Tag: john the baptist

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Advent

Mass in the Morning: A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

Zechariah his father, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied, saying: “You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Continuing where yesterday’s Gospel reading left off, Zechariah prophesies John’s role in preparing the way for the Lord. Repentance is key in giving knowledge to people of the forgiveness of their sins. Zechariah recognizes that through God’s mercy in sending his Son, God will “break upon” sin, darkness, and death and guide us toward him into the way of peace. This is the same God who speaks to David through the prophet Nathan: “It was I who took you from the pasture and from the care of the flock to be commander of my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you went, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you.” God himself breaks through to rescue us from whatever hinders the path to him so that, as Zechariah prophesies, we are “free to worship him without fear . . . all the days of our life.”

Incredible as it may seem, God, you enter human history through Emmanuel to ransom us from sin and death. One to one, person to person, you call each of us by name to worship you. Help me understand what the limits of my knowledge and contemporary skepticism obscure. I want to put that aside and ponder the words of the Gloria: “For you alone are the Holy One, You alone are the Lord, You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.” For the sake of your glory, Lord, help my unbelief.

From the time the angel Gabriel announced to Zechariah that he would have a son, Zechariah’s disbelief left him mute. Here today, filled with the Holy Spirit, he prophesies that his son will prepare the way of the Lord. Holy Spirit, fill me today with whatever leads me to God’s tender compassion that Zechariah speaks of; be the dawn from on high to break upon me with your light.

From the Gospel acclamation: O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

https://youtu.be/2W-KSOPWWBY

Readings

Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent

“I am Gabriel, who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news.  But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”

In today’s Gospel reading from Luke, the angel Gabriel appears before Zechariah to announce that John the Baptist will be born to Elizabeth although she is advanced in years. Zechariah’s prayer, Gabriel says, has been heard. Zechariah questions Gabriel by saying, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” Whether there was something in Zechariah’s tone that suggested disbelief, Luke doesn’t say. What is clear is that Gabriel saw that Zechariah did not believe him and because of this he was unable to talk until the birth of John. Luke tells us in a later passage how Zechariah came to speak: “Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God.” What did Zechariah learn from God while he was mute? How did God speak to him in his speechlessness so that he would open his mouth, blessing God?

God, I believe in you yet fail to believe. My belief is not perfect but a work in progress, always coming into being in an imperfect way. Thank you for the blessing of my faith and for the sacraments, where you work with me where I am in perfecting my faith. I want to know the way to greater certainty of your work in the world and your work in me. Lord, you speak and from your mouth come perfect being and love. Help me today to understand how to quiet my voice—my spoken words and inner voice—so that I come interiorly to know you and bless you.

Lord, be my strength. Quiet my soul today and these few days leading up to the birth of Jesus your Son. “For you are my hope, O LORD,” today’s Psalm says, “my trust, O God, from my youth.” On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength.” Be with me today as you were at my birth and always have been. Strengthen me today to believe you and trust you.

From the O Antiphon for today: O Root of Jesse’s stem, sign of God’s love for all his people: come to save us without delay!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

https://youtu.be/2W-KSOPWWBY

Readings

Thursday of the Third Week of Advent

Jesus said to the crowds about John the Baptist, “Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom Scripture says: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, he will prepare your way before you.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus has just answered the question the disciples of John the Baptist has asked him: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus makes clear his relationship to those listening by saying of John that he was “more than a prophet,” that he is the messenger that prepares a way for the Lord. The Pharisees and scholars of the law, he says, who were not baptized by John rejected God’s plan for themselves. How is it, God, that I routinely go to great lengths to see and do what is trivial but struggle to bring you into the present moment each day?

God, help me understand the restlessness that the crowds felt is little different from the restlessness I feel each day, whether at work or at home. It takes very little to unsettle me when comfortable habits are disrupted. If I had less to cling to, I’d have less to let go of. What is it about John the Baptist that prepares the way? He lived in the desert, he ate locusts and wild honey, and he lived apart from the comforts of civilization. He lived a life of detachment. Lord, let me know you are with me today. I hear in this the words of Saint Paul: “You must increase; I must decrease.”

Quiet my soul, Lord. See me in the great and small distress of the day. From the first reading, let me keep within my soul this consolation: “But with enduring love I take pity on you, says the Lord, your redeemer.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

https://youtu.be/2W-KSOPWWBY

Readings

Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist

John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herodias harbored a grudge against him and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.

Today’s Gospel reading describes an age-old clash between good and evil: John proclaims what is truthful, and Herod’s wife holds a deadly grudge. It sounds like the beginning of a murder mystery, an archetypal human story. Anybody can harbor this grudge to kill, if not literally, then certainly in spirit. Although Jesus doesn’t appear in this passage, what he said elsewhere in the Gospel applies: “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” The body survives what can devastate the soul, and there are those whose grudges mean to destroy the soul.

God, help me understand that I will encounter in my life people whose aim is to persecute me and other Christians because of you. Because I am Christian, there are people who mean to mistreat me. Against that, there is power that shines through in words and deeds inspired by the Holy Spirit. From the first reading, Saint Paul says, “I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” It’s hard for me to imagine someone as tough and resilient as Saint Paul saying that he was afraid. But although he came in weakness and fear and trembling, he knew his strength was in the crucified and risen Christ and “with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.”

Jesus, I know you are truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. How is it that the body given up to crucifixion is the body that becomes our Eucharistic food, your real presence? Against any doubt I might have in your real presence, it is no trick or deception that you are there before me. Stay with me today and shield all who are persecuted—body and soul—by the work of the Evil One because of your holy name.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Podcast

Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist: Reflection

“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.”

Zechariah writes the name of his son on a tablet, the same name that Elizabeth chose for him. In doing this, his tongue is freed and “he spoke blessing God.” Breaking from Jewish tradition, Zechariah and Elizabeth both choose a name that frees and opens them to new life in the Spirit. John is the living representation of that new life, the forerunner, of that new life that is about to come into the world.

God, help me understand how you work in the world and apart from it to bring about your will. The first reading from Isaiah proclaims, “I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD, and my God is now my strength!” God is not bound by human custom or tradition but works within it and outside of it, allowing for all to give glory to him.

May God, through the workings of the Holy Spirit, animate me and give me life. Without it, I am, as W. B. Yeats writes in “Sailing to Byzantium,” “a paltry thing, / a tattered coat upon a stick.” Not for my own sake, do this for me, God, but as a way to give you glory. Teach me to hear and do your will.

Today let me be supple and receptive to the Holy Spirit so that my tongue is free to speak God’s name and praise him. When John saw Jesus coming toward him, he recognized his divine identity and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Today let me recognize Jesus coming toward me.

USCCB Readings