December
6, 2015
Second
Sunday of Advent
Saint
of the Day: Saint Nicholas of Bari (342)
Reading
1
1Jerusalem,
take off your robe of mourning and misery; put on the splendor of glory from
God forever: 2wrapped in the cloak of justice from God, bear on your head the
mitre that displays the glory of the eternal name. 3For
God will show all the earth your splendor: 4you will be named by God forever the
peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship.
5Up,
Jerusalem! stand upon the heights; look to the east and see your children gathered
from the east and the west at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing
that they are remembered by God.
6Led
away on foot by their enemies they left you: but God will bring them back to
you borne aloft in glory as on royal thrones. 7For God has commanded that every
lofty mountain be made low, and that the age-old depths and gorges be filled to
level ground, that Israel may advance secure in the glory of God.
8The
forests and every fragrant kind of tree have overshadowed Israel at God’s
command; 9for God is leading Israel in joy by the light of His glory, with His mercy and justice for company.
Responsorial
Psalm
1When
the LORD brought back the captives of Zion, we were like men dreaming. 2Then
our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing.
R.
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
2Then
they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” 3The
LORD has done great things for us; we are glad indeed.
R.
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
4Restore
our fortunes, O LORD, like the torrents in the southern desert. 5Those
who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.
R.
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
6Although
they go forth weeping, carrying the seed to be sown, they shall come back
rejoicing, carrying their sheaves.
R.
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Reading
2
4Brothers
and sisters: I
pray always with joy in my every prayer for all of you,
5because
of your partnership for the gospel from
the first day until now. 6I
am confident of this, that
the one who began a good work in you will
continue to complete it until
the day of Christ Jesus.
8God
is my witness, how
I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9And
this is my prayer: that
your love may increase ever more and more in
knowledge and every kind of perception, 10to
discern what is of value, so
that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11filled
with the fruit of righteousness that
comes through Jesus Christ for
the glory and praise of God.
Alleluia
Luke 3:4, 6
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Prepare
the way of the Lord, make straight His paths: all
flesh shall see the salvation of God.
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
1In
the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was
governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip
tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis,[1][2] and
Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and
Caiaphas, the
word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.[3]
3John
went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins,[4] 4as
it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one
crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His
paths.[5] 5Every
valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The
winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, 6and all
flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
Notes on Readings:
[1] Luke
3:1-20 - Although Luke is indebted in this section to his sources, the Gospel
of Mark and a collection of sayings of John the Baptist, he has clearly marked
this introduction to the ministry of Jesus with his own individual style. Just
as the gospel began with a long periodic sentence (Luke 1:1-4), so too this section (Luke 3:1-2). He casts the call of John the Baptist in the form of an Old Testament
prophetic call (Luke 3:2) and extends
the quotation from Isaiah found in Mark 1:3 (Isaiah 40:3) by the addition of Isaiah 40:4-5 in Luke 3:5-6. In doing so, he presents his theme of the universality of salvation, which he
has announced earlier in the words of Simeon (Luke 2:30-32). Moreover, in describing the
expectation of the people (Luke 3:15), Luke is characterizing the time of John's preaching in the same way as he had
earlier described the situation of other devout Israelites in the infancy
narrative (Luke 2:25-26, 37-38). In Luke 3:7-18 Luke presents the preaching of John the Baptist who urges the crowds to reform
in view of the coming wrath (Luke 3:7, 9): eschatological preaching), and who offers the crowds certain standards for
reforming social conduct (Luke 3:10-14): ethical preaching), and who announces to the crowds the coming of one
mightier than he (Luke 3:15-18: messianic preaching).
[2] Luke
3:1 - Tiberius Caesar: Tiberius succeeded Augustus as emperor in A.D. 14 and
reigned until A.D. 37. The fifteenth year of his reign, depending on the method
of calculating his first regnal year, would have fallen between A.D. 27 and 29.
Pontius Pilate: prefect of Judea from A.D. 26 to 36. The Jewish historian
Josephus describes him as a greedy and ruthless prefect who had little regard
for the local Jewish population and their religious practices (see Luke 13:1). Herod: that is Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great. He ruled over
Galilee and Perea from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39. His official title tetrarch means
literally, "ruler of a quarter," but came to designate any
subordinate prince. Philip: also a son of Herod the Great, tetrarch of the territory
to the north and east of the Sea of Galilee from 4 B.C. to A.D. 34. Only two
small areas of this territory are mentioned by Luke. Lysanias: nothing is known
about this Lysanias who is said here to have been tetrarch of Abilene, a
territory northwest of Damascus.
[3] Luke
3:2 - During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas: after situating the
call of John the Baptist in terms of the civil rulers of the period, Luke now
mentions the religious leadership of Palestine (see the footnote on Luke 1:5). Annas had been
high priest A.D. 6-15. After being deposed by the Romans in A.D. 15 he was
succeeded by various members of his family and eventually by his son-in-law,
Caiaphas, who was high priest A.D. 18-36. Luke refers to Annas as high priest
at this time (but see john 18:13, 19), possibly because of the continuing influence of Annas or because the title
continued to be used for the ex-high priest. The word of God came to John: Luke
is alone among the New Testament writers in associating the preaching of John
with
a call from God. Luke is thereby identifying John with the prophets whose
ministries began with similar calls. In Luke 7:26 John will be described as "more than a prophet"; he is also the
precursor of Jesus (Luke 7:27, a transitional figure inaugurating the period
of the fulfillment of prophecy and promise.
[5] Luke
3:4 - The Essenes from Qumran used the same passage to explain why their
community was in the desert studying and observing the law and the prophets
(1QS 8:12-15).
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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.