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Cycle C
2nd SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Prepare a way for the Lord.
ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
People of Zion, the Lord will come to save all nations, and your hearts will exult to hear his majestic voice.
Penitential Rite
God’s people will be distinguished by integrity and joy. St Paul prays for an increase of love and discernment among the Philippians. This increase will help them to become pure and blameless and prepare them for the Day of the Lord. St John the Baptist exhorts us to prepare a way for the Lord. How serious are we to prepare a way for the Lord? Do integrity and love mark us out? (Pause.) For all our slackness and lack of integrity and genuine love, let us be sorry and say:
I confess to almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault (All strike their breast) in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do; and I ask blessed Mary ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray. God of power and mercy, open our hearts in welcome. Remove the things that hinder us from receiving Christ with joy, so that we may share his wisdom and become one with him when he comes in glory, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God, for ever and ever.
FIRST READING
(The exiled Jews will return home in joy and glory.)
A reading from the book of Baruch
(5:1-9)
Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on for ever the beauty of the glory from God. Put on the robe of the righteousness from God; put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting. For God will show your splendour everywhere under heaven. For your name will for ever be called by God, "Peace of righteousness and glory of godliness." Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height and look toward the east, and see your children gathered from west and east, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them. For they went forth from you on foot, led away by their enemies; but God will bring them back to you carried in glory, as on a royal throne. For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God. The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel at God’s command. For God will lead Israel with joy, in the light of his glory, with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.
This is the Word of the Lord
PSALM (125)
Response : What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad.
When the Lord delivered Zion from bondage, it seemed like a dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, on our lips there were songs. R.
The heathens themselves said: "What marvels the Lord worked for them! What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad. R.
Deliver us, O Lord, from our bondage as streams in dry land. Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap. R.
They go out, they go out, full of tears, carrying seed for the sowing; they come back, they come back, full of songs, carrying their sheaves. R.
SECOND READING
(St Paul thanks the Philippians for their partnership in spreading the gospel and prays that they may grow in love and insight.)
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Philippians (1:3-6,8-11)
Brethren: I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, thankful for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
This is the Word of the Lord
ACCLAMATION (Lk 3:4,6)
Alleluia, alleluia! Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. All flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia!
GOSPEL
(As a preparation for the coming of Jesus St John the Baptist exhorts people to repent.)
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Luke (3:1-6)
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ablilene, in the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness; and he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."
This is the Gospel of the Lord
I believe in God,/the Father Almighty,/ Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ,/his only Son, our Lord./ He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit/ and born of the Virgin Mary./He suffered under Pontius Pilate,/was crucified, died, and was buried./He descended to the dead./On the third day he rose again./He ascended into Heaven,/and is seated at the right hand of the Father./He will come again to judge the living and the dead./I believe in the Holy Spirit,/the Holy Catholic Church,/the communion of saints,/the forgiveness of sins,/the resurrection of the body,/and the life everlasting./ Amen.
PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL
Cel: Dear sisters and brothers, let us bring to our loving Father all that make our lives bitter, sad and unhappy. Let us ask him to free us from all such factors. Our response: Deliver us, O Lord.
1. That the leaders of the Church and the teachers of our faith may be free to announce the good news of salvation. R.
2. We pray for those who are discouraged, angry and sad. Jesus, touch and enter their lives with your good news of joy and hope. R.
3. Let us pray for all those who find the message of salvation meaningless or incredible. Holy Spirit, enlighten their minds and hearts. R.
4. Through your prophet John, you ask us to be sorry for our sins: may we humbly acknowledge our sins and accept Jesus as our Saviour. R.
(Pause to pray for other intentions.)
Cel: Loving Father, we thank and praise you for the gift of Jesus and the good news of salvation. Open our minds and hearts to welcome Jesus and his message. We ask this…
PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS
Lord, we are nothing without you. As you sustain us with your mercy, receive our prayers and offerings. We ask this...
Preface (P1)
COMMUNION ANTIPHON
Rise up, Jerusalem, stand on the heights, and see the joy that is coming to you from God.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Father, you give us food from heaven. By our sharing in this mystery, teach us judge wisely the things of earth and to love the things of heaven. We ask this...
LITURGY AND LIFE
When Sir Walter Scott was a boy, he was considered a great dullard. His accustomed place in the schoolroom was the ignominious dunce corner, with a high-pointed paper cap of shame on his head. When about twelve years old, he happened to be in a house where some famous literary guests were being entertained. Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, was standing admiring a picture under which was written a couplet of a stanza. He inquired concerning the author. None seemed to know. Timidly a boy crept up to his side, named the author, and quoted the rest of the poem. Burns was surprised and delighted. Laying his hand on the boy’s head, he exclaimed, ‘Ah, young boy, ye will be a great man in Scotland some day.’ From that day Walter Scott was a changed lad. One word of encouragement set him on the road to greatness.
Today’s readings brim over with joyful hope. It is not just nice feelings or a sense of natural happiness amid blessings or the exuberance at a good time. Times were anything but good when Baruch (Reading 1) wrote: "Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on for ever the beauty of the glory from God."
Actually, it was a time of slavery and suffering. Israel was in exile and there was not a ray of hope of its end. People were in deep sorrow and stark despair. But Baruch declares those who went on foot, driven to exile, God will carry them back on a royal throne. God will change the situation of darkness and sadness into one of joy and glory.
Reflecting on the deliverance of Israel the psalmist sings; "It seemed like a dream. Our mouth was filled with laughter, on our lips there were songs." Even the non-Israelites impressed by it exclaim: "What marvels the Lord worked for them!" The exile time is compared to seedtime, marked by toil and labour. The liberation time is like harvest time, marked by joy and happiness.
In Reading 2, St Paul is full of joy and gratitude for the support and encouragement he received from his beloved Philippians. His gladness and gratitude led him to hope ardently and pray earnestly for the Philippians. He hopes and prays that they may grow in love and wisdom, that they may be pure and blameless and approve what is excellent, that they may be filled with the fruits of righteousness, the very righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. And all this to the glory and praise of God.
When St Paul wrote this exuberant letter, he was in prison. Obviously he was suffering. Yet his letter has hardly any trace of bitterness or anger. For him in the cause of the gospel, anything serves. Going out for sowing there are tears, while harvesting there are songs of joy.
In the gospel we are invited to prepare for the harvest of salvation. The liberation announced in Reading 1 is only a foretaste of the salvation brought about by Jesus. Salvation is a matter of hope, joy and gratitude. Salvation is deliverance, deliverance from all enslaving agents and influences. The Baptist wants us to make an about-turn, a change and conversion lest we miss the joy of salvation. Our attitude, our behaviour, our style of life may require levelling out, readjustment to the message and offer of salvation. Repent lest we miss the Saviour himself.
"For me you have changed my mourning into dancing, you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. So my soul sings psalms to you unceasingly. O Lord my God, I will thank you for ever" (Psalm 29).
December 2003
CALENDAR
Psalter Week 2
8/Mon (W) IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF B.V.M
Gen 3:9-15,20; Ps 97; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Lk 1:26-38
9/Tue (V) Is 40:1-11; Ps 95; Mt 18:12-14
10/Wed (V) Is 40:25-31; Ps 102; Mt 11:28-30
11/Thu (V/W) or St Damasus Is 41:13-20; Ps 144; Mt 11:11-15
12/Fri (V) Is 48:17-19; Ps 1: Mt 11:16-19
13/Sat (R) St Lucy vir, m Sir 48:1-4,9-11; Ps 79; Mt 17:10-13
