Rejoicing and Waiting

Readings for Sunday, December 14, 2014

Third Sunday of Advent, Year B

It-3 Ħadd tal-Avvent, Sena B

Messalin B pp86

Reading 1                         IS 61:1-2A, 10-11

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God.  I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels. As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, so will the Lord GOD make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.

L-Ewwel Qari -  mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Isaija  61, 1-2, 10-11

L-Ispirtu ta’ Sidi l-Mulej fuqi, għax il-Mulej ikkonsagrani biex inwassal il-bxara t-tajba lill-fqajrin, bagħatni ndewwi l-qalb miksura, biex inħabbar il-ħelsien lill-imjassrin, u lill-ħabsin il-ftuħ tal-ħabs; biex inniedi s-sena tal-grazzja tal-Mulej. Nifraħ fuq li nifraħ bil-Mulej, taqbeż bil-ferħ ruħi b’Alla tiegħi. Għax hu libisni bi lbies is-salvazzjoni, bil-mantar tal-ġustizzja għattieni, bħal għarusa tlellex bil-ġawhar tagħha. Bħalma l-art tnibbet, bħalma l-ġnien inibbet il-miżrugħ fih, hekk il-Mulej inibbet il-ġustizzja u l-foħrija, quddiem kollha kemm huma l-ġnus.    Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm                    Luke 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54

My soul rejoices in my God   

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:                         R/.

the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.                                                                                      R/

He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,                 R/

Salm Responsorjali                                                    LUQA 1, 46-48,49-50, 53-54

                R/  Taqbeż bil-ferħ ruħi b'Alla tiegħi.

Ruħi tfaħħar il-kobor tal-Mulej,

u l-ispirtu tiegħi jifraħ f’Alla s-Salvatur tiegħi,

għax hu xeħet għajnejh fuq iċ-ċokon tal-qaddejja tiegħu.

Iva, minn issa ‘l quddiem

kull nisel jibda jsejjaħli ħienja.                                 R/

Għax is-Setgħani għamel miegħi ħwejjeġ kbar;

qaddis hu l-isem tiegħu.

Il-ħniena  tiegħu tinfirex f’kull żmien

fuq dawk li jibżghu minnu.                                                         R/

Mela b’kull ġid lil min hu bil-ġuħ,

u l-għonja bagħathom ‘il barra b’xejn.

Ħa ħsieb Israel qaddej tiegħu,

għax ftakar fil-ħniena tiegħu.                                                     R/

Reading 2                                         1 THESSalonians 5:16-24

Brothers and sisters: Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give  thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil. May the God of peace make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will also accomplish it.

It-Tieni Qari     -     mil-Ewwel Ittra lit-Tessalonkin 5, 16-24

Ħuti:   ifirħu dejjem, itolbu bla heda, iżżu ħajr lil Alla f’kollox. Dan hu li jrid Alla minn għandkom fi Kristu Ġesu’. Ixxeklux l-Ispirtu, tmaqdrux il-profezija Ippruvaw kollox:  it-tajjeb żommuh, u fuq kollox,  warrbu kull xorta ta’ ħażen. U Alla tas-sliem iqaddiskom f’kollox, u  jżommkom sħaħ bla mittiefsa, fl-ispirtu,  fir-ruħ u fil-ġisem, sa ma jiġi Sidna Ġesu’ Kristu. Fidil hu Alla li sejħilkom, u huwa jagħmel dan.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel                                                JohN 1:6-8, 19-28

A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?” He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Christ.” So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?”  He answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?” He said:  “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord,’” as Isaiah the prophet said.” Some Pharisees were also sent.  They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

L-Evanġelju    -    skond San Ġwann 1, 6-8, 19-28

Kien hemm raġel mibgħut minn Alla, jismu Ġwanni. Dan ġie bħala xhud, biex jixhed għad-dawl, biex bih kulħadd jemmen. Ġwanni ma kienx  id-dawl,  Imma ġie biex  jixhed għad-dawl. Ix-xhieda ta' Ġwanni kienet din,   meta l-Lhud ta’ Ġerusalem bagħtu għandu xi  qassisin u  l-leviti biex jistaqsuh, “Int min int?˝ Hu stqarr bla ma ċaħad: “Jien miniex il-Messija.˝ Huma reġgħu staqsewh :  “Mela min int Elija?˝   “Miniex˝ qalilhom.   ˝Inti l-profeta?˝   “Le˝, weġibhom.   Imbagħad qalulu:  “Mela min int?   Biex nagħtu  tweġiba ‘lil dawk li bagħtuna.   Min tgħid li int?˝   U hu qal wiegeb kif qal il-profeta Isaija:   “Jien l-leħen ta’ wieħed jgħajjat fid-deżert,  ‘Wittu t-triq tal-Mulej.’˝ Issa dawk il-messaġġiera kienu min-naħa tal-Fariżej. Huma staqsewh:  “Mela kif qiegħed tgħammed la  m’initix  il-Messija, u la Elija u lanqas il-Profeta?˝  “Jiena  ngħammed bl-ilma,˝ weġibhom Ġwanni,  ˝imma  f’nofskom, hemm wieħed li intom ta tafuhx, li ġej warajja;   jien anqas jistħoqqli nħollu l-qafla tal-qorq tiegħu.˝ Dan ġara b’Betanja, in-naħa l-oħra tal-Ġordan,  fejn Ġwanni kien igħammed.   Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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COMMENTARY – by Fr Thomas Rosica

Rejoicing & Waiting

Advent is the season of the prophets and the Scripture readings of these weeks before Christmas help us to focus our vision and deepen our longing for the Messiah.

In this year’s Gospel for the Third Sunday of Advent, the figure of John the Baptist appears once again on the stage of salvation history. John’s whole mission was a preparation for the Messiah’s coming. When the time had come, John led his own disciples to Jesus and indicated to them the Messiah, the True Light, and the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. John, himself, was not the light. He came to testify to the light. He didn’t spend time thinking about his shadow. He just allowed the light to shine on him.

John considered himself to be less than a slave to Jesus, “Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal” (John 1:26-27). When John’s own disciples came to him and were troubled about the meaning of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, he answered them confidently: “No one can receive anything except what has been given from above.” John says he is only the friend of the bridegroom, the one who must decrease while his master increases (John 3:27-30). The Baptizer defined his humanity in terms of its limitations.

In one of the most poignant scenes of Luke’s Gospel, John the Baptist is imprisoned by Herod Antipas because of his public rebuke of the tetrarch for his adulterous and incestuous marriage with Herodias (Matthew 4:12; Mark 1:14; Luke 3:19). Alone, dejected and near the end of his life, John the Baptist, hailed as the “greatest of all prophets,” had to ask the question, “Are you really the one who is to come?” (Luke 7:19) John probably expected a fiery social reformer to come and bring about the Kingdom, certainly not someone who would associate with the poor, the lame, the blind, outcasts and sinners. Yet Christ comes in the most unexpected ways and often in the most unlikely people.

Jesus invites John to look around and see the works that had already been accomplished in the midst of people. The blind recovered their sight and the lame were walking again. Diseases and illness were healed and all those who were deaf could hear. The Good News was now preached to the poor. That was the greatest wonder of all! This is a great consolation for us. We should never be surprised if we often find ourselves asking the same question – “Is Christian living really worth it?” “Is Jesus really the answer to all the evils and sadness of the world and of our own lives?”

The crowds came to John and asked him, “What should we do?” The Baptist advises no one to leave the world they are in, however ambiguous it may be. Rather he told those with two coats to share one with those who had none. Likewise, those with an abundance of food were to share with the hungry. Tax collectors were told to collect no more than was appointed to them. Soldiers were to rob no one by violence or by false accusation. They were to be content with their wages. What were people to do to prepare for the imminent coming of the Messiah? To be generous, just, honest, grateful and compassionate (cf. Luke 3:10-14).

John the Baptist’s life and mission reminds us how badly we need a Saviour to save us, in order that we might be all that we are called to be and do all that we have to do to live in the Light. How are we courageous and prophetic in our Christian witness to the Light, who has already come into our world? So often we fail to recognize the one among us who is our True Light.

May John the Baptist give us strength and courage to bear the light to others, and the generosity and ability to rejoice as we wait. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,” Paul writes in his first letter to the Thessalonians. We can also reverse the order of these two sentences: “Pray without ceasing, so that we will be able to rejoice always.”

In prayer we experience God’s gathering up all of our concerns and hopes into his own infinite love and wisdom, his setting us back on our feet, and his giving us fullness of life and light.

Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB
CEO, Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation

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