Saturday - December 23, 2017
“You will never be happy if your happiness depends on getting solely what you want. Change the focus. Get a new center. Will what God wills, and your joy no man shall take from you.”
-- Venerable Fulton Sheen
TODAY'S READINGS
December 23, 2017
Saturday of the Third Week of Advent
Lectionary: 199
Reading 1MAL 3:1-4, 23-24
Thus 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.
But 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.
He 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.
Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem
will please the LORD,
as in the days of old, as in years gone by.
Lo, I will send you
Elijah, the prophet,
Before the day of the LORD comes,
the great and terrible day,
To 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.
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.
But 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.
He 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.
Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem
will please the LORD,
as in the days of old, as in years gone by.
Lo, I will send you
Elijah, the prophet,
Before the day of the LORD comes,
the great and terrible day,
To 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 PsalmPS 25:4-5AB, 8-9, 10 AND 14
R. (see Luke 21:28) Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The 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.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The 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.
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
"No. He will be called John."
But they answered her,
"There is no one among your relatives who has this name."
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name,"
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All 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."
O King of all nations and keystone of the Church:
come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 1:57-66
When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her childshe gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
"No. He will be called John."
But they answered her,
"There is no one among your relatives who has this name."
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name,"
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All 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."
******************************
HOW TO BE MESSENGERS OF GOOD NEWS!
Saturday's Gospel reading shows us the birth and naming of John the Baptist. This child is an example of who we are. The hand of the Lord was with him, and he was called to prepare people's hearts for the coming of the Messiah. Like John, we are not the source of salvation. Like John, we are, as the first reading says, messengers of salvation. We carry the Good News about the Savior into the world.
But… how well?
As believers in Christ -- as recipients of his saving power, his goodness, and his joy -- we have the extremely important responsibility of serving as messengers of the Good News. We are called to birth Jesus in the lives of others by setting good examples of what it means to believe in Christ. We are called to be the hands and feet and voice of Jesus so that he can change the world through us.
This is not an option. It is the last commandment that Jesus gave us before ascending to heaven. It is part of our commitment to follow Christ, and neglecting it has eternal consequences.
Does being a messenger of the Good News seem too hard? Well, it's not -- not if we have a good prayer life and we continue to put forth effort in our own spiritual growth.
It only seems too hard when we forget that we're not the Savior. We cannot rescue people from sin and darkness; that's the Savior's role. God did not give us the ability to bring lost, inactive Catholics back to church; only the Good Shepherd can do that. We were not created with the power to heal the sick, free addicts from slavery to whatever drugs them, or give sight and understanding to those who are blind to the teachings of the Church; these are gifts that only the Son of God can provide.
We are messengers of the good news that Jesus can do all of this for those who seek him. And the loudest, most effective message we have is the example of our lives. Today's world needs Christians who show by our behavior that following Christ gives us hope in the midst of worries, comfort in the midst of hardships, and victory in the midst of evil. Our joy is a testimony that holiness -- living according to the moral teachings of Christ instead of the world's values -- is right and good.
Words are not enough to convince people that they need to convert away from what the world says is right and good. Words won't get someone to attend church and worship Jesus. To the unconverted, Catholicism, with its all its rules and rituals and teachings, seems to be a burden instead of a blessing. If we do not exude faith with hope and unconditional love, if our worship does not express the joy of being in the presence of Christ and if receiving the Eucharist does not make a difference in our lives, then we are not serving as messengers of Good News.
We give people knowledge of salvation and forgiveness of their sins only if the overcoming of our own sins brings improvement to our lives. This is the best proof of the tender mercy of our God. They need to see that faith in Christ guides our feet onto the path of joy rather than a continuous journey of gloomy misery.
This Christmas, may our lives proclaim "Rejoice! The Lord has come!"
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God Bless You.....
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, 'one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world'!
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