A number of resources have been developed to help enrich your Advent journey, including weekly guided reflections on the Advent readings, Sunday gospel reflections, and other multimedia resources to help you engage with Scripture from a contemporary perspective. Our hope is that these opportunities might deepen your sense of Advent anticipation, as you await and prepare for God’s great gift of love and hope for our world: Jesus.

Journeying Advent—Sunday gospel reflection

This resource has been prepared with the Sunday gospel reading as a focus and offers an opportunity for individuals and/or groups to read, reflect and pray.

Scripture reflections—Sunday Mass readings

To break open the Mass readings for the Third Sunday of Advent, Scripture scholar Fr Trevor Tibbertsma explores the central characters and themes, posing insightful questions for personal reflection and/or discussion in a parish, school or home setting. The following questions are also offered for personal or group reflection.

Questions for reflection:

  • What are some reasons we have to ‘rejoice in God’ (Is 61:10) and ‘give thanks to God’ (1 Thess 5:18) today?
  • Can you think of someone or some situation which has been your bridge to Christ?
  • What are some of the obstacles keeping us and our world from Christ?

Further questions for discussion:

  • What did you hear that was new to you? Excited you? Challenged you?
  • How might this assist you to prepare, anticipate, engage in Jesus’ coming?
  • How might this be used in your context?

Advent Voices: ‘Stay Awake’

This audio resource explores key figures of the Advent readings through a personal lens. During this third week of Advent, Natasha Berchy looks at the person of John the Baptist and how his life can offer inspiration as we prepare for Jesus to be born anew at Christmas. Natasha is a parishioner of St Catherine of Siena, Caroline Springs. She is a busy mum to three young children, music teacher and recently assisted with husband Llewy in presenting Ready, Set, Pray—a Children’s liturgy resource for use at home.

Real Conversations

A four-part series exploring the big questions confronting us during this time of pandemic. As well as providing material for individual or group reflection during this Season of Advent, each episode shares different ways we can survive, thrive and look forward with hope borne from faith—in a God who loves, cares and accompanies us. In this third episode, our guest Fr Jake Mudge suggests some practices that may assist us to reflect, evaluate and be informed as we look to re-emerge from lockdown.

Songs of hope: An Advent Spotify playlist

Our hopes and dreams for the coming kingdom are often most meaningfully expressed through song. This year, as opportunities to meet and sing together are limited by COVID restrictions, music can still form a rich part of our Advent experience, but perhaps in a different way.

This Spotify playlist features examples of familiar Advent hymns and anthems, and some less familiar Advent-themed songs, from a broad range of eras, styles, and artists. Two pieces of music have been selected for each day of Advent, each broadly related to a passage from the daily Mass readings. You might like to use the playlist as a daily devotional tool—individually or with your household—look at the Mass readings and then listening prayerfully to the songs selected for that day. Or you might simply like to use it as a kind of ‘soundtrack’ for your Advent journey, listening to it as you drive or cook dinner or do the housework.

A Christmas playlist is also available for the Season of Christmas.

3rd Sunday of Advent (13 December)

‘My soul glorifies the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour.
He looks on his servant in her nothingness;
henceforth all ages will call me blessed.’

—Luke 1:46–48

Monday of the 3rd week of Advent (14 December)

‘Lord, make me know your ways.
Lord, teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your truth, and teach me:
for you are God my saviour.’

—Psalm 24(25):4–5

Tuesday of the 3rd week of Advent (15 December)

‘The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;
those whose spirit is crushed he will save.
The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants.
Those who hide in him shall not be condemned.’

—Psalm 33(34):18, 22

Wednesday of the 3rd week of Advent (16 December)

‘I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness,
make weal and create woe;
I the Lord do all these things.

Shower, O heavens, from above,
and let the skies rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation may spring up,
and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also.’

—Psalm 85:10–13

Thursday of the 3rd week of Advent (17 December)

‘In his days justice shall flourish
and peace till the moon fails.
He shall rule from sea to sea,
from the Great River to earth’s bounds.’

—Psalm 71(72):7–8

Friday of the 3rd week of Advent (18 December)

‘All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).’

—Matthew 1 22–23

Saturday of the 3rd week of Advent (19 December)

‘Fill me with your praise, and I will sing your glory!’

—psalm response

Advent Resources Liturgy
Written by

Proclaim: Office for Mission Renewal

The Proclaim team is at the service of our parish communities within the Archdiocese, offering strategies, resources and support. The team is divided into three domain areas: animation, discipleship and formation.

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