{"id":9493,"date":"2025-11-28T17:35:03","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T16:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cenacle-gen.org\/2025\/11\/28\/advent-week-1\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T17:57:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T16:57:33","slug":"advent-week-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cenacle-gen.org\/en\/2025\/11\/28\/advent-week-1\/","title":{"rendered":"ADVENT Week 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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First Week of Advent<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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beginning Sunday, 30 November 2025<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The \u201cyes\u201d that opens the way \u2013 with Mary in Nazareth<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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<\/h5>
Gospel passage<\/strong><\/h5>
Luke 1: 30-31, 38<\/h6>

The angel said to her, \u201cDo not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.\u201d (…) Mary then said, \u201cBehold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.\u201d<\/p>

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Preparation<\/strong><\/h5>

Lord, at the beginning of Advent, I desire to prepare my heart for Your coming. Grant me the grace to enter into the silence of Nazareth and to learn from Mary to say \u201cyes\u201d to Your will, even when it is beyond my understanding. <\/p>

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Setting<\/strong><\/h5>

I imagine Mary’s little house in Nazareth. It is a simple and humble place. I can smell the food, the wood, the dust, etc. I listen to the silence and the sounds of this village. It is in this everyday setting that the extraordinary occurs. I look at the angel, a presence of light and peace, and Mary, a surprised, attentive, praying young girl. <\/p>

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Contemplation<\/strong><\/h5>

I contemplate Mary. She is \u201cwithout fear,\u201d not because she is fearless, but because she allows God to look upon her with love. <\/p>

I listen to the angel’s words: \u201cYou have found favour.\u201d<\/p>

I pay attention to the dialogue between Mary and the angel: the angel does not present her with a detailed plan, but with an incredible promise. Mary does not understand everything \u2013 \u201cHow will this be?\u201d \u2013 but she trusts. <\/p>

I reflect on Mary’s \u201cyes,\u201d which is not a blind leap, but an act of deep faith in God’s goodness and power.<\/p>


What about me? What are God’s annunciations in my life today? Those unexpected calls, those situations that disturb me, those invitations to love more, to forgive, to serve… Am I afraid? Do I try to control everything, to understand everything before committing myself? Or am I able, like Mary, to trust and surrender to a word that is beyond my understanding? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>

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Colloquy<\/strong><\/h5>

I speak with Mary as a friend speaks to a friend. \u201cO Mary, teach me your courage and your trust. You who carried Jesus in your womb, help me to make room for him in my heart, in my life. Ask for me the grace of a simple and generous \u201cyes\u201d to God’s calls this week.\u201d Then I turn to the Lord: \u201cLord, I am your servant, your handmaid. What do you want to do in me and through me during this Advent?” <\/p>

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Resolution for the week<\/strong><\/h5>

Each morning, take a minute to simply say: \u201cLord, may everything happen to me today according to Your word.\u201d And try to identify a small \u201cyes\u201d that I can say during my day (a service rendered, a kind word, a time of prayer).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During Advent, we invite you to take the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem in the company of a character from the nativity scene, preparing us to welcome the Baby Jesus. 1st week: with Mary in Nazareth. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spirituality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cenacle-gen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cenacle-gen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cenacle-gen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cenacle-gen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cenacle-gen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9493"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cenacle-gen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9494,"href":"https:\/\/cenacle-gen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9493\/revisions\/9494"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cenacle-gen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cenacle-gen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cenacle-gen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cenacle-gen.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}