Pray the STA Way – Advent Week 2
Daily Advent Reflections
The second candle is lit on the Advent Wreath. It is called the Bethlehem Candle and it represent Peace.
DAY EIGHT: Sunday 12/08/24
Prayer: Dear Lord, humbly we ask you to bless us with the Peace of Christ, the peace that transcends all understanding. Though we may live through difficult times, or walk through dark valleys, the peace you bestow on us will guide our hearts home to Your caring and compassionate embrace. We long for Your coming, Jesus! Fill our hearts with your perfect peace.
In your most holy name, we pray, Amen.
Action: In the business of the holiday season, spend some time this week in silence or in prayer in the presence of the blessed sacrament to prepare your heart to receive the Lord at Christmas.
DAY NINE: Monday 12/09/24 – Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception!
Video: “The Immaculate Conception Explained” – Fr. Mike Schmitz – Ascension Present
Prayer: O Most Holy Virgin, immaculate in body and spirit, look kindly on me as I implore your powerful intercession. O most Holy Mother, receive my prayers as I present them to God. O Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother, you intercede for us with your Son. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, pray for us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. Our Lady Queen of Angels, pray for us.
Action: In honor of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, perform a small act of love for your own mother, grandmothers, and/or a mother figure in your life.
DAY TEN: Tuesday 12/10/24
Video: “David the Priestly King” – The Bible Project
Scripture: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16
Prayer: Psalm 139 – A Song of David
LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
you know when I sit and stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
You sift through my travels and my rest;
with all my ways you are familiar.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
LORD, you know it all.
Behind and before you encircle me
and rest your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
far too lofty for me to reach.
Where can I go from your spirit?
From your presence, where can I flee?
If I ascend to the heavens, you are there;
if I lie down in Sheol, there you are.
If I take the wings of dawn
and dwell beyond the sea,
Even there your hand guides me,
Your right hand holds me fast.
If I say, “Surely darkness shall hide me,
and night shall be my light”—
Darkness is not dark for you,
and night shines as the day.
Darkness and light are but one.
DAY ELEVEN: Wednesday 12/11/24
Video: “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) Lyric Video – Hillsong United”
Reflection: When has God called me to be an instrument of peace in my life? How is God calling me to be a peacemaker in the world today?
Prayer: Eternal, Holy God, I come to you burdened with worries, fears, doubts, and troubles. Calm and quiet me with peace of mind. Empty me of the anxiety that disturbs me, of the concerns that weary my spirit, and weight heavy on my heart. Loosen my grip on the disappointments and grievances I hold on to so tightly. Release me from the pain of past hurts, of present anger and tension, of future fears. Renew me spiritually and emotionally. Give me new strength, hope, and confidence. Prepare me to meet the constant struggles of daily life with a deeper faith and trust in You. Let your love set me free, for peace, for grace, for joy, for life, for others, forever. Amen.
Action: Last week’s reflection encouraged us to pray the Aramaic word “Maranatha” (Come, Lord!) as an aspirational prayer to pray throughout the day under our breath. This week, add another aspirational prayer to your repertoire! Shalom. The Hebrew word for “Peace.” May we pray shalom also for the peace of all the world, and for peace in our lives. Shalom.
Extra Video: “Shalom Chaverim” – song translation: “Peace, my friends! ‘Till we meet again.”
DAY TWELVE: Thursday 12/12/24 – Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Video: “Our Lady of Guadalupe Explained w/ Christopher West” – Matt Fradd
Scripture: Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab
Prayer: “O Virgin of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas, grant to our homes the grace of loving and respecting life in its beginnings, with the same love with which you conceived in your womb the life of the Son of God. Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Fair Love, protect our families so that they may always be united and bless the upbringing of our children. Our hope, look upon us with pity, teach us to go continually to Jesus, and if we fall, help us to rise again and return to Him through the confession of our faults and our sins in the Sacrament of penance, which gives peace to the soul. We beg you to grant us a great love of all the holy Sacraments, which are, as it were, the signs that your Son left us on earth. Thus, Most Holy Mother, with the peace of God in our consciences, with our hearts free from evil and hatred, we will be able to bring to all others true joy and peace, which come to us from your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.” – Pope St. John Paul II
DAY THIRTEEN: Friday 12/13/24 – Feast of St. Lucy
Video: “St. Lucy – HD” – Catholic Online
Prayer: Saint Lucy, your beautiful name signifies light. By the light of faith which God bestowed upon you, increase and preserve this light in my soul so that I may avoid evil, be zealous in the performance of good works, and abhor nothing so much as the blindness and darkness of evil and sin. By your intercession with God, obtain for me perfect vision for my bodily eyes and the grace to use them for God’s greater honor and glory and the salvation of all. Saint Lucy, virgin and martyr, hear my prayers and obtain my petitions. Amen.
Action: In honor of St. Lucy’s feast day, perform a work of mercy to shed a little light on someone’s life who is struggling in some sort of darkness.
DAY FOURTEEN: Saturday 12/14/24 – Feast of St. John of the Cross
Video: The Dark Night of the Soul (Losing Who We Thought We Were)
Reflection: In the darkness of the advent season, do we perceive how God might be working on us? What has he shown us this Advent season? How have we received him? In what ways have we grown? In what ways are we growing now? Who is the saint God is fashioning us into being?
Prayer: Lord, you are all loving and all good. Every day, conform my heart to be a little more like yours. I trust you, Lord Jesus. Give me hope. Grant me peace. Fill me with joy. Send your spirit to inspire me to love in all the ways you have taught me. I ask this in your most holy name. Amen.
