December 23, 2013

Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent
Lectionary: 199
Reading 1 MAL 3:1-4, 23-24

Thus says the Lord GOD:
Lo, I am sending my messenger
to prepare the way before me;
And suddenly there will come to the temple
the LORD whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.

This is a prophecy" the messenger, John the Baptist and the Lord, our Savior, whom he came to announce.

Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
But who will endure the day of his coming?
And who can stand when he appears?
For he is like the refiner’s fire,
or like the fuller’s lye.
He will sit refining and purifying silver,
and he will purify the sons of Levi,
Refining them like gold or like silver
that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD.
Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem
will please the LORD,
as in the days of old, as in years gone by.

This prophecy mixes both the coming of the suffering servant and the Son of Man. The Son of Man will come in the clouds and bring chastisement to the world. But suffering servant will offer the once for all sacrifice which will please the Lord.

Lo, I will send you
Elijah, the prophet,
Before the day of the LORD comes,
the great and terrible day,
To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,
and the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike
the land with doom.

This is an Old Testament prophecy telling us that before the suffering servant and the Son of Man come, the messenger, the precursor, who is likened to Elijah, John the Baptist will come to prepare the way of the Lord and announce his coming.

Responsorial Psalm PS 25:4-5AB, 8-9, 10 AND 14

R. (see Luke 21:28) Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.

R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.

R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him,
and his covenant, for their instruction.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.

Jesus Christ redeemed all mankind by his sacrifice on the cross. But our redemption is not complete until we walked through the pearly gates of heaven.

Gospel LK 1:57-66

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.

The Angel Gabriel had prophesied to marry that her cousin Elizabeth would bear a child in her old age. And it came to pass that Elizabeth gave birth to a very special child.

Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
“No. He will be called John.”

The angel had given strict instructions to the child will be named John. Friends and neighbors did not understand why he would not be named after the father. The Zechariah, the father, who had been struck dumb for his unbelief, wrote on tablet at the child's name would be John.

But they answered her,
“There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,”
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.”

And then Zechariah began to speak and family and friends realized that this was a sign from God revealing that this was a special child.