendour of our God.

 Strengthen all weary hands, steady all trembling knees and say to all faint hearts, ‘Courage! Do not be afraid.

 ‘Look, your God is coming, vengeance is coming, the retribution of God; he is coming to save you.’

 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed, then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy for those the Lord has ransomed shall return.

 They will come to Zion shouting for joy, everlasting joy on their faces; joy and gladness will go with them and sorrow and lament be ended.

  

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 145(146):6-10 ©

 Come, Lord, and save us.

 It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever,

  who is just to those who are oppressed.

It is he who gives bread to the hungry,

  the Lord, who sets prisoners free,

 Come, Lord, and save us.

 It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind,

  who raises up those who are bowed down,

the Lord, who protects the stranger

  and upholds the widow and orphan.

Come, Lord, and save us.

 It is the Lord who loves the just

  but thwarts the path of the wicked.

The Lord will reign for ever,

  Zion’s God, from age to age.

 Come, Lord, and save us.

 Alleluia!

 

 Second Reading - James 5:7-10 ©

 Do Not Lose Heart; the Lord's Coming Will Be Soon

 Be patient, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. Think of a farmer: how patiently he waits for the precious fruit of the ground until it has had the autumn rains and the spring rains! You too have to be patient; do not lose heart, because the Lord’s coming will be soon. Do not make complaints against one another, brothers, so as not to be brought to judgement yourselves; the Judge is already to be seen waiting at the gates. For your example, brothers, in submitting with patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

  

Gospel Acclamation – Isaiah 61:1 (Luke 4:18)

 Alleluia, alleluia!

 The spirit of the Lord has been given to me.

He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor.

 Alleluia!

  

The Gospel According to Matthew 11:2 - 11 ©

 'A Greater than John the Baptist Has Never Been Seen'

 John in his prison had heard what Christ was doing and he sent his disciples to ask him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?’ Jesus answered, ‘Go back and tell John what you hear and see; the blind see again, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised to life and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor; and happy is the man who does not lose faith in me.’

 As the messengers were leaving, Jesus began to talk to the people about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the breeze? No? Then what did you go out to see? A man wearing fine clothes? Oh no, those who wear fine clothes are to be found in palaces. Then what did you go out for? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet: he is the one of whom scripture says:

 ‘Look, I am going to send my messenger before you;

he will prepare your way before you.

 ‘I tell you solemnly, of all the children born of women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is.’

  

The Third Sunday of Advent (Year A)

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, A Holy Day of Obligation, The Second Thursday of Advent (Year A)

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, A Holy Day of Obligation

The Second Thursday of Advent (Year A)

 

 

A Homily - 2022.12.08

 

 

First reading – Genesis 3:9-15,20 ©

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 97(98):1-4

Second Reading – Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12 ©

Gospel Acclamation – cf. Luke 1:28

Gospel Reading – Luke 1:26-38 ©

 

 

(NJB)

 

 

Listen!

 

The reading today from the book of Genesis ia a reading from a book of fables, it is myth and metaphor; we cannot take this narrative literally.

 

Eve is not the mother of all human beings. The garden of Eden was not paradise, it is a reference to one of the early agricultural societies, or to the promise of agriculturalism in general.

 

Adam did not violate God’s trust; this is not a narrative about the creator and the creation of the universe.

 

This fable narrates a critical moment in the history of the Hebrew people (also known as the Habiru, the Apiru, the Iberu et al, depending on what dialect was spoken) , it is the remembrance of a time when they lived in a civil-state that was safe and secure, a place in which they had long life, from which they were exiled on account of some violation of their agreement with the rulers of that society; this may well be a retelling of the exodus-narrative, the memory of which would have been lingering in the minds of the people for about two hundred years before they began to be written down at the beginning of the Davidic period. It could recall an earlier event, or it could recall a conglomeration of events. It is myth—not history, it is metaphor—not a factual accounting, it is a braided narrative, it is a fable.

 

Even when we confront the hard truths of our faith and its traditions it is still right and good to praise God, the creator of the universe, because creation is miraculous, and the divine power that brought us into being is remains beyond the scope of human comprehension. It is right and good as the psalmist says.

 

Know this!

 

God is not a giver of victories. God has no enemies, and in God, within whom all things exist and have their being…in God there is no conflict.

 

It is never God’s justice that is demonstrated in the actions of human beings, it is human justice, and when human justice approximates the justice of God, when we reach justice through justice and mercy; then and only then are we approximating the good.

 

God is kind and faithful to all people; equally.

 

God’s power is everywhere, God’s spirit animates the voices that give God praise.

 

If you are an instrument of justice: judge fairly, judge kindly, reflect on the love of God.

 

Remember the life of Jesus, and God whom he called Father

 

Consider this: Is God glorious? What is glory anyway? What use does God have for it?

 

God is the creator of the universe, but God does not sit on a throne like some dread lord dressed in glory, God’s desire is merely to be in relationship with us, as a loving parent to a child…in humility not glory.

 

I share the desire of the apostle that each and every one of us may come to the full knowledge of God, because there is hope in the knowledge of God.

 

Remember that the hopes you have for yourself and those you love, are meant to be extended to everyone, even those you do not love, for that is the way that leads to the knowledge of God and understanding of our relationship to the divine, which we only find in relationship to one another.

 

If you tout the notion that God promises riches and glories as the inheritance of the saints, remember this, the first will be last and the last will be first; spiritual riches are not counted in the pecunia of gold and silver and precious things, but in companionship and love of friends.

 

Consider the Gospel reading for today:

 

Whatever the truth is regarding the birth of Jesus, known by his people as Joshua son of Joseph (if in fact there was such a child born to Joseph and Mary, if fact Joseph and Mary are actual historical persons), whatever the truth of his birth and heritage is, the mission of Jesus as reported in scriptures, the way of Christ is not served by false narratives.

 

The stories of Jesus’ birth, of the annunciation as we have it presented here, these are myths and metaphors just like the myth and metaphor of Genesis, to say otherwise is to deal in propaganda and lies.

 

The way of God is not served by lies; the creator of the universe, is the God of truth.

 

 

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, A Holy Day of Obligation

The Second Thursday of Advent (Year A)

 

 

First reading – Genesis 3:9-15,20 ©

 

The Mother of All Those Who Live

 

After Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’

 

Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,

 

‘Be accursed beyond all cattle, all wild beasts.

 

You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust every day of your life.

 

I will make you enemies of each other:

 

you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring.

 

It will crush your head and you will strike its heel.’

 

The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live.

 

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 97(98):1-4 (NAB)

 

The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad.

 

Cloud and darkness surround the Lord; justice and right are the foundation of his throne.

 

Fire goes before him; everywhere it consumes the foes.

 

Lightning illumines the world; the earth sees and trembles.

 

The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.

 

The heavens proclaim God's justice; all peoples see his glory.

 

All who serve idols are put to shame, who glory in worthless things; all gods bow down before you.

 

Zion hears and is glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice because of your judgments, O LORD.

 

You, LORD, are the Most High over all the earth, exalted far above all gods.

 

The LORD loves those who hate evil, protects the lives of the faithful, rescues them from the hand of the wicked.

 

Light dawns for the just; gladness, for the honest of heart.

 

Rejoice in the LORD, you just, and praise his holy name.

 

 

Second Reading – Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12 ©

 

Before the World was Made, God Chose Us in Christ

 

Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.

 

Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence, determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ for his own kind purposes, to make us praise the glory of his grace, his free gift to us in the Beloved, and it is in him that we were claimed as God’s own, chosen from the beginning, under the predetermined plan of the one who guides all things as he decides by his own will; chosen to be, for his greater glory, the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.

 

Gospel Acclamation – cf. Luke 1:28

 

Alleluia, alleluia!

 

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!

Blessed art thou among women.

 

Alleluia!

 

Gospel Reading – Luke 1:26-38 ©

 

'I Am the Handmaid of the Lord'

 

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

 

 

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, A Holy Day of Obligation

The Second Thursday of Advent (Year A)