A Moment to Pause - a short daily Christmas reflection

Advent Moment: Short Reflection for Tuesday 23rd December in the 4th Week of Advent with Br Michael Moore OMI.  In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Good morning and welcome. Thank you for joining us for our morning prayer with the Oblate Family Having lost his voice when he was told that he would have a son, Zechariah now finds it, and loudly shouts, his name is John. John is c...

Advent Moment: Short Reflection for Monday 22nd December, 4th Week of Advent with Br Michael Moore OMI.   We reflect on Luke Chapter 1 46-56: The Lord has done great things for me. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Good morning and welcome. Thank you for joining us for our morning prayer with the Oblate Family  In the gospel we call the Annunciation, filled with the holy spir...

Good morning and welcome to today’s Advent Moment reflection with the Oblate Family on Sunday December 21st, the 4th Sunday of Advent, by Veronica Conlon. We reflect on Matthew 1:18-24. Joseph was contemplating divorcing Mary because of her pregnancy until an angel appeared to him in a dream and announced ‘ Joseph, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from...

Good morning and welcome to today’s Advent Moment reflection with the Oblate Family on Saturday December 20th by Veronica Conlon. We reflect on the Gospel of Luke 1:26-38. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she was chosen to be the mother of God. Mary was initially surprised but after being reassured by the angel she readily agreed to what was being asked of her.  Whatever her d...

Good morning and welcome to today’s Advent Moment reflection with the Oblate Family on Friday December 19th by Veronica Conlon. Today we have the well-known account of the visit of an angel to the priest Zechariah, husband of Mary’s cousin Elizabeth. Zechariah is informed by the angel that his wife will give birth to a son and they should name him John.  This was an answer to their prayer. However...

Good morning and welcome to today’s Advent Moment reflection with the Oblate Family on Thursday December 18th by Veronica Conlon. Jeremiah prophesied the birth of Jesus:  ‘he shall reign as king…..and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.’ He was also offering words of hope to the Israelites that they will be brought out of exodus to live in their own land. There is always room for...

Good morning! Welcome to today's Advent Moment reflection with Veronica Conlin, on the gospel from today's mass, Matthew 1:1-17. Today’s reading begins with the verse - ‘The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David and the son of Abraham.’  It then continues by naming all Jesus’ ancestors ending with ‘Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is cal...

Dear friends, welcome to today's Advent Moment - our Advent Daily Reflection for Tuesday December 16th on Matthew 21:28-32 by Veronica Conlon.  Once more Jesus challenges the Pharisees who were seen as men who taught one thing and did something different themselves. Jesus told them, ‘The tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.’  In this reading we are ask...

Dear friends, welcome to today's Advent Moment - our Advent Daily Reflection for Monday December 15th on Matthew 21:23-27 by Veronica Conlon.  In today’s gospel the chief priests and elders question Jesus’ authority when they pose the question: ‘By what authority are you doing all these things, and who gave you this authority?’  One of the cornerstones of our faith is that Jesus is the Son of God...

Good morning! This is Kirk Jacob bringing you today's reflection on the 3rd Sunday of Advent.  We begin: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. On this 3rd Sunday of Advent, the phrase that caught my eye was from Matthew chapter 11: verses 2-11 was: ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see’. This Gospel value could easily be replaced by ‘Show and Tell’, it’s that c...

A very good morning! Its Kirk Jacob once again. We begin: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the  Holy Spirit. Amen. Reflecting on today’s Gospel St. Matthew Chapter 17: verse 9a,  I am drawn to the phrase ‘As they were coming down the  mountain”. So, what does it mean for you and me to being on a mountain and  then coming down from it? I see ‘being on the mountain’ as peak experien...

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe A very good morning! Its Kirk Jacob. We begin: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the  Holy Spirit. Amen.  Today is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I am proud to say  that my home church St. Joseph’s in Bedford is the guardian of the  miraculous relic image from Guadalupe, Mexico. Today’s Gospel in Matthew 11:16-19, I am drawn to the phrase “it  is...

A very good morning to you and thanks for joining us. Today’s reflection is by Kirk Jacob. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. From today’s Gospel of St. Matthew 11: 11-15, the words that spoke to me were: ‘The Kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force’. I wonder what you think as you process the causes of crime and war on our str...

A very good morning! Today's reflection is by Kirk Jacob. We begin: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the  Holy Spirit. Amen. Today’s Gospel focuses on Jesus inviting us to bring our heavy  laden and he will give us rest. In December, many families experience much heavy laden as they  are burdened to think of getting the perfect Christmas presents,  making the house look pristeen,...

Good morning and welcome to today’s Advent Moment on Tuesday 9th December 2025. Thanks Kirk Jacob for today’s reflection.  We begin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today's gospel, Matthew 18:12-14 focuses on sheep. I don't know much about sheep. All I recall was that sheep would constantly try to wander off and knock their heads against electric fences while...

Good morning and welcome to today’s Advent Moment on Monday 8th December 2025, Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady. Thanks to Kirk Jacob for today's reflection on the Gospel, Luke 1:26-38 "I am the handmaid of the Lord." Today's a special feast day of Mary Immaculate, the patroness of our oblate family, and under whose tender guidance we seek to be missionary disciples. So what does it...

Good morning and welcome to today’s Advent Moment on Sunday 7th December 2025. Thank to Mary Tyrrell for today’s reflection on Matthew 3:1-12.   Today we meet again, John the Baptist with his prophet’s message from God of repentance. Repentance not in just being sorry for the past but in a more accurate translation we are to experience a deep and radical change in our thinking and behaviour. John...

Good morning and welcome to our Advent moment podcast.   Thanks to Mary Tyrrell for sharing a short reflection on today’s Gospel, Matthew 9:36. The harvest is rich but the labourers are few This very small part of today’s reading really jumped off the page to me. The words "harassed" and "helpless" reminded me of the content of the last number of conversations I have enjoyed with friends. There is...

Good morning and welcome to our Advent moment podcast.   Thanks to Mary Tyrrell for sharing a short reflection on today’s Gospel, Matthew, Chapter 9 verses 27 to 31.  have a friend who is a pastor, if people asked him to pray for them . He would say, ok, let’s do it now (it didn’t matter if it was in the middle of Tesco’s).But he found that it was most often people of faith who did not want him to...

Good morning and welcome to today's Advent moment episode on Thursday December 4th.   Thanks to Mary Tyrrell for sharing this short reflection on today's Gospel, Matthew chapter 7 verses 21, 24 to 27.    This is a strange gospel excerpt which sounds like a warning for all house builders or even a warning about the effects of climate change. But, in fact, it reminds us what true discipleship is. Do...

Good morning and welcome to our Advent moment podcast.   Thanks to Mary Tyrrell for sharing a short reflection on today's Gospel, Mark 16:15-20. In todays gospel, even though Jesus went up into the hills, a crowd still followed him. I’ve often wonder where did all those people with disabilities appear from? I always presumed they were part of the crowd that followed Jesus for three days. Then, the...

Good morning and welcome to our Advent moment podcast.   Thanks to Mary Tyrrell for sharing a short reflection on today's Gospel: Luke 10:21-24   The most wonderful thing has happened to us all. We can declare ourselves as blessed by God not in our own power or because of anything we have done but in the power of the Holy Spirit. And as we read this gospel we are reminded of the tremendous privile...

Good morning and welcome to our Advent moment podcast.   Thanks to Mary Tyrrell for sharing a short reflection on todays Gospel from   Matthew 8:5-11  'I am not worthy to have you under my roof: give the word, and my servant will be healed' This story tells of the faith of the Roman centurion who had seen Jesus in action teaching and healing people. The soldier was a foreigner in Capernaum yet he...

Welcome to today’s episode of Advent Moment on the First Sunday of Advent. Thanks to Martina Cullen for today’s reflection.  Today is the first Sunday of Advent and new beginning in the churches’ year,  and the sacred season of preparing our hearts for the coming of Christ at Christmas. In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that life can seem ordinary even when extraordinary change is near. Like the...

"Advent Moment", a short, daily reflection podcast by the Oblate Family, brings you a 90-second daily reflection rooted in scripture, as we prepare our hearts for the celebration of the birth of Christ our Saviour this Christmas.    Come, Lord Jesus. Join us for your daily Advent Moment from this Sunday, November 30th.    #advent #reflection #faith #spirituality #prayer #christmas