3RD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Psalter: Week 3 / (Violet/Rose)
Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6
Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
1st Reading: Zep 3:14-18a
Cry out with joy, O daughter of Zion; rejoice, O people of Israel! Sing joyfully with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem!
Yahweh has lifted your sentence and has driven your enemies away. Yahweh, the King of Israel is with you; do not fear any misfortune.
On that day, they will say to Jerusalem: Do not be afraid nor let your hands tremble, for Yahweh your God is within you, Yahweh, saving warrior. He will jump for joy on seeing you, for he has revived his love. For you he will cry out with joy, as you do in the days of the feast.
I will drive away the evil I warned you about, and you will no longer be shamed.
2nd Reading: Phil 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always! I say it again: rejoice, and may everyone experience your gentle and understanding heart. The Lord is near: do not be anxious about anything. In everything, resort to prayer and supplication, together, with thanksgiving, and bring your requests before God. Then, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Gospel: Lk 3:10-18
The people asked him, ”What are we to do?” And John answered, ”If you have two coats, give one to the person who has none; and if you have food, do the same.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and asked him, ”Master, what must we do?” John said to them, ”Collect no more than your fixed rate.” Then some soldiers asked John, ”What about us? What are we to do?” And he answered, ”Don‘t take anything by force, or threaten the people by denouncing them falsely. Be content with your pay.” The people were wondering about John‘s identity, ”Could he be the Messiah?” Then John answered them, ”I baptize you with water, but the one who is coming will do much more: he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. As for me, I am not worthy to untie his sandal. He comes with a winnowing fan, to clear his threshing floor, and gather the grain into his barn. But the chaff he will burn, with fire that never goes out.”
With these, and many other words, John announced the Good News to the people.
Lectio Divina
Read: Gaudete Sunday. Yahweh delights in His people and jumps for joy. We return the favor with joy in our hearts, and peace descends to our interiors. John baptizes with water; but the one who comes after him baptizes with the fire of the Holy Spirit, the fire of love.
Reflect: The third Sunday of Advent is all about rejoicing. But who rejoices? Whose joy is it? Primarily it is the Lord‘s. It is God who will jump for joy on seeing us, His beloved. He will cry out with joy for us, so says Zephaniah. And when we see the joy of our beloved, the one who delights in us, we cannot but be joyful and rejoice. Our joy is a spontaneous response in gratitude to the discovery of having been loved by a love that we didn‘t know ever existed.
Pray: You have been loved beyond your understanding. Knowing this, speak to God in words that spontaneously well up in your heart.
Act: Gaze on the crucifix – the symbol of a love that delighted us so much that it embraced death to give us life.
Daily Reflection 2018
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