MASS READINGS & SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Sunday - December 05, 2021

Sunday - December 05, 2021

December 5, 2021

Second Sunday of Advent
Lectionary: 6

 

Reading 1                                                     Bar 5:1-9

Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery;

    put on the splendor of glory from God forever:

wrapped in the cloak of justice from God,

    bear on your head the mitre

    that displays the glory of the eternal name.

For God will show all the earth your splendor:

    you will be named by God forever

    the peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship.

   

Up, 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.

Led 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.

For 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.

The forests and every fragrant kind of tree

    have overshadowed Israel at God’s command;

for God is leading Israel in joy

    by the light of his glory,

    with his mercy and justice for company.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                              Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6.

 

R. (3)  The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

 

When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,

   we were like men dreaming.

Then 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.

Then they said among the nations,

  “The LORD has done great things for them.”

The 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.

Restore our fortunes, O LORD,

   like the torrents in the southern desert.

Those who sow in tears

   shall reap rejoicing.

R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Although 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                                                     Phil 1:4-6, 8-11

Brothers and sisters:

I pray always with joy in my every prayer for all of you,

because of your partnership for the gospel

from the first day until now.

I 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.

God is my witness,

how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer:

that your love may increase ever more and more

in knowledge and every kind of perception,

to discern what is of value,

so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

filled with the fruit of righteousness

that comes through Jesus Christ

for the glory and praise of God.

 

Alleluia                                                                      Lk 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                                                                       Lk 3:1-6

In 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,

and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,

during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,

the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.

John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan,

proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,

as 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.

    Every 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,

    and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

 

**************************************

PREPARING FOR JOY

While we're shopping for gifts, decorating, and sending Christmas cards, what are we doing to make Christmas a new rebirth of Christ for our daily lives?

 

All the readings at Mass during Advent remind us that this season is a time intended for spiritual preparation. It's tempting to let the busyness of December distract us from the most important purpose of Advent: our personal spiritual growth.

 

In our responsorial Psalm today, we proclaim: "The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy!" Do you actually feel joyful when you mouth these words? It takes faith to experience joy in the midst of hardships. Faith grows from knowing that the Lord does great things for us because of his mercy -- not because we have earned it, as we'll never be good enough. Repenting from our sins opens us to become aware of this mercy.

 

Therefore, Saint John the Baptizer is proclaiming to us today: "Prepare the way of the Lord!"

 

Now is the time to ask: What preparations do I need to make? What am I doing to straighten out the messes in my life, the areas of sin that continually distract me from a close relationship with Christ? What penances will help "make straight" my path?

 

What depressing or discouraging valley of hardship needs to get filled with the joy of the Lord? If it seems hopeless, what will I do to let Jesus take charge of it? What mountain of debt or difficult obstacle needs to be made low by having faith in the Lord's digging tools?

 

What's twisted and warped in my thinking, like a road that winds through a jungle of confusion? I pray, Holy Spirit, that you will lead me straight to holiness! What's rough about me? What's edgy and sharp and rubs others the wrong way? Lord Jesus, smooth me like a diamond polisher.

 

Throughout Advent, let us examine the ways in which we still need to see the salvation of God. Let us make a plan of action to be holier and happier at the end of the Jubilee Year than we are today!

 

Today's Prayer

 

Lord, open my eyes to discover Your works through the people around me. Give me strength, too, to continue proclaiming Your Word, even when I'm not understood by those people who share my everyday life. Amen.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

God Bless You.....

The Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”