THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT – C –
2021
Ø It is already the third Sunday of Advent
Ø The Church invites us to rejoice, invites us
to the joy because the Lord is near.
Ø The liturgical color is pink.
Ø John the Baptist will invite us to
repentance
Ø Let us enter in our heart with naked feet
because we will be walking on sacred ground, on the holy temple where our Lord
and God, Father, Creator, Redeemer dwells.
PROPHET ZZEPHANIAH
ü The
ministry of Zephaniah took place probably during the reign of Josiah not long
before the fall of Jerusalem in 587.B.C.
ü The condemnation of the pagan worship may
indicate that this prophet preached during the time when Assyria had a great
influence on the land of Judah.
ü Josiah
launched a religious reform.
ü If this is as
we think the prophet Zephaniah would have been contemporary of the prophet
Jeremiah in his early ministry.
ü Both prophets
share the same language and ideas.
ü The content
of Zephaniah’s prophecy: The Day of the Lord; the salvation of the humble; the
fall of the wicked.
FIRST
READING - Zep. 3, 14-18
v The prophet invites us to shout for joy, to
sing, to exult.
v He calls Jerusalem “Daughter Jerusalem” and
“Daughter Sion”
v The Church calls Mary Daughter Sion, this
Oracle which invites us to rejoice, is also addressed to Mary although the
prophet does not know it. Mary the young girl from Nazareth who is with child,
this child is the Son of God.
v The reason for the holy city to rejoice is
that God has raised his judgment against her, and has come to live in her.
v Thus, she does not have to fear any evil. The
angel says to Mary “do not fear because you have found favor with God.”
v But the prophet says something stronger. Jerusalem
rejoices because of the presence of the Lord, but something astonishing for us,
I copy the last verses of this beautiful reading:
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.
v Yes, God sings for joy because He loves me, and despite my lowliness and my sins, I am cause of joy for Him
RESPONSORIAL PSAM -Is 12, 2-3. 4bcd. 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.
§ Zion responds to this invitation from the
Lord.
§ In the first stanza she says that the Lord is
her strength and her courage, her savior.
§ In the second stanza the psalmist invites us
to praise the Lord for his great achievements.
§ In the third and last one he invites Daughter
Zion to shout because the Holy One of Israel is in her midst.
§ Is the presence of our God in us the cause of
our joy? He says in one of the Gospels
and in the Apocalypse “we will go and dwell in him”…
SECOND
READING – Phil 4,4-7ª
ü Paul writes this letter to his preferred
community, the community of the city of Philippi.
ü The city of Philippi is
located in north eastern Greece (Macedonia). The city was already ancient by
the time Paul arrived there around 49 CE (Acts 16:11-40). In fact, its beginnings go back to the fourth century BCE when
it was occupied by the Thracians. In 356 BCE, however, Philip II of Macedon,
the father of Alexander the Great, took over the city and named it after
himself. In 168 BC Philippi became part of the Roman empire when the latter defeated the Persians at the
battle of Pydna and Macedonia was divided into four districts, Philippi
belonging to the first.
Today the archaeological site has substantial remains
including a theatre and four basilicas. Philippi is listed by UNESCO as a World
Heritage Site
ü Paul invites de Philippians to rejoice in the
Lord.
ü This joy will be manifested through their
kindness and goodness.
ü Pope Francis says in one of his writings that
no one who is happy will kill anyone.
ü Let examine ourselves on our kindness with
those close to us, those who live with us.
ü The fruit will be the peace of God.
EVANGELIO – Lucas 3,10-18
In the message of
the reading from the Gospel of Luke we can distinguish two different
parts.
In the first part
John responds to the questions that, those who had come to him asked. In the second part John says that he is not
the Messiah and announces that his coming is imminent.
Those who came to
be baptized wanted to know how they had to behave.
John responds to
each group and his message is an invitation to share, respect, serve, neither
to abuse or mistreat anyone, in a word to fulfill its own duties to the
best.
People are
enthusiastic about John and believe that he is the one they expect, but John
denies it.
The One, who is
to come, will baptize in Spirit and fire
He comes to clean
his field; the weeds will be burned.
We can read in
that description an invitation for us to repent and to have faith.
I have read some
place those lasts days: As we bring our sins and our wounded hearts to Jesus
in the confessional, we’ll recognize that God himself is rejoicing in us. (“Repent and Believe” in The Word Among Us.
Advent 2021, p.13-15)
MARANATHA! COME LORD JESUS!
CLARETIAN CORNER
Letter n8. To M. María Rosa (Gual) de San Juan, prioress
of Santiago de Cuba
Before all things try to have much inner recollection,
because if you have it, as your charity [1]knows,
you will be constant in the practice of all the virtues, and this same
reflection on your own life will help
you to remind about all your duties, both spiritual and material, because this care will make you happy.
May you be, as much as possible, of one body and one
mind with the Sister Sub prioress, and the two of you must be one. Be
very careful in the education of girls, trying by all means to advance them in
the different matters; have no particularities with any, esteeming all in Our
Lord Jesus Christ...
I strongly
urge you to take care of the church vestments, let them be well ironed and
sewn!
You cannot imagine how much I think and care about all
and everyone of the sisters. Tell
me how they are. I miss all of you so much that I never can write a
letter without tears.
Countless are the young women from everywhere who apply to join our Institute, but I do not rush to admit them, I discern those applications one by one; Bishop Caixal is of the same opinion. (This writing is formed by two fragments from two different letters of to M. María Rosa Gual. They are found in the book by the Claretian Missionary Fr. Cepeda, Vida de la Sierva de Dios María Antonia París.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CONFERENCIA EPISCOPAL ESPAÑOLA. SAGRADA BIBLIA, Versión Oficial, 2012.
PARÍS, María Antonia . Epistolario, 1993
Little Rock, Catholic Study Bible. Litugical Press,
Collegeville Minnesota 2011.
The Word Among Us, Advent 2021.
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