This week’s Gospel message for Sunday, December 12th is from Luke 3:10-18.
“Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ. John answered them all, saying, ‘I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. “
“For centuries people had been waiting for the Christ, the Messiah, so when John emerged from the desert quoting Isaiah, proclaiming ‘Prepare the way of the Lord’, they wondered if John was that man. No, he tells them, using the greatest contrast he can think of, telling them that relative to Jesus he is lower than the lowest servant, for only a non-Jewish servant was obligated to loosen the master’s sandals. Preparing the way of the Lord by serving others gives everyone joy.” SOURCE: Pastoral Patterns, Winter 2021-2022
DAILY READINGS FOR THE WEEK
Monday Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17a; Matthew 21:23-27
Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr (Memorial) – “Lucy was martyred in the persecution of Emperor Diocletian. During the Middle Ages, people suffering from eye trouble began invoking Lucy’s aid because her name is derived from the Latin word for ‘light’ (lux).”
Tuesday Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13; Matthew 21:28-32
Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Memorial)/ Carmelite Feast Day – “Born into poverty, John entered the Carmelites and was ordained. With St. Teresa of Avila, he helped reform his order and create the reformed (Discalced) Carmelites. But his reforms were opposed, and he was imprisoned for almost a year. His writings are both classics of spirituality and of Spanish literature. John pictured the spiritual life as a journey of the soul to divine union.”
Wednesday Isaiah 45:6b-8, 18, 21c-25; Luke 7:18b-23
Thursday Isaiah 54:1-10; Luke 7:24-30
Friday Genesis 49:2, 8-10; Matthew 1:1-17
Saturday Jeremiah 23:5-8; Matthew 1:18-25
SOURCE: Living With Christ, December 2021