An Advent Journey: An Exploration of the Gospel Readings for the Weekdays of Advent

One way of focusing our waiting and our preparing for Christmas is to examine and reflect upon the Gospel readings for the weekdays of Advent. Most of the readings for the first three weeks are taken from Matthew’s Gospel, with a few from Luke’s and one from John’s. Mark’s Gospel fails to feature at all, unfortunately. For the final eight days the excerpts are taken from the Infancy Narratives of Matthew and Luke respectively. I have given the book the title An Advent Journey. The Infancy Narratives describe several journeys. During his subsequent ministry, Jesus seems almost always to be on the move. Luke particularly stresses this journey motif, using it as the framework for exploring aspects of discipleship. I like to view Advent as a time of journeying towards the celebration of Christmas, with the stopping and starting that is typical of every journey, and with the struggle and anticipation which many journeys regularly entail. I have included a final chapter called Journey’s End, in which I address the Gospel readings for the three Masses of Christmas Day.
Michael