Just Teach Sheets – Adults December Week 1 2025

Adult Track – Just Teach Sheet

December Week 1 (2025)
Theme: Advent & Preparation
Focus: Preparing the Heart for Christ – Advent Hope and Repentance
Audience: Adults — practising, returning, or deepening faith

Weekly Goal

To rediscover Advent as a season of quiet conversion and joyful hope, not simply pre-Christmas busyness.
We prepare not only for Bethlehem but for the final coming of Christ.
The aim: to awaken hope, deepen repentance, and rekindle desire for God’s presence.

What You’ll Need

This sheet

A Bible

Journal or notebook

Candle or Advent wreath for reflection time

Opening Prayer (Daily)

Come, Lord Jesus.
Awaken my heart to Your coming.
Free me from distractions and sin.
Teach me to live with faith, hope, and readiness,
so that I may welcome You with joy.
Amen.

Day 1 – Advent: God’s Time of Grace

Teaching:
The word Advent means coming. It looks back to Christ’s birth, celebrates His presence now in Word and Sacrament, and looks forward to His coming in glory.
It is a season of waiting — but active waiting, filled with faith and love.

Romans 13:11-12 – “Now is the time to wake from sleep; the night is far gone, the day is at hand.”
CCC 524: “By sharing in the long preparation for the Saviour’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for His second coming.”

Reflection:
Advent exposes the restlessness of our hearts — and then offers the true remedy: Christ Himself.

Consider:

How do I normally approach Advent — as faith or as franticness?

What do I most need God to renew in me this year?

Practice:
Each morning, pause before your first task and pray, “Come, Lord Jesus — be present in my day.”

Day 2 – Hope: The Virtue That Anchors

Teaching:
Hope is not naïve optimism but confident trust in God’s promise.
It enables us to face trials without despair, knowing Christ’s victory is certain.

Isaiah 9:2 – “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”
CCC 1818: “Hope keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him in abandonment.”

Reflection:
Advent hope isn’t sentimental — it’s forged in darkness.
It is the virtue that lets us keep praying when we see no results.

Consider:

Where am I tempted to lose hope?

What small sign of grace has God already given me?

Practice:
Write one area of your life that needs hope. Each night this week, pray over it by candlelight, whispering, “Lord, I trust in You.”

Day 3 – Repentance: Clearing the Path

Teaching:
John the Baptist cries out, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Repentance isn’t about guilt; it’s about making space for grace.
Sin clutters the heart; confession clears it.

Luke 3:3-4 – “Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.”
CCC 1427: “This call to conversion is an essential part of the proclamation of the Kingdom.”

Reflection:
True repentance is joy — the joy of coming home.
We do not prepare for Jesus by perfection, but by humility.

Consider:

When did I last make a sincere confession?

What habits keep me spiritually sleepy?

Practice:
Examine your conscience quietly tonight. If possible, plan to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation before Christmas.

Day 4 – Mary: Model of Advent Faith

Teaching:
Mary is the first believer of the New Covenant — the woman who said “Yes.”
Her waiting was not passive but full of faith, love, and courage.

Luke 1:38 – “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.”
CCC 2676: “Mary is the perfect figure of the Church’s faith and charity.”

Reflection:
Mary teaches us to surrender control and trust God’s timing.
Her calm trust is the opposite of the world’s restless impatience.

Consider:

Where is God asking me to say “yes” right now?

How can I imitate Mary’s stillness amid noise?

Practice:
Pray one decade of the Rosary slowly, meditating on the Annunciation. Ask Mary to teach you how to wait.

Day 5 – Living in Readiness

Teaching:
Advent ends where life itself points: Christ will come again.
For the Christian, that truth inspires not fear but fidelity — living each day as gift and preparation.

Matthew 24:44 – “You must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
CCC 1041: “The message of the Last Judgment calls men to conversion while God is still giving them the acceptable time.”

Reflection:
Every act of love, every Mass attended, every word of forgiveness is a step toward that meeting.

Consider:

If Christ came today, would He find me ready?

What do I most hope to hear Him say?

Practice:
Before bed, pray:

“Lord, if You come tonight, let me be found in Your grace and peace.”

Weekend Wrap-Up – What We Learned

Advent is a time of grace, hope, and renewal.

Hope anchors faith amid darkness.

Repentance clears the way for Christ’s coming.

Mary models patient trust.

Readiness means living each day in charity.

Reflection prompts:

“Advent hope for me means…”

“To prepare my heart, I will…”

Journal Prompts

“Where do I need to let Christ in again?”

“How can I make my family’s Advent more prayerful?”

“What does it mean to wait with joy?”

Apologetics for Adults

“Why focus on sin before Christmas?” → Because grace heals what sin wounds. Only by repentance can Christmas joy be full.

“Why the purple candles?” → Purple is the colour of repentance and royalty — sorrow for sin and joy for the coming King.

“Isn’t hope just emotion?” → No. Hope is a theological virtue — confidence rooted in God’s promise, not in circumstances.

“Why meditate on Mary?” → She is the first disciple and the first Advent believer — her faith shows how to receive Christ rightly.

Catechism Extension

CCC 522–524 – Christ’s coming prepared by prophecy.

CCC 1427–1430 – Conversion and repentance.

CCC 1817–1821 – The virtue of hope.

CCC 2676–2677 – Mary’s faith and prayer.

Further Reading

Spe Salvi – Pope Benedict XVI on Christian hope.

Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives – Benedict XVI.

The Reed of God – Caryll Houselander.

Interior Freedom – Fr Jacques Philippe.

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ,
awaken my heart during this Advent.
Heal what is wounded, forgive what is broken,
and fill me with the hope of Your coming.
May I live in readiness,
and greet You with joy when You come in glory.
Amen.