2ND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Psalter: Week 2 / (Violet)
Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
1st Reading: Bar 5:1-9
Jerusalem, put off your garment of mourning and unhappiness, put on the splendor and glory of God forever.
Wrap yourself in the mantle of holiness that comes from God, put on your head the crown of glory of the Eternal One.
For God will show your splendor to every being under heaven.
He will call your name forever ”peace in justice” and ”glory in the fear of the Lord.”
Rise up, Jerusalem, stand on the heights. Look towards the east and see your children gathered together from the setting of the sun to its rising, by the voice of the Holy One, rejoicing because God has remembered them.
They left you on foot, taken away by the enemy. God will lead them back, carried gloriously like royal princes.
For God has resolved to bring low every high mountain and the everlasting hills, to fill up the valleys and level out the ground, in order that Israel may walk in safety under the glory of God.
Even the forests and the fragrant trees will give shade to Israel at God‘s command. For God will lead Israel with joy by the light of his glory, escorting them with his mercy and justice.
2nd Reading: Phil 1:4-6, 8-11
And when I pray for you, I pray with joy. I cannot forget all you shared with me in the service of the gospel, from the first day, until now. Since God began such a good work in you, I am certain that he will complete it in the day of Christ Jesus.
God knows that I love you dearly, with the love of Christ Jesus, and in my prayers, I ask that your love may lead you, each day, to a deeper knowledge and clearer discernment, that you may have good criteria for everything. So you may be pure of heart and come, blameless, to the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of holiness, that comes through Christ Jesus, for the glory and praise of God.
Gospel: Lk 3:1-6
It was the fifteenth year of the rule of the Emperor Tiberius: Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea; Herod ruled over Galilee, his brother Philip ruled over the country of Iturea and Trachonitis; and Lysanias ruled over Abilene. Annas and Caiaphas were the High Priests at the time when the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the desert.
John proclaimed a baptism for repentant people to obtain forgiveness of sins; and he went through the whole country bordering the Jordan River. It was just as is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah: Listen to this voice crying out in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight! The valleys will be filled and the mountains and hills made low. Everything crooked will be made straight and the rough paths smooth; and every human being will see the salvation of God!‘
Lectio Divina
Read: Baruch prophesizes the return of God‘s people to a day of glory and honor, thanks to the hand of God. God who initiates the good work in every soul will bring it to completion, unless of course, we block his path by our unwillingness to collaborate with God.
Reflect: Every human being will see the salvation of God, we are told. But will every human being choose the same? What good is receiving a gift if the recipient refuses to use it? The old adage of ”you can take the horse to the water, but you cannot make it drink” is worth recalling. It is one thing for God to offer us his salvation, but the onus is on us to prepare ourselves to receive the same and profit from it. John‘s invitation to people is not to miss the amazing advent of God‘s salvation, but to prepare themselves assiduously to receive the same with maximal effect.
Pray: Ask God for the gift of true repentance.
Act: Do the sacrament of reconciliation this week.
Daily Reflection 2018
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
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