Monday, December 6, 2021

 

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.

 



[1] How the sisters addressed each other

No comments:

Post a Comment