New book offers Advent prayers for each liturgical cycle

Intermountain Catholic

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"Years A, B, & C Joyful Meditations for every Day of Advent and the 12 Days of Christmas" by Rev. Warren J. Savage and Mary Ann McSweeney, Liguori Publications, Liguori, Mo., 128 pages, 2010.

The Catholic holy seasons of Advent, Christmas and Easter have their own ways of calling us to prayer, and every one of these annual holy days sprouts its own collection of books of prayer, meditation and contemplation, so that if we were to collect them all, all of our spare rooms would look like mine – with stacks of boxes of books, many of which should be carefully divided into years A, B and C.

But not so, at least not this year. This year, one more book will be added to the stacks, and it’s a book that offers meditations, prayers and actions for the A B C liturgical cycles. By the time the reader has gone all the way through year B, he or she will be unfamiliar again with the A cycle in "Years A B &C, meditations for every Day of Advent and the 12 Days of Christmas" by Rev. Warren J. Savage and Mary Ann McSweeney, but will look forward instead to the C cycle.

This Lectionary-based book is full of wisdom and reflections, ponderings and suggestions for how to put the day’s prayers and suggestions to work in simple, practical ways. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent, we are reminded that, "Advent is a time when we open our minds and hearts to search for the light of love, compassion and peace in the world of God." In the book’s introduction, we are reminded that, during Advent "we are called to proclaim in our lives that hope and joy are gifts from God that makes all things new."

Each day of Advent, as well as every day of the Christmas season, we are offered Scripture reflections, thoughts on which to ponder, prayers for that specific day and practices – ways to act that will bring us closer to God and our neighbors. A lot of the prayers are for healing, so I couldn’t get enough of those, and we are reminded in the First Week of Advent that God knows what we need, and stands by to provide the answer to those needs if we would only ask.

In year B, the book reminds us that "we are afraid to be people of compassion because of what it might cost us." And the book pleads with us because we so often forget the gift of love, but it reminds us that we have the power to change at any time and live life more freely and lovingly," because something as simple as grace before meals can bring us closer to God and each other.

The days of Christmas beautifully remind us that Christmas lasts. It doesn’t end when the Christmas tree lies in the gutter and the crèche has been packed away with the other decorations. More than reminding us that Christmas can be seen as a year-long celebration, the crèche sets and this book will provide us with images on which to ponder and reflect, to grow that more close to God.

My only complaint with the book is that it is too short. It falls too easily into the myth that people will pray only three to six minutes per day. That’s a disappointment, especially when moments and more moments of prayer are so badly needed.