REJOICE! THE LORD IS COMING.
First Reading: Isaiah 61: 1-2 and 10-11
Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24
Gospel Reading: John 1: 6-8 and 19-28
* First reading is from the book of Prophet Isaiah. Isaiah announces that he had been anointed by the Lord God and sent to bring good news to the poor. He conveys a message of great hope to all those who live in hopelessness and despair. It is the Spirit of God present in us that enables us to carry the message of salvation to the poor. Later Jesus also quotes this passage from Isaiah to announce the programme of His ministry.
* Second reading is from the first letter of St. Paul to Thessalonians. Paul urges the Christian community of Thessalonika and all of us that we should rejoice always and pray constantly and show our gratitude to God for all the gifts and blessings we have received from Him. We should not despise the spiritual gifts but be earnest in doing good and avoiding evil. In this way we ought to live as we wait for the second coming of the Lord.
John the Baptist a witness to the light Today's Gospel reading is from St. John. We meet John the Baptist who makes it abundantly clear that he is not the Messiah. John bore witness to the Light. That Light was Jesus Christ. But what a wonderful witness John was! He witnessed not only with his words but especially through his deeds and a life of total renunciation. When the Light finally appeared, John was quite content to fade away from the scene and let Christ take over. This indeed was a wonderful way of witnessing. Today for many people Christ has become a very dim and distant figure. He is being constantly overshadowed by the powerful electronic media, man's greed and a world constantly projecting itself and slowly making God some kind of an appendix. The words of John the Baptist are very much true today. "There stands one among you whom you don't know." Prophet Isaiah had told long ago, "The Lord has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and to open the prison to those who are bound." This prophecy of Isaiah can become a reality only when we become effective witnesses to Christ the Light. Hence the third week of Advent invites us to be witnesses of Christ the Lord.
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