This week’s Gospel message for Sunday, December 4th is from Matthew 3:1-12.
“John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: A voice of one crying out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers!…Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance…I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I.I am not worthy to carry his sandals.He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire…’”
“John attacks the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees are best known as strict keepers of the Mosaic law, while the Sadducees represented the priestly class and thus the work of the Temple. John uses them as examples of hypocrisy that will surely not give way to the conversion he is calling for. John suggests that even if they are unable to be transformed by the authority of his preaching and ministry of baptism, then they ought to prepare for the power and authority they will face in the one who is to come after him.” SOURCE: Workbook for Lectors, Gospel Readers, and Proclaimers of the Word, 2023
DAILY READINGS FOR THE WEEK
Monday Isaiah 35:1-10; Luke 5:17-26
Tuesday Isaiah 40:1-11; Matthew 18:12-14
Wednesday Isaiah 40:25-31; Matthew 11:28-30
Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Memorial) – “He excelled as a preacher, teacher and pastor and influenced the conversion of Saint Augustine.”
Thursday Genesis 3:9-15, 20; Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12;
Luke 1:26-38
The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Feast) – “A feast dedicated to Mary’s conception first appeared in the seventh century and by the twelfth century it was firmly established in England. St. Bernard and St. Thomas Aquinas debated whether Mary could have been born without original sin. In 1854 Pius IX defined the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception as a dogma of faith.”
Friday Isaiah 48:17-19; Matthew 11:16-19
Saturday Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11; Matthew 17:9a, 10-13
SOURCE: Living With Christ, December 2022