Scripture of the Week
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Gospel And Reflection
Second Sunday of Advent Year A Year C
First Reading – Isaiah 11:1-10
A reading from the second book of Isaiah
He judges the poor with justice.
A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse,
a scion thrusts from his roots:
on him the spirit of the Lord rests,
a spirit of wisdom and insight,
a spirit of counsel and power,
a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
(The fear of the Lord is his breath.)
He does not judge by appearances,
he gives no verdict on hearsay,
but judges the wretched with integrity,
and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the land.
His word is a rod that strikes the ruthless,
his sentences bring death to the wicked.
Integrity is the loincloth round his waist,
faithfulness the belt about his hips.
The wolf lives with the lamb,
the panther lies down with the kid,
calf and lion cub feed together
with a little boy to lead them.
The cow and the bear make friends,
their young lie down together.
The lion eats straw like the ox.
The infant plays over the cobra’s hole;
into the viper’s lair
the young child puts his hand.
They do no hurt, no harm,
on all my holy mountain,
for the country is filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters swell the sea.
That day, the root of Jesse
shall stand as a signal to the peoples.
It will be sought out by the nations
and its home will be glorious..
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 71:1-2. 7-8. 12-13. 17. R. cf. v.7
(R.) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
Second Reading – Romans 13:11-14
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans
Christ, the hope of all people.
Everything that was written long ago in the scriptures was meant to teach us something about hope from the examples scripture gives of how people who did not give up were helped by God. And may he who helps us when we refuse to give up, help you all to be tolerant with each other, following the example of Christ Jesus, so that united in mind and voice you may give glory to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It can only be to God’s glory, then, for you to treat each other in the same friendly way as Christ treated you. The reason Christ became the servant of circumcised Jews was not only so that God could faithfully carry out the promises made to the patriarchs, it was also to get the pagans to give glory to God for his mercy, as scripture says in one place: For this I shall praise you among the pagans and sing your name.
Gospel Acclamation – Luke 3:4. 6
Alleluia, alleluia!
Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
all people shall see the salvation of God.
Alleluia!!
Gospel – Matthew 3:1-12
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.
In due course John the Baptist appeared; he preached in the wilderness of Judaea and this was his message: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’ This was the man the prophet Isaiah spoke of when he said:
A voice cries in the wilderness:
Prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight.
This man John wore a garment made of camel-hair with a leather belt round his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judaea and the whole Jordan district made their way to him, and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins. But when he saw a number of Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers, who warned you to fly from the retribution that is coming? But if you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruit, and do not presume to tell yourselves, “We have Abraham for our father,” because, I tell you, God can raise children for Abraham from these stones. Even now the axe is laid to the roots of the trees, so that any tree which fails to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire. I baptise you in water for repentance, but the one who follows me is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to carry his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fan is in his hand; he will clear his threshing-floor and gather his wheat into the barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out.’
Gospel Reflection
We Prepare the Way by Expanding our Vision
Reflection on the Gospel-2nd Sunday of Advent Year A
(Matthew 3:1-12)
“Wilderness or desert is a key feature of today’s gospel reading. In these troubled times of ours when desertification of earth is becoming the norm, this imagery resonates powerfully with most readers. The desert is the biblical place of encounter with God, the place of beginnings and of testing. The voice of John the Baptizer is heard in the Judaean desert. His food and clothing are desert-derived. He is identified as the one of whom Isaiah spoke, the voice crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way….” Ecologically, Isaiah’s image is confronting: preparing the way involves major earthworks that reconfigure the landscape by levelling the mountains and filling the valleys to create straight paths. The way is never straight, however, and the metaphor must not be literalised. John knows this. The preparation he calls for is ongoing metanoia or re-evaluating: keep on turning your lives around, keep on expanding your horizons, for the kin-dom of the heavens is “close at hand”. The kin-dom is both present and yet still approaching: the verb used here, ēngiken, allows for this ambiguity.
The first reading from Isaiah (11:1-10) provides content to Matthew’s notion of kin-dom or basileia: John is announcing the advent of God’s long-awaited empire of justice and right relationship. He offers a baptism of repentance, of metanoia or life reorientation. In other words, John’s baptism presupposes a commitment to a renewed way of life. His ministry is hugely effective. It attracts “people of Jerusalem, all Judaea and the region along the Jordan River.” The arrival of two groups of religious authorities (Pharisees and Sadducees) prompts a fierce response: “you brood of vipers”. John has no patience with those who use their privileged positions to seek their own advantage. He challenges them with the striking image of the “more powerful one who will baptise with the Holy Spirit and fire” and will sort out those who refuse to turn their lives around (the chaff) from those who listen to the call for metanoia (the wheat). The latter are “gathered in” while the former are burned “in a fire that never goes out”.
Fire is a multi-faceted image in the biblical record. In this passage, it is used metaphorically for the judgment on the wicked. Fire, as we well know in this dry land, is a challenging symbol: it is both friend and foe. In the first-century Manual of Discipline from the Qumran community by the Dead Sea, water, refining by fire, and “a holy Spirit” are listed together as the instruments of God’s saving and purifying action. John, who may have been a member of the Qumran community, presents his own role as preparatory to that of Jesus, the Spirit-filled, powerful and enduring agent of God’s refining and purifying work in the world. We recognise our own ongoing need for a “baptism” with the Holy Spirit and fire. We prepare the way by constantly expanding our vision and turning our lives around in the direction of God’s reign of compassionate care.
Sr Veronica Lawson rsm
© The scriptural quotations are taken from the Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday & Co Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. The English translation of the Psalm Responses, the Alleluia and Gospel Verses, and the Lenten Gospel Acclamations, and the Titles, Summaries, and Conclusion of the Readings, from the Lectionary for Mass © 1997, 1981, 1968, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.