4th Week of Advent from "Advent of the Heart" with PDF

ADVENT OF THE HEART

+   Fourth Week of Advent   +

Fr. Alfred Delp, German Martyr

Let us view these writings through the lens of our own times…

Opening of the Tridentine Mass (the Mass Fr. Delp would have celebrated):

“Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just: let the earth be opened and bud forth a Savior.  The heavens show forth the glory of God: and the firmament declareth the work of His hands.”

Fr. Delp’s homily, Munich, 1941, Fourth Sunday of Advent:

“Advent has already called man three times.  It called through the shaking; it called to authenticity; and it called to confession of faith.  And now Advent calls a fourth time.  Without this fourth call, the other three are not possible…It is an old term, a forgotten word, and a forgotten value: fear of God…Man must learn again…to reckon with God as the ultimate category of reality, as the decisive judgment of all that exists…the person who has seen God, is so totally different, so totally other, because our God is totally Other…Further, someone who observes the otherness of the believer will be changed by it…”

Fr. Delp’s homily, Munich, 1942, Pre-Christmas Reflection:

“We need to celebrate holy days in three ways.  First, by recalling a historical event…there is always a clearly defined event connected to the mystery, a clear statement intended, a fact.  This brings us to the second point.  Within all of the foregoing, a great mystery, the Mysterium, is hidden…These two points are followed by the third way, in which we must consider the feast to be serious and important…we should not come to Midnight Mass as if we do not live in the year 1942 [or 2024?].  The year must be redeemed along with everything else.  And from the Gloria, we have to take with us the peace and faith in the glory of God…and we are the last refuge for the homeless people who do not know anything about the Lord anymore.”

From Tegel Prison, Berlin, 1944, Fourth Sunday of Advent:

“Our life has become hard and harmful to an extent that far exceeds the natural measure of hardship and distress that were always part of life.  The liberation must begin with the great conversion…which, gathering itself to a mighty strength, will break through the frost-encrusted ground of adversity overnight…[Man] overlooks exterior signs of reality, and dulls his senses with daily routine until the avalanche of life drives him out of the cozy homes and well-tended gardens into the streets of distress and wandering…Life brings greater burdens and bears a richer cargo than we can cope with, comprehend, or manage alone…The great outcry to God must begin and not let up…The time of the great intercessors has come…Prepare the way.  This is a call to enter into history.”

PDF Printable Fourth Sunday of Advent

(For church or home use, or distribution.)

We will be finishing up with Fr. Delp’s writings during the 12 Days of Christmas.

3rd Week of Advent from "Advent of the Heart" with PDF

Sorry a bit late on this, I’ve been researching the world situation much of my time…mysterious drones, looming world war and an incoming new US administration, it all interrelates in a deeply concerning way.

ADVENT OF THE HEART

+   Third Week of Advent   +

Fr. Alfred Delp, German Martyr

Let us view these writings through the lens of our own times.  All quotes below pertain to Gaudete Sunday, when we are called to be glad…

Opening of the Tridentine Mass (the Mass Fr. Delp would have celebrated):

“Gaudete in Domino Semper!”

“Rejoice in the lord always: again I say, rejoice.  Let your modesty be known to all men: for the Lord is nigh.  Be nothing solicitous: but in every thing by prayer let your petitions be made known to God.  Lord, Thou hast blessed Thy land: Thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob.”

Fr. Delp’s homily, Munich, 1941:

“Someone facing the Ultimate will not be apathetic, not just accept everything simply because it is, and because it does not change, and because it goes on and on, and because it is happening everywhere…every overstepping of boundaries, every boundary violation and every usurping of power leads the whole thing to disaster.  Look at how these great leaders were shattered and how their work was shattered: Alexander, Caesar Augustus, Napoleon…It came when they were not content with the laurel wreath of greatness, but wanted to take the diadem of the Messiah.”

Fr. Delp’s homily, Munich, 1942:

“…we read this wonderful Epistle:

Brethren, rejoice in the Lord…and the peace of God that passes all understanding preserve your hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Are these not images of the promise, and longing, and great questions of Advent?  Are they not images of what should be fulfilled when the veils fall, when the Lord reigns over the land?  Do we not seek a life in which joy would have a place once again?”

From Tegel Prison, Berlin, 1944:

“The great deception begins, the time of noise and crowds, organized feeding-frenzies, and massive festivities.  Until suddenly the earth quakes and the subterranean thunder, which one wanted to drown out with screaming, because one failed to understand it, breaks forth fully and mightily and fills the day with its call to judgment…Only one thing will help, and that is to hear the call of John the Baptist…The view for connections and content will be reopened to life, and the earth will be fruitfully flooded again by the streams of mission, confirmation, and mastery.  These are the streams that still carry the ship of life and lead it onward.  This is the first meaning of Gaudete in Domino.  Separated from the Lord, the whole thing atrophies!  We must keep telling people this.  It is the most important announcement of these days.  And we must know it and visibly live it as examples.”

*** PDF Printable Third Week Advent ***

2nd Week of Advent from "Advent of the Heart" with PDF

ADVENT OF THE HEART

+   Second Week of Advent   +

Fr. Alfred Delp, German Martyr

Let us view these writings through the lens of our own times.  All quotes below pertain to the Second Sunday of Advent…

Opening of the Tridentine Mass (the Mass Fr. Delp would have celebrated):

“People of Sion, behold the Lord shall come to save the nations: and the Lord shall make the glory of His voice to be heard, in the joy of your heart.  Give ear, O Thou that rulest Israel: Thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep.”

Fr. Delp’s homily, Munich, 1941:

“ To this message about being deeply shaken, the Second Sunday of Advent adds a new word, a message about man’s authenticity.  Someone who encounters the Ultimate, who knows about the end, must let go of every compromise.  In the presence of the Ultimate the only thing that survives is what is authentic.  All compromise shatters there.  All cheap negotiating shatters there.  All half-truths, and all double-meanings, and all masks, and all poses shatter there.  The only thing that stands the test is what is authentic.” 

Fr. Delp’s homily, Munich, 1942:

“A variety of responsibilities will be imposed from this time forth…it is our responsibility to make a disturbance in the world that is strong enough in itself to tear this chaos out of its cycle and to lead the world back to its source.  Christians bear the responsibility to generate an authentic unrest within creation, through our existence, our word, and our work…We are obliged to be concerned about the destiny of the world.  Moreover, we must know that we gamble away our own individual salvation if we don’t play, or, to word it better, if we don’t fight, for salvation and order in the world…May we stand in this world, not as people in hiding, but as those who help prepare the way of the only-begotten Son of God.”

From Tegel Prison, Berlin:

“The great historical and personal hours of grace will always mean some form of awakening and return to a true order of reality.  This is also the meaning of Advent: not only promise, but rather conversion and transformation.  Plato would say, ‘orientation to a capability for truth.’  John the Baptist put it more simply, ‘Repent.’  The prayers and message of Advent push man out beyond every surface and bring him to a consciousness of the full sculptural dimensions and drama of his situation…A person filled with confidence in God will profit from this time and stand up to the test…May God break open the narrowness that confines us within ourselves, and make us capable of Him, and capable of His mission.”

SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT FR. DELP PDF PRINTABLE

FOR HOME OR CHURCH USE