RE: 01.28.16~Readings for Sunday, January 31st-2016

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January 31, 2016

 

« January 30  |  February 1 »

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 72

Reading 1JER 1:4-5, 17-19

The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I dedicated you,
a prophet to the nations I appointed you.

But do you gird your loins;
stand up and tell them
all that I command you.
Be not crushed on their account,
as though I would leave you crushed before them;
for it is I this day
who have made you a fortified city,
a pillar of iron, a wall of brass,
against the whole land:
against Judah’s kings and princes,
against its priests and people.
They will fight against you but not prevail over you,
for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.

Responsorial PsalmPS 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15-17

R. (cf. 15ab) I will sing of your salvation.
In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, and deliver me;
incline your ear to me, and save me.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R. I will sing of your salvation.

Reading 21 COR 12:31—13:13

Brothers and sisters:
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.

If I speak in human and angelic tongues,
but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy,
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own,
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast,
but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.

Or 1 COR 13:4-13

Brothers and sisters:
Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
it is not inflated, it is not rude, 
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.

AlleluiaLK 4:18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelLK 4:21-30

Jesus began speaking in the synagogue, saying:
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. 
They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say,
‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said, “Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.

RE: 01.21.16~Readings for Sunday, January 24th-2016

January 24, 2016

 

« January 23  |  January 25 »

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 69

Reading 1NEH 8:2-4A, 5-6, 8-10

Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly,
which consisted of men, women,
and those children old enough to understand.
Standing at one end of the open place that was before the Water Gate,
he read out of the book from daybreak till midday,
in the presence of the men, the women,
and those children old enough to understand;
and all the people listened attentively to the book of the law.
Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform 
that had been made for the occasion.
He opened the scroll
so that all the people might see it
— for he was standing higher up than any of the people —;
and, as he opened it, all the people rose.
Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God,
and all the people, their hands raised high, answered, 
“Amen, amen!”
Then they bowed down and prostrated themselves before the LORD,
their faces to the ground.
Ezra read plainly from the book of the law of God,
interpreting it so that all could understand what was read.
Then Nehemiah, that is, His Excellency, and Ezra the priest-scribe
and the Levites who were instructing the people
said to all the people:
“Today is holy to the LORD your God.
Do not be sad, and do not weep”—
for all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law.
He said further: “Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks,
and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared;
for today is holy to our LORD.
Do not be saddened this day,
for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!”

Responsorial PsalmPS 19:8, 9, 10, 15

R. (cf John 6:63c) Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
The command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
The ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart
find favor before you,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

Reading 2 1 COR 12:12-30

Brothers and sisters:
As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,
so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

Now the body is not a single part, but many.
If a foot should say,
“Because I am not a hand I do not belong to the body,”
it does not for this reason belong any less to the body.
Or if an ear should say,
“Because I am not an eye I do not belong to the body,”
it does not for this reason belong any less to the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?
If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
But as it is, God placed the parts,
each one of them, in the body as he intended.
If they were all one part, where would the body be?
But as it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,”
nor again the head to the feet, “I do not need you.”
Indeed, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker
are all the more necessary,
and those parts of the body that we consider less honorable
we surround with greater honor,
and our less presentable parts are treated with greater propriety,
whereas our more presentable parts do not need this.
But God has so constructed the body
as to give greater honor to a part that is without it,
so that there may be no division in the body,
but that the parts may have the same concern for one another.
If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it;
if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.

Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.
Some people God has designated in the church
to be, first, apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers;
then, mighty deeds;
then gifts of healing, assistance, administration,
and varieties of tongues.
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?
Do all work mighty deeds? Do all have gifts of healing?
Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?

Or1 COR 12:12-14, 27

Brothers and sisters:
As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,
so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
Now the body is not a single part, but many.
You are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.

AlleluiaCF. LK 4:18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,
and to proclaim liberty to captives.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelLK 1:1-4; 4:14-21

Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events
that have been fulfilled among us,
just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning
and ministers of the word have handed them down to us,
I too have decided,
after investigating everything accurately anew,
to write it down in an orderly sequence for you,
most excellent Theophilus, 
so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings
you have received.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,
and news of him spread throughout the whole region.
He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom 
into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me 
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011716.cfm

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011716.cfm

RE: 12.26.15~The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Commentary – The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Year C

December 27, 2015 

First Reading – 1 Samuel 1.20-22, 24-28

In those days Hannah conceived, and at the end of her term bore a son

whom she called Samuel, since she had asked the LORD for him.

The next time her husband Elkanah was going up

with the rest of his household

to offer the customary sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vows,

Hannah did not go, explaining to her husband,

“Once the child is weaned,

I will take him to appear before the LORD

and to remain there forever;

I will offer him as a perpetual nazirite.”

Once Samuel was weaned, Hannah brought him up with her,

along with a three-year-old bull,

an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine,

and presented him at the temple of the LORD in Shiloh.

After the boy’s father had sacrificed the young bull,

Hannah, his mother, approached Eli and said:

“Pardon, my lord!

As you live, my lord,

I am the woman who stood near you here, praying to the LORD.

I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request.

Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD;

as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.”

Commentary

SAMUEL, THE MIRACLE CHILD

Samuel is a miracle child! This text is from a historical period in Israel that we unfortunately infrequently hear about. So here is a brief recap: we are at the end of the period of Judges. There is yet no king to rule over the people. After Moses had died and the Israelites had entered the Promised Land, around 1200 BC, the tribes had progressively taken over the territories on which they settled. This lasted approximately one hundred and fifty years. During this time, leaders called “Judges” governed the tribes; they served as warlords as well as political and religious leaders, and they settled disputes.

One more point on this historical period: since no king yet ruled over the people there was no Jerusalem and no temple. The Ark of the Covenant that had accompanied the people throughout the Exodus journey was kept in a sanctuary in Shiloh situated in the middle of Palestine, thirty kilometers (18.5 miles) north of the future Jerusalem. A priest by the name of Eli was in charge of this sanctuary; and because it housed the Ark of the Covenant, Shiloh had become a pilgrimage site.  

Now there was a man by the name of Elkanah who lived nearby; he had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Hannah was the favored of the two, but she was barren. Her rival Peninnah, on the other hand, had children of whom she was very proud; she never missed an opportunity to insinuate to Hannah that her barrenness was a punishment from God. The most difficult time for Hannah was the yearly pilgrimage to Shiloh when both wives accompanied Elkanah. Everyone could see Hannah’s distress compared to Peninnah’s happy glow. Hannah’s childlessness weighed all the more heavily on her on these occasions, and in her grief and humiliation she could only weep and repeatedly mutter her prayer to God, a prayer that probably went like this: “O Lord, I beg of you, please give me children.” She silently prayed on and on, and she was a sight for sore eyes, so much so that Eli, the guardian of the sanctuary took her to task, thinking that she was in a drunken stupor.

It is at this point that the miracle happens;  for God knows our deepest desires. God saw Hannah’s tears and heard her prayer, and a few months later she bore a son whom she named Samuel, because one possible meaning of this name is, “God hears, God grants”. In her grief Hannah had made a vow: “O LORD of hosts, if you look with pity on the hardship of your servant, if you remember me and do not forget me, if you give your handmaid a male child, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life” (1 Samuel 1.11). Today’s reading narrates the fulfillment of this vow.  As soon as the child is weaned, which in those days was around three years of age, Hannah brings him to the sanctuary in Shiloh and hands him over to Eli the priest, saying, “I am the woman who stood near you here, praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request. Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.” So Samuel grew up in Shiloh, and it is here that he heard God calling him. He later became a great servant of Israel.

HE SHALL BE DEDICATED TO THE LORD

We may wonder why this text was chosen for the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. What connection is there between these two children, Jesus and Samuel, between these two mothers, Mary and Hannah, and these two fathers, Joseph and Elkanah? More than a thousand years separates these two stories.

We can find three reasons: first, God hears; the name Samuel means, “God hears, God grants.” That the poor and the downtrodden take centre stage in God’s eyes is Israel’s fundamental religious experience. Hannah had cried out to God when she was in the depths of humiliation and she was heard. Reread Hannah’s canticle after the birth of Samuel, for example, and you will see how much it resembles the Magnificat that sprang from the lips of a humble young girl from the miserable little village of Nazareth.

Secondly, it is through human history, through real families that God accomplishes God’s plan. This is the mystery of the Incarnation, patiently worked out through the ages.

Thirdly, both stories have miraculous births: Jesus is born of a virgin through the power of the Holy Spirit, and barren Hannah gives birth to a child…. And if we dig a little deeper, we find in the Bible a long list of miraculous births: Isaac, Samson, Samuel, John the Baptist, Jesus. In the case of Isaac, Sarah was most beloved by Abraham, yet she too was barren and humiliated by her more blessed rival, Hagar, Ishmael’s mother. And God had taken pity on Sarah: she conceived a son, Isaac.

All these miraculous births are vivid reminders for us, reminders that every child is a gift from God. It suffices to have been a parent, even if only once, to know that we do not give life, we transmit it, for life is not something we own. God is the giver of life, and whether bodily or spiritually, we have the honor of making ourselves available to God, of lending our bodies, our lives for God’s plan.

Responsorial Psalm – 84.2-3, 5-6, 9-10

R/Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.

How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!

My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the LORD.

My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

R/Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.

Happy they who dwell in your house!

Continually they praise you.

Happy the men whose strength you are!

Their hearts are set upon the pilgrimage.

R/Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.

O LORD of hosts, hear our prayer;

hearken, O God of Jacob!

O God, behold our shield,

and look upon the face of your anointed.

R/Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.

Second Reading – 1 John 3.1-2, 21-24

Beloved:

See what love the Father has bestowed on us

that we may be called the children of God.

And so we are.

The reason the world does not know us

is that it did not know him.

Beloved, we are God’s children now;

what we shall be has not yet been revealed.

We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,

for we shall see him as he is.

Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us,

we have confidence in God and receive from him whatever we ask,

because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

And his commandment is this:

we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,

and love one another just as he commanded us.

Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them,

and the way we know that he remains in us

is from the Spirit he gave us.

Gospel – Luke 2.41-52

Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast

of Passover,

and when he was twelve years old,

they went up according to festival custom.

After they had completed its days, as they were returning,

the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem,

but his parents did not know it.

Thinking that he was in the caravan,

they journeyed for a day

and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances,

but not finding him,

they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.

After three days they found him in the temple,

sitting in the midst of the teachers,

listening to them and asking them questions,

and all who heard him were astounded

at his understanding and his answers.

When his parents saw him,

they were astonished,

and his mother said to him,

“Son, why have you done this to us?

Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”

And he said to them,

“Why were you looking for me?

Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

But they did not understand what he said to them.

He went down with them and came to Nazareth,

and was obedient to them;

and his mother kept all these things in her heart.

And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor

before God and man.

Commentary

JESUS IN THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM

“He came to his own, but his own people did not accept him”: these words are from the prologue of John’s gospel. Yet today’s reading from Luke’s gospel seem to be an apt example of this state of affairs; for it speaks of both the mystery of Jesus and the incomprehension of those closest to him. That this family journeyed to Jerusalem for the Passover festival and that they were there for eight days is as expected (the two feasts of Passover and Azymes had been joined together into one feast that lasted eight days).

What is extraordinary is what follows: the young boy decides to remain behind in the temple, apparently unconcerned about notifying his parents who leave Jerusalem with their usual travelling companions without first verifying that their son is among them. They are separated for three days, a number that Luke intentionally notes. The family is finally reunited but the three of them are still on different wavelengths: Mary’s affectionate reproach, still raw from the anxiety of the past three days clashes with her son’s own sincere astonishment, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

The mystery of Jesus is manifested, of course, in everyone’s astonishment and especially in that of the doctors of the law when they hear his enlightened “understanding and his answers.” It is also made manifest in the mention of the three days, the usual biblical duration of time for encountering God. There are three days between the entombment of Jesus’ body and the resurrection, that is, life’s complete victory. And finally, the mystery of Jesus is manifested through the astonishing words spoken by this twelve-year-old boy to his very human parents: “I must be in my Father’s house?” With these words he affirms his identity as the Son of God; the angel Gabriel had already spoken of him as the “Son of the Most High”, but this title specifically referred to him as the Messiah. Now, a new stage of revelation has been reached: the title of Son of God applied to Jesus is more than a royal title - it reveals the mystery of Jesus’ divine sonship. No wonder that this was not immediately understood! And there was more to come: in this episode Jesus says that he must be in his Father’s house but later on he says: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

Even Jesus’ parents do not grasp the meaning of his words, and Jesus challenges them, saying, “Did you not know…?” Believers as deeply fervent as Joseph and Mary are bewildered by God’s mysteries. This ought to reassure us. We should not be surprised that there is so much that we don’t understand. Have we forgotten Isaiah’s words, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways—oracle of the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Is 55.8-9).

Today’s gospel text leads us to believe that Mary herself does not yet grasp what is happening; however, she retains all that she has seen and heard and searches for answers: “his mother kept all these things in her heart.” Already, when the shepherds had come to the cave in Bethlehem we are told that: “And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” (Luke 2.19). With this, Luke offers us an example to follow: we must accept our own incomprehension, while allowing our questions to gestate deep within ourselves. Mary’s faith journey, just like ours, is not a bed of roses. Jesus himself, like all of us, had to grow from childhood to adulthood. In this we are faced with the mystery of the Incarnation: “Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.” This means that Jesus is fully human; it also points to God’s patience as we mature – for God a thousand years are as a day (Ps 90).

THE MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION

The episode from today’s text takes place in the Jerusalem temple. The temple is very important in Luke’s gospel; for Jews the temple was the sign of God’s presence in the midst of God’s people…* For Christians, as we know, it is Christ himself who from now on fully embodies God’s presence, who is the temple of God. Today’s narrative takes one step towards this revelation. Luke most certainly has in mind a prophecy from Malachi: “And the lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his temple; the messenger of the covenant whom you desire— see, he is coming! says the LORD of hosts” (Mal 3.1).

One last comment: we may be surprised by an apparent contradiction in the text: Jesus tells his parents that he must be in his Father’s house and then immediately returns with them to Nazareth. This means that Jesus did not remain in a temple made of stone! Samuel (in today’s first reading) also left the temple: although he had been consecrated to the Lord and brought to the temple in Silo to spend the rest of his days he ended up serving the Lord outside the temple, as a leader of his people. Perhaps there is a lesson for us here: “I must be in my Father’s house” means a life given to the service of others, not necessarily within the confines of the “temple”; or put another way, to be with the Father means to be, first and foremost, at the service of his children.

Addendum

The beginning of Luke’s gospel is situated in the Jerusalem temple, with Zechariah and the announcement of John the Baptist’s birth (the name John means “God has graced”). It is also in the temple precincts that, on the day of the Presentation of Jesus, Symeon proclaims that God’s salvation has arrived. Moreover, Luke’ gospel ends with the disciples’ return to the Jerusalem temple after their farewell to the resurrected Christ.

Translated with permission by Simone Baryliuk, from: Commentaires de Marie Noëlle Thabut, 27 decembre, 2015

http://www.eglise.catholique.fr/foi-et-vie-chretienne/commentaires-de-marie-noelle-thabut.html

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RE: 12.10.15~Readings for Sunday December 13th-2015

USCCB »  Bible »  Daily Readings

 

December 13, 2015

 

« December 12  |  December 14 »

Third Sunday of Advent
Lectionary: 9

Reading 1ZEP 3:14-18A

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
The LORD has removed the judgment against you
he has turned away your enemies;
the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,
you have no further misfortune to fear.
On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!
The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a mighty savior;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
he will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.

Responsorial PsalmIS 12:2-3, 4, 5-6

R. (6) Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
R. Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.
R. Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!
R. Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.

Reading 2PHIL 4:4-7

Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, 
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, 
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding 
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

AlleluiaIS 61:1 (CITED IN LK 4:18)

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelLK 3:10-18

The crowds asked John the Baptist,
“What should we do?”
He said to them in reply,
“Whoever has two cloaks
should share with the person who has none. 
And whoever has food should do likewise.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him,
“Teacher, what should we do?”
He answered them, 
“Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.”
Soldiers also asked him,
“And what is it that we should do?”
He told them,
“Do not practice extortion, 
do not falsely accuse anyone, 
and be satisfied with your wages.”

Now the people were filled with expectation, 
and all were asking in their hearts 
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying, 
“I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor
and to gather the wheat into his barn, 
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Exhorting them in many other ways, 
he preached good news to the people.