Third Sunday of Advent (December 15)
-
-
Third Sunday of Advent
December 15, 2024Gospel: Luke 3: 10-18
The crowds asked John the Baptist, "What should we do?"
He said to them in reply, "Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none.
And whoever has food should do likewise."
Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, "Teacher what shall we do?"
He answered them, "Stop collecting more than what was prescribed."
Soldiers also asked him, "And what is it that we should do?"
He told them, "Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages."
Now the people were filled with expectations, 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. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached the good news to the people.
Source: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121524.cfm
-
-
-
Visual Arts
Preaching of St. John the Baptist, Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1490Domenico Ghirlandaio's fresco of John the Baptist preaching is one of the series he created for the Tornabuoni Chapel of Florence's Santa Maria Novella Church. In this scene, we meet John the Baptist preaching to the crowds, standing on a rock and holding a cross staff with one hand, while instructing with his other. As he turns his attention to the people on the right of the scene, we can imagine him articulating the admonitions listed in Luke's Gospel in response to the question, "Teacher, what should we do?" In his teaching to share good justly and avoid extortion and excessive taxing, John is preparing the way for the Lord.
Click on the video to learn more!
-
-
-
Music
The Rising Sun
Tony Alonso
LyricsThe Rising Sun of joy and justice
Lights the way that leads to peace.
As the day descends from heaven,
So does love that sets us free.
God raises up a child to save:
Bless the Lord, bless the Lord!
Promises safety from hatred’s hand:
Bless the Lord who sets us free!
God renews the covenant:
Bless the Lord, bless the Lord!
So we might worship without fear:
Bless the Lord who sets us free!
You, my child, will prepare God’s way:
Bless the Lord, bless the Lord!
Tell of God’s freedom and mercy:
Bless the Lord who sets us free!
-
-
-
Poetry
A Pair of Sonnets for St. John the Baptist
Malcolm Guite
St. John the Baptist: 1 St. John's Eve
Midsummer night, and bonfires on the hill
Burn for the man who makes way for the Light:
'He must increase and I diminish still,
Until his sun illuminates my night.'
So John the Baptist pioneers our path,
Unfolds the essence of the life of prayer,
Unlatches the last doorway into faith,
And makes one inner space an everywhere.
Least of the new and greatest of the old,
Orpheus on the threshold with his lyre,
He sets himself aside, and cries "Behold
The One who stands amongst you comes with fire!"
So keep his fires burning through this night,
Beacons and gateways for the child of light.St. John the Baptist: 2 Baptism
Love's hidden thread has drawn us to the font,
A wide womb floating on the breath of God,
Feathered with seraph wings, lit with the swift
Lightening of praise, with thunder over-spread,And under-girded with an unheard song,
Calling through water, fire, darkness, pain,
Calling us to the life for which we long,
Yearning to bring us to our birth again.
Again the breath of God is on the waters
In whose reflecting face our candles shine,
Again he draws from death the sons and daughters
For whom he bid the elements combine.
As living stones around a font today,
Rejoice with those who roll the stone away.
-
-
-
Reflection
Which of John's exhortations int he gospel speaks to you most strongly? What do you have that could be better shared? How could you reform your work to more fully conform to God's will?
The first and second readings both tell us to rejoice, but life does not always lend itself to rejoicing/ How do you find the joy God promises in the midst of life's darker seasons?
- Rest in the last lines of the first reading; know that God rejoices over you and sings joyfully because of you. Is it hard for you to accept such love? What would help you trust in God's delight for you?
-
-
-
O God, grant that we may desire you, and desiring you, seek you, and seeking you, find you, and finding you, be satisfied forever.
Francis Xavier, 1506-1552
-
