Vol. 36 No. 3                                                            (Cycle B)     3rd SUNDAY OF ADVENT    Rejoice! The Lord is coming          ENTRANCE ANTIPHON Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! The Lord is near. PENITENTIAL RITE Today we are filled with the joy and wonder at the nearness of God who comes to set us free from our captivity of sin, clothe us with “garment of salvation” and to cover us with the “robe of righteousness”. Let us prepare ourselves to meet him with eagerness, deciding to move away from our sinful ways and captivity. (Pause) Jesus, you bring liberty to the captives. Lord, have mercy. Jesus, you bring good news to the poor. Christ, have mercy. Jesus, you bind up wounds and bring healing to our hearts. Lord, have mercy. (Gloria is omitted) OPENING PRAYER Let us pray. Lord God, may we, your people, who look forward to the birthday of Christ experience the joy of salvation and celebrate that feast with love and thanksgiving. We ask this... FIRST READING (Prophet Isaiah is anointed to announce the good news of the coming of their Saviour to set them at liberty and righteousness.) A reading from the Book of Isaiah (61:1-2a,10-11) The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour, and the day of vengeance of our God. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteous-ness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. This is the Word of the Lord PSALM (Lk 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54) Response: My soul shall exult in my God. (Is 61:10) My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold henceforth all generations will call me blessed. R/. For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. R/. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy.R/. SECOND READING (St Paul tells us that if the Lord appears slow in coming, it is to give us an opportunity to be ready to meet him when he comes.) A reading from the First Letter of St Paul to the Thessalonians (5:16-24) Brethren, rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil. May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. This is the Word of the Lord ACCLAMATION (Lk 4:18) Alleluia, alleluia! The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; he has sent me to preach good news to the poor. Alleluia! GOSPEL (John the Baptist declares that he is not the Saviour. His task is to prepare the way for the Saviour who is already among the people.) A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St John (1:6-8,19-28) There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” And he answered, “No.” They said to him then, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water; but among you stands one whom you do not know, even he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. This is the Gospel of the Lord (Homily) 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 sisters and brothers, let us pray that the light of God’s salvation may shine on us and on the world. Response: Lord, graciously hear our prayer. 1. For the Pope and all the ministers of the Church that through their ministry they may cause the light of Christ’s love and mercy shine brightly in the world, we pray to the Lord. R/. 2. For our political leaders that they may give up their selfish ambitions to bring greater unity, peace and prosperity in our country, we pray to the Lord. R/. 3. For our parish community that we may work together to eliminate evil habits and immoral practices from our society and thus prepare to receive the Lord, we pray to the Lord. R/. 4. For each one of us here present that we may make enough time and space for God in our lives, we pray to the Lord. R/. Cel: God our redeemer, You sent your only Son into our midst so that we might experience the joy of salvation. Grant us the grace that we may believe in Him and freely choose to follow Him in our lives. We ask this… PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS Lord, may the gift we offer in faith and love be a continual sacrifice in your honour and truly become our Eucharist and our salvation. Grant this... Preface (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 Say to the anxious: be strong and fear not, our God will come to save us. Prayer after communion   God of mercy, may this Eucharist bring us your divine help, free us from our sins, and prepare us for the birthday of our Saviour, who is Lord for ever and ever.   Liturgy & Life   Today is “Gaudete Sunday”. But in the middle of Advent why should we rejoice? We rejoice because we are soon to celebrate that the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, came to live among us as a human being and be one of us. “And the Word [who has the nature of God] became a human being and lived among us” (John 1:14). And further, we rejoice because the Lord brings such good news: “The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me for the Lord has anointed me.” Here Jesus clearly identifies himself with the anointed king who is the Messiah and Saviour of God’s people. And why has he come and why has he been sent? “He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken; to proclaim liberty to captives, freedom to those in prison; to proclaim a year of grace from the Lord.” The Scriptures were written at a time when poverty and suffering were the lot of the majority. Many were really rotting, often unjustly, in prisons. Then there were those who were physically handicapped – the blind, the lame and those afflicted with diseases like leprosy with its alienation and marginalization from ordinary society. In our high-tech society today the situation of hundreds of thousands of people is the same. For those who live in islands of abundance and prosperity, suffer from other forms of poverty, such as, social, emotional, intellectual, spiritual etc. There are other forms of captivity today like compulsions, obsessions, addictions, trapped in consumerism… We can also see around the blindness and deafness of those who can see no meaning in their lives inspite of all the plenty they pursue, and the dumbness of those who have nothing constructive or creative to say and the lameness of those who are socially and emotionally crippled. If the Lord has really come to liberate us from all of this, then we surely have cause to rejoice. The Second Reading continues the theme of joy that comes to us through Jesus. “Be happy at all times” may seem a rather unreasonable demand. Yet, for the true Christian, happiness is the underlying experience of daily living, even if, now and then, there are painful problems to be dealt with. And, if I am not happy NOW, I never will be. A key to our enduring happiness is an unconditional openness to where God leads us and a readiness to speak out and act boldly in his name. In this we have the example of John the Baptist who is the focus of the Gospel passage. We have here a clear assertion of the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus. Jesus is the light and John is a witness to the light. What it says should be just as true of every baptised person as it is of John. For each one of us, by our baptism and our membership in Christ’s family, has been sent to give witness to the Light. As we prepare to celebrate Christmas and the coming of God into our lives through Jesus we need also to remind ourselves that we have been called to be the means to bring Jesus into other people’s lives. There are people who simply hate Christmas because it only increases their inner pain and deep sadness. So there are many out in the cold and in the dark waiting for the warmth and light of Christ. They are waiting for us to shine the light of Christ on them and to turn their lives into experiences of joy, of wholeness and integrity. The joy of Jesus, the joy of Christmas can only be ours to the extent that we work with Jesus to bring that joy into the lives of others and celebrate a “Gaudete Sunday” everyday.     December 2008 READINGS OF THE WEEK Psalter Week 3 15 Mon: (V) Nm 24:2-7.15-17a/ Ps 25:4-5ab.6& 7bc.8-9/ Mt 21:23-27 16 Tue: (V) Zeph 3:1-2.9-13/ Ps 34:2-3.6-7.17-18.19 & 23/ Mt 21:28-32 17 Wed: (V) Gn 49:2.8-10/ Ps 72:1-2.3-4ab.7-8.17/ Mt 1:1-17 18 Thu: (V) Jer 23:5-8/ Ps 72:1-2.12-13.18-19/ Mt 1:18-25 19 Fri: (V) Jgs 13: 2-7.24-25a/ Ps 71:3-4a.5-6ab.16-17/ Lk 1:5-25 20 Sat: (V) Is 7:10-14/ Ps 24:1-2.3-4ab.5-6/ Lk 1:26-38