December
23, 2015
Wednesday
of the Fourth Week of Advent
Saints of the Day: Saint John of Kanty, Priest (1390-1473), Saint Servulus (c. 590)
Reading 1
1Thus
says the Lord GOD: Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; And
suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek, And the
messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of
hosts.[1]
2But
who will endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He
is like the refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s lye. 3He will sit refining and
purifying silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi, refining them like gold
or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD.
4Then
the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem will please the LORD, as in the days of
old, as in years gone by.
23Lo,
I will send you Elijah, the prophet, Before the day of the LORD comes, the
great and terrible day,[2] 24To
turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,
and the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the
land with doom.
Responsorial Psalm
R.
(see Luke 21:28) Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
4Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths, 5aGuide
me in your truth and teach me, 5bfor you are God my savior.
R.
Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
8Good
and upright is the LORD; thus He shows sinners the way. 9He
guides the humble to justice, He teaches the humble His way.
R.
Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
10All
the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy toward those who keep His
covenant and His decrees. 14The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear Him,
and His covenant, for their instruction.
R.
Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Alleluia
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
O
King of all nations and keystone of the Church: come and save man, whom you
formed from the dust!
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
57When
the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son.[3] 58Her
neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown His great mercy toward
her, and they rejoiced with her.
59When
they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call
him Zechariah after his father,[4] 60but
his mother said in reply, “No.
He will be called John.” 61But they
answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”
62So
they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. 63He asked
for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed.
64Immediately
his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God.
65Then
fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout
the hill country of Judea. 66All who heard these things took them to heart,
saying, “What, then, will this child be? For surely the hand of the Lord was
with Him.”
Notes on Readings:
[1] Malachi 3:1 - My messenger . . . before me: in ⇒ Malachi 3:23 this messenger is called Elijah. In (Matthew 11;10 these words are quoted by Christ as
referring to John the Baptizer, who prepared the way for the coming of the
Savior; compare with Matthew 3:1-3, 11-12; 17;11-13; Mark 1:2-8; Luke 3:2-18 ; John 1:31-34 .
[2] Malachi 3:23 - Elijah: described in 2 Kings 2:11 as taken heavenward in a fiery chariot. Here his return to earth seems to be foretold.
Jewish tradition has interpreted this literally; Christ declared it to be
fulfilled in the coming of John the Baptizer (Matthew 17:10-13).
[3] Malachi 3:24 -
The words in fine print, a repetition of Malachi 3:23 have been added by the scribes so that the collection of the twelve minor
prophets will not end with the threat of doom.
[3] Luke 1:57-66 - The birth and circumcision of John above
all emphasize John's incorporation into the people of Israel by the sign of the
covenant (Genesis 17:1-12). The narrative of John's circumcision
also prepares the way for the subsequent description of the circumcision of
Jesus in Luke 2:21. At the beginning of his two-volume work Luke shows those who play crucial
roles in the inauguration of Christianity to be wholly a part of the people of
Israel. At the end of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 21:20; 22:3 ; 23:6-9; 24:14-16; 26:2-8, 22-23) he will argue that Christianity is the direct descendant of Pharisaic Judaism.
[4] Luke 1:59 - The practice of Palestinian Judaism at this
time was to name the child at birth; moreover, though naming a male child after
the father is not completely unknown, the usual practice was to name the child
after the grandfather (see Luke 1:61). The naming of the child John and
Zechariah's recovery from his loss of speech should be understood as fulfilling
the angel's announcement to Zechariah in Luke 1:13, 20.
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Dear Humanity,
I personally encourage everyone to emulate JESUS' values on LOVE, FAITH, HOPE
and CHARITY, as the humanity has been a failure; which resulted to the more than two (2) years of pandemic and its after-effects on economy, not only here in the Philippines but worldwide.
And the saddest part of it, is that, it affected the POOREST of the POOR to even extremely be more poorer, in exchange of the affluent to be more richer.
Thank you and may GOD bless you and the whole family to have an enjoyed life's journey at home, Church, schools/universities, corporate commitments, public and places of interest.