Vol. 37 No. 2                    (Cycle C)   2nd SUNDAY OF ADVENT         ENTRANCE ANTIPHON People of Zion, the Lord will come to save all nations, and your hearts will exult to hear his majestic voice. PENITENTIAL RITE In today’s First Reading Baruch invites those crushed by exile to lift up their hearts in view of their restoration, while in the Gospel John the Baptist appeals to his listeners with the quote from the prophet Isaiah to prepare themselves to receive the Lord. This will lead to the culmination wherein all humankind will see the salvation of God. As people watching and waiting for the Second Coming of Christ, let us ask pardon for the times we have not heeded to the call to repentance and thus not changed our lives. I confess... OPENING PRAYER Let us pray: God of power and mercy, open our hearts in welcome. Remove the things that hinder us from receiving Christ with joy, so that we may share his wisdom and become one with him when he comes in glory, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God, for ever and ever. FIRST READING (The Jews’ coming home from the Babylonian exile is the background to this poetic and beautiful reading. God will prepare a highway to facilitate their return and bring about a great restoration.) A reading from the Book of Baruch (5:1-9) Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on for ever the beauty of the glory from God. Put on the robe of the righteousness from God; put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting. For God will show your splendour everywhere under heaven. For your name will for ever be called by God, “Peace of righteousness and glory of godliness.” Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height and look toward the east, and see your children gathered from west and east, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them. For they went forth from you on foot, led away by their enemies; but God will bring them back to you carried in glory, as on a royal throne. For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God. The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel at God’s command. For God will lead Israel with joy, in the light of his glory, with the mercy and righteousness that come from him. This is the Word of the Lord PSALM (125) Response: What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad. When the Lord delivered Zion from bondage, it seemed like a dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, on our lips there were songs. R./ The heathens themselves said: “What marvels the Lord worked for them! What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad. R./ Deliver us, O Lord, from our bondage as streams in dry land. Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap. R./ They go out, they go out, full of tears, carrying seed for the sowing; they come back, they come back, full of songs, carrying their sheaves. R./ SECOND READING (This passage is a wonderful threefold prayer for love, understanding and morality. St Paul urges the Christian community at Philippi to prepare themselves for the Second Coming of Christ by living a blameless and pure life.) A reading from the Letter of St Paul to the Philippians (1:3-6,8-11) Brethren, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, thankful for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. This is the Word of the Lord ACCLAMATION (Lk 3:4,6) Alleluia, alleluia! Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. All flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia! GOSPEL (St Luke introduces us to the Messiah and his herald, John the Baptist. In the manner of an OT prophet, John undertakes to prepare the people for the coming of the Saviour by calling them to repentance.) A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Luke (3:1-6) In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias Tetrarch of Abilene, in the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness; and he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” This is the Gospel of the Lord I believe in God,/the Father Almighty,/ Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ,/his only Son, our Lord./ He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit/ and born of the Virgin Mary./He suffered under Pontius Pilate,/was crucified, died, and was buried./He descended to the dead./On the third day he rose again./He ascended into Heaven,/and is seated at the right hand of the Father./He will come again to judge the living and the dead./I believe in the Holy Spirit,/the Holy Catholic Church,/the communion of saints,/the forgiveness of sins,/the resurrection of the body,/and the life everlasting./ Amen. PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL Cel: Dear brothers and sisters, God offers hope and salvation, homecoming and happiness to all. With confidence let us bring before him all our prayers, saying: Response: Lord God, listen to the prayers of your children. 1. Lord, we commend our Pope, bishops, priests and religious to your care. Bless their efforts and assist them in their mission of preparing the people to welcome the Saviour of the world. R./ 2. Lord, shower your blessings upon all Christians that they may make their journey to God by letting go of whatever stands in their way. R./ 3. Lord, fill our hearts with a sincere desire to follow you and to commit ourselves to the well-being of our brothers and sisters. R./ 4. Lord, we pray for the entire humanity: that its rich experiences and convictions may lead it to you who is our Creator and Father. R./ 5. Lord, we pray for the leaders of all nations: inspire and guide them to work for a just and peaceful world. R./ (Pray for local and personal needs) Cel: Almighty God, convert our hearts and transform our lives to your ways. May our participation in this Eucharist enable us to be truly committed to you through a genuine love for our brothers and sisters. We ask this... PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS Lord, we are nothing without you. As you sustain us with your mercy, receive our prayers and offerings. We ask this... Preface (P 1) Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord. When he humbled himself to come among us as a man, he fulfilled the plan you formed long ago and opened for us the way to salvation. Now we watch for the day, hoping that the salvation promised us will be ours when Christ our Lord will come again in his glory. And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven we proclaim your glory and join in their unending hymn of praise: All: Holy, holy, holy.... COMMUNION ANTIPHON Rise up, Jerusalem, stand on the heights, and see the joy that is coming to you from God. PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION Father, you give us food from heaven. Teach us to live by your wisdom and to love the things of heaven by our sharing in this mystery. We ask this...   Liturgy and Life The Scripture readings of today’s liturgy highlight that the word of God gives us hope, as we wait for the coming of the Messiah. We are given a vision of what we are waiting for. Similar to the exilic prophets who offer hope to the people who had lost hope, Baruch reminds the Israelites of the glory to come when Israel would be restored to the Promised Land. He further announces that they would be called by a new name – a sure sign of newness and redemption. He comforts them in their trouble, saying, “The Lord remembers you,” and invites Jerusalem, God’s bride, to take off her mourning clothes and to put on “forever the beauty of the glory from God”. Thus, Baruch’s message of hope for the people of Israel is a vivid and comforting statement about the future of the chosen people. The Second Reading describes Paul’s message of hope to the community at Philippi. He assures them that God will continue to work with them and through them, as they have already started living the Gospel. In his love for his fellow Christians he urges them to prepare for Jesus’ coming in glory. He encourages them that they should not worry about the future, since God will be with them. Further, they are supported by the help of Paul’s prayer. In the Gospel reading, John the Baptist announces the proximity of the Kingdom of God and confirms it with the words of Isaiah, “all will see the salvation of God.” John’s call to prepare the way of the Lord is done in fulfilment of God’s prophecy revealed through Gabriel, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, and the prophet Isaiah. Thus, John inaugurates the period of fulfilment whose central figure is Jesus. What John proclaims is about the upcoming fulfilment of God’s promise of a new exodus, which will be from the exile of death and sin and will be accomplished by Jesus. This Jesus that John proclaims is the one who will fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah, namely, that all humankind will see the salvation of God. If this is the message that we await, the question that follows is: how should we wait? As Baruch suggests, we need to wrap ourselves in the mantle of justice that comes from God. This demands that we give up our old selves and put on Christ, the Sun of Justice. This needs conversion in our lives. John the Baptist repeats the call of Isaiah when he invites us to enter into the dynamism of conversion – first from within, growing in the fundamental Christian value of love. In Paul’s threefold prayer as well, love is placed first and then proceeds to understanding (deeper perception) and eventually leads to be being pure and blameless. The expressions like ‘make paths straight’ may be considered to be metaphorical and be read ethically as radical changes in a person’s lifestyle. But personal conversion is not alone sufficient, social conversion is also indispensable. Inequalities are to be eliminated, justice is to be established, the poor, the outcast and the downtrodden are to be raised up, and genuine relationships are to be regained in order that all will see the salvation of God. In this way we may prepare ourselves for the arrival of the Messiah Jesus, and consequently lead others to the frontiers of faith in Jesus. —Fr Maria Arul Stephen, (JDV) December 2009 READINGS OF THE WEEK Psalter Week 2 7 Mon (W) St Ambrose, Is 35:1-10; Ps 84:9ab-10,11-12,13-14; Lk 5:17-26 8 Tue (W) IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF MARY (Sol.), Gen 3:9-15,20; Ps 97:1,2-3ab,3bc-4; Eph 1:3-6,11-12; Lk 1:26-38 9 Wed (W) St Juan Diego, Is 40:25-31; Ps 102:1-2,3-4,8,10; Mt 11:28-30 10 Thu (W) Our Lady of Loreto, Is 41:13-20; Ps 144; Mt 11:11-15 11 Fri (W) St Damasus, Is 48:17-19; Ps 1:1-2,3,4,6; Mt 11:16-19 12 Sat (W) Our Lady of Guadalupe, Sir 48:1-4,9-11b; Ps 79; Mt 17:10-13