Hope
1The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and
Jerusalem.
2 In days to come
the mountain of the
Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the
mountains,
and shall be raised
above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
3 Many peoples
shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the
God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may
walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the
LORD from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate
for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears
into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they
learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!
Isaiah
2:1-5
Isaiah
RATNER, Phillip
Israel Bible Museum, Safad
http://www.biblical-art.com/artwork.asp?id_artwork=12724&showmode=Full
First Sunday of Advent
The house lights go
off and the footlights come on. Even the chattiest stop chattering as
they wait in darkness for the curtain to rise.
In the orchestra pit,
the violin bows are poised. The conductor has raised his baton.
In the silence of a
midwinter dusk, there is far off in the deeps of it somewhere a sound so faint
that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself.
You hold your breath
to listen. You walk up the steps to the front door. The empty
windows at either side of it tell you nothing, or almost nothing. For a
second you catch a whiff of some fragrance that reminds you of a place you've
never been and a time you have no words for.
You are aware of the
beating of your heart … The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is
matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens.
Advent is the name of
that moment.
* Frederick Buechner, Whistling in the Dark, pp. 2,3
Optimism and hope are not the same. Optimism
is the belief that the world is changing for the better; hope is the belief
that, together, we can make the world better. Optimism is a passive virtue,
hope an active one. It needs no courage to be an optimist, but it takes a great
deal of courage to hope.
~
Rabbi Johnathan Sacks
Wednesday
Thanksgiving with the Yoshioka Family
Ray
and his dad, Eugene Yoshioka, assembled the Christmas tree.
Ray
did most of the decorating.
Tina
Abby
Kei
Sakamoto (here from Philadelphia), Carolyn, and Ray reading what Ray’s
Kindergarten classmates wrote things they liked about him.
Eugene
announced the turkey was done!
Happy
Thanksgiving to all!!!
Uncle
Kei teaching Ray good brushing habits.
Thursday
Thanksgiving with Brenda Jansen and two of her sons
Brenda
Jansen and two of her sons
Kimra
Perkins, Marsha Manning, Randy Sackerson, Bill Manning
Turkey-son
Kimra
made wonderful pies!
Back
home - the Thanksgiving hayriders didn’t have snow this year.
We would be shortsighted and not very good students of history
to believe that our challenges today are greater than those of the past.
Each
generation must face its tests, and the world has made great progress in easing
human suffering —
although far too slowly and too unequally for anyone to preach complacency. and promoting greater
justice.
~
Dan Rather
November 30, 2025 First
Sunday of Advent - Year A
Previous OPQs may be found at:
Agnus Day, by
James Weinstein
Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org
Matthew 24:42
LECTIONARY
Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:36-44
Psalm 122
“Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.”
Matthew 24: 37-44THE WORD:
Today’s Advent Gospel is a “wake up” call:
- Noah’s flood and the thief are signs that the Lord will return for those who have been faithfully waiting for his return.
- Although Matthew is writing his Gospel for a Christian community who expected Christ’s return during their lifetimes, this Gospel can also be read as Jesus teaching us about the reality of our own deaths and being ready at every moment we are given to meet the Lord.
- Jesus calls his Church and Christians of every place and time to be conscientious in the call to be prophets, confronting a “sleeping” world with the risks of losing its soul.
First Reading Isaiah 2:1-5
1The
word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 In days to come
the mountain of the
Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the
mountains,
and shall be raised
above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
3 Many peoples
shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the
God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may
walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the
LORD from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate
for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears
into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they
learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the
LORD!
1 I was glad when
they said to me,
“Let us go to the
house of the LORD!”
2 Our feet are
standing
within your gates,
O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem — built
as a city
that is bound
firmly together.
4 To it the tribes
go up,
the tribes of the
LORD,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to
the name of the LORD.
5 For there the
thrones for judgment were set up,
the thrones of the
house of David.
6 Pray for the
peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper
who love you.
7 Peace be within
your walls,
and security within
your towers.”
8 For the sake of
my relatives and friends
I will say, “Peace
be within you.”
9 For the sake of
the house of the LORD our God,
I will seek your
good.
Second
Reading Romans 13:11-14
11Besides
this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from
sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside
the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and
drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and
jealousy. 14Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for
the flesh, to gratify its desires.
36“But
about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, or the Son,
but only the Father. 37For as the days of Noah were, so
will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the
flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the
day Noah entered the ark, 39and they knew nothing until the
flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of
Man. 40Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be
left. 41Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and
one will be left. 42Keep awake therefore, for you do
not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43But understand this: if the owner
of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would
have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming
at an unexpected hour.”
...