15 December 2011

15 Dec 2011, Thursday of the Third Week of Advent

Reading 1 Is 54:1-10

Raise a glad cry, you barren one who did not bear,
Break forth in jubilant song, you who were not in labor,
For more numerous are the children of the deserted wife
than the children of her who has a husband,
says the LORD.
Enlarge the space for your tent,
spread out your tent cloths unsparingly;
lengthen your ropes and make firm your stakes.
For you shall spread abroad to the right and to the left;
your descendants shall dispossess the nations
and shall people the desolate cities.

Fear not, you shall not be put to shame;
you need not blush, for you shall not be disgraced.
The shame of your youth you shall forget,
the reproach of your widowhood no longer remember.
For he who has become your husband is your Maker;
his name is the LORD of hosts;
Your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
called God of all the earth.
The LORD calls you back,
like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
A wife married in youth and then cast off,
says your God.
For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great tenderness I will take you back.
In an outburst of wrath, for a moment
I hid my face from you;
But with enduring love I take pity on you,
says the LORD, your redeemer.

This is for me like the days of Noah,
when I swore that the waters of Noah
should never again deluge the earth;
So I have sworn not to be angry with you,
or to rebuke you.
Though the mountains leave their place
and the hills be shaken,
My love shall never leave you
nor my covenant of peace be shaken,
says the LORD, who has mercy on you.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 30:2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12a and 13b

R. (2a) I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear
and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O LORD, you brought me up from the nether world;
you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger lasts but a moment;
a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters in,
but with the dawn, rejoicing.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
"Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me;
O LORD, be my helper."
You changed my mourning into dancing;
O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

Gospel Lk 7:24-30

When the messengers of John the Baptist had left,
Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John.
"What did you go out to the desert to see B a reed swayed by the wind?
Then what did you go out to see?
Someone dressed in fine garments?
Those who dress luxuriously and live sumptuously
are found in royal palaces.
Then what did you go out to see?
A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom Scripture says:

Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
he will prepare your way before you.

I tell you,
among those born of women, no one is greater than John;
yet the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he."
(All the people who listened, including the tax collectors,
who were baptized with the baptism of John,
acknowledged the righteousness of God;
but the Pharisees and scholars of the law,
who were not baptized by him,
rejected the plan of God for themselves.)

Meditation: Luke 7:24-30

Among those born of women, no one is greater than John.” (Luke 7:28)



Can you feel the pride and sat­isfaction of the people as they acknowledged “the righteousness of God” (Luke 7:29)? John was sent to prepare the way of the Lord, and he included everyone—even the Phari­sees and the lawyers—in that call. In addition to baptism, John called the people to repentance and, even more important, to bear fruit in keep­ing with their repentance. Although many of Israel’s religious leaders re­jected this call, many other people, including tax collectors, accepted John’s message gratefully. And here is Jesus telling them about how great John was. So they had made the right choice after all!

There’s a parallel to each of these three elements of John’s call in our lives. First, the baptism of John fore­shadowed our own baptism when we became a new creation and citi­zens of the kingdom of God. This is something we should recall often, re­membering who we are in God’s eyes and what he has done for us.

Second, John’s call to repentance reminds us that whenever we cele­brate the Sacrament of Reconciliation or even when we repent to the Lord on our own, we are doing far more than just saying, “I’m sorry.” We are opening ourselves up further to the gifts poured out at baptism. In bap­tism our sins were buried with Jesus (Colossians 2:12). Now, we are wel­coming the grace to become more fully the new creation that God made us into when we were baptized.

Third, when baptism and re­pentance are in place, bearing fruit naturally follows. As you grow closer to Jesus, you find yourself reaching out more to others in need. The more you allow the new creation to take hold of you, the more compelled you feel to go out and build the kingdom of God.

John prepared for the way of the Lord through calls to repentance, baptism, and bearing fruit, and this is how God invites us to prepare the way of the Lord. Embrace these three callings, and there’s no question you will draw closer to Jesus.

“Thank you, Jesus, that through your death I was buried with you and raised to new life with you. Through the power of your Spirit, help me to bear fruit necessary to build your kingdom.”

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