Rich Leonardi suggests a number of online resources to mark the start of Advent. One that looks pretty good to me: Basic Scripture, an e-course of sorts hosted at Catholic Culture.
Rich also notes: This season's Sunday readings focus on the Gospel of Mark, which is the shortest and easiest Gospel to read. Why not kick off Advent by reading the whole thing in one sitting? If you like the NAB, which has its faults but is certainly a comfortable translation to read, you can begin at Chapter 1 and click through all 16 chapters.
Finally: I finished last night reading the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen's Life of Christ (1977). This was my first exposure to Archbishop Sheen's writing (I have heard some recordings of his radio broadcasts). It's excellent! It's not dry at all, but neither is it dumbed down in any way. He's writing it like a storyteller. He points out many little details from the Gospels that I had never noticed or thought about. I enjoyed reading it the way I enjoy Lewis and Chesterton.
I think the best parts of it are the ones that deal with the Mother of Our Lord --- because they are so deeply rooted in the texts of the Gospels, I think they can help us explain to non-Catholics, in a framework we share with them, our devotions to the Blessed Mother. Here's a bit from his section on the wedding at Cana, discussing why Jesus addresses her as "Woman," then and from the Cross:
As soon as He had consented to begin His "Hour," He proceeded immediately to tell her that her relations with Him would be henceforth changed. Until then, during His hidden life, she had been known as the mother of Jesus. But now that he was launched on the work of Redemption, she would no longer be just His mother, but also the mother of all His human brethren whom He would redeem. To indicate this new relationship, He now addressed her, not as "Mother" but as the "Universal Mother" or "Woman..."
The moment the "Hour" began, she became "the Woman"; she would have other children too, not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. If He was to be the new Adam, the founder of a redeemed humanity, she would be the new Eve and the mother of that new humanity. As Our Lord was a man, she was His mother; and as He was a Savior, she was also the mother of all whom He would save. John, who was present at that wedding, was also present at the climax of the "Hour" on Calvary. He heard our Lord calling her "Woman" from the Cross and then saying to her, "Behold thy son." It was as if he, John, was now the symbol of her new family... On the Cross, He consoled His mother by giving her another son, John, and with him the whole of redeemed humanity.
Even though the book is pushing 30 years old, it's still fresh. It's only a little bit dated (there are some references to Communists!) I heartily recommend it. I think it would make great "daily reading" for a season of the Church year, too, because each of the 62 chapters is pretty self-contained and short. (OK, for Advent you'd have to do 3 chapters a day. Maybe it's better Lenten reading. Still, not so bad.)
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