December 13, 2011 Memorial of Saint Lucy, virgin and martyr

[이안드레아]

2011년 12월 13일 화요일 성녀 루치아 동정 순교자 기념일

1독서

스바니야 예언서. 3,1-2.9-13
주님께서 이렇게 말씀하신다.
1 “불행하여라, 반항하는 도성, 더럽혀진 도성, 억압을 일삼는 도성! 2 말을 듣지 않고, 교훈을 받아들이지 않는구나. 주님을 신뢰하지 않고, 자기 하느님께 가까이 가지 않는구나.
9 그때에 나는 민족들의 입술을 깨끗하게 만들어 주리라. 그들이 모두 주님의 이름을 받들어 부르며, 어깨를 나란히 하고 주님을 섬기게 하리라. 10 에티오피아 강 너머에서 나의 숭배자들, 흩어진 이들이 선물을 가지고 나에게 오리라.
11 그날에는 네가 나를 거역하며 저지른 그 모든 행실을 부끄러워하지 않아도 되리라. 그때에는 내가 네 가운데에서 거만스레 흥겨워하는 자들을 치워 버리리라. 그러면 네가 나의 거룩한 산에서 다시는 교만을 부리지 않으리라. 12 나는 네 한가운데에 가난하고 가련한 백성을 남기리니, 그들은 주님의 이름에 피신하리라.
13 이스라엘의 남은 자들은 불의를 저지르지 않고, 거짓을 말하지 않으며, 그들 입에서는 사기 치는 혀를 보지 못하리라. 정녕 그들은 아무런 위협도 받지 않으며, 풀을 뜯고 몸을 누이리라.”

복음

마태오. 21,28-32
그때에 예수님께서 수석 사제들과 백성의 원로들에게 말씀하셨다.
28 “너희는 어떻게 생각하느냐? 어떤 사람에게 아들이 둘 있었는데, 맏아들에게 가서 ‘얘야, 너 오늘 포도밭에 가서 일하여라.’ 하고 일렀다. 29 그는 ‘싫습니다.’ 하고 대답하였지만, 나중에 생각을 바꾸어 일하러 갔다. 30 아버지는 또 다른 아들에게 가서 같은 말을 하였다. 그는 ‘가겠습니다, 아버지!’ 하고 대답하였지만 가지는 않았다. 31 이 둘 가운데 누가 아버지의 뜻을 실천하였느냐?” 그들이 “맏아들입니다.” 하고 대답하자, 예수님께서 그들에게 말씀하셨다.
“내가 진실로 너희에게 말한다. 세리와 창녀들이 너희보다 먼저 하느님의 나라에 들어간다. 32 사실 요한이 너희에게 와서 의로운 길을 가르칠 때, 너희는 그를 믿지 않았지만 세리와 창녀들은 그를 믿었다. 너희는 그것을 보고도 생각을 바꾸지 않고 끝내 그를 믿지 않았다.”

December 13, 2011 Memorial of Saint Lucy, virgin and martyr

Reading 1
Zep 3:1-2, 9-13

Thus says the LORD:
Woe to the city, rebellious and polluted,
to the tyrannical city!
She hears no voice,
accepts no correction;
In the LORD she has not trusted,
to her God she has not drawn near.

For then I will change and purify
the lips of the peoples,
That they all may call upon the name of the LORD,
to serve him with one accord;
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
and as far as the recesses of the North,
they shall bring me offerings.

On that day
You need not be ashamed
of all your deeds,
your rebellious actions against me;
For then will I remove from your midst
the proud braggarts,
And you shall no longer exalt yourself
on my holy mountain.
But I will leave as a remnant in your midst
a people humble and lowly,
Who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD:
the remnant of Israel.
They shall do no wrong
and speak no lies;
Nor shall there be found in their mouths
a deceitful tongue;
They shall pasture and couch their flocks

with none to disturb them.

Responsorial Psalm
34:2-3, 6-7, 17-18, 19 and 23

R.        (7a)  The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R.        The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R.        The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
R.        The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
The LORD redeems the lives of his servants;
no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him. R.        The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

Gospel
Mt 21:28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
“What is your opinion?
A man had two sons.
He came to the first and said,
‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’
The son said in reply, ‘I will not,’
but afterwards he changed his mind and went.
The man came to the other son and gave the same order.
He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but did not go.
Which of the two did his father’s will?”
They answered, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you,
tax collectors and prostitutes
are entering the Kingdom of God before you.
When John came to you in the way of righteousness,
you did not believe him;
but tax collectors and prostitutes did.
Yet even when you saw that,

you did not later change your minds and believe him.”

REFLECTION
    Children are not usually the main characters in the stories we tell, yet the story of Christmas begins and ends with a child we don't quite know what to do with. Here, a vulnerable baby in a dirty stable breaks in as the harbinger of good news, the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, the anointed leader who comes to set the captives free-wrapped in swaddling clothes and resting in a manger. Coming as a child, God radically draws near, while at the same time radically overthrowing our conceptions of status, worth, power, and authority. Jesus is crowned king long before he can sit in a throne. He begins overturning idols and upsetting social order long before he can even speak.
    Advent, like childhood, reminds us that we are in need of someone sovereign. It also reminds us that, like the baby in a Bethlehem stable, we too are somewhat out of place, homeless and longing for home. For us to be human is to be implicitly religious; for even within our most deeply felt needs for love and refuge, we are reminded that there is one who has come so very far to meet us and protect us.

http://www.staygreat.com/

which am I?

Jesus told a parable about two
sons. The younger son refused
to help his father; but, later,
changed his mind and helped.
The elder son did just the
opposite. Jesus asked, "Which
did what his father wanted?"
Matthew 21:31

That parable is strikingly similar
to Jesus' parable of the prodigal
son, In both the younger son
stands for sinners who start
badly but end well. And in both,
the elder son stands for the
scribes and Pharisees. They
start well but end badly.

Both parables act as mirrors.
That is, they invite me to look
into my heart and ask: "Am I like
the younger one, moving closer
to God? Or am I like te elder
son, drifting further away from
God?"

If we are not rising upwards
to be an angel, depend on it, we
are sinking downwards to be a
devil. Samuel Taylor Coleridge

http://www.franciscanretreats.net/

Today’s Gospel is not so much about doing what we say we will do or obedience, but rather it is about repentance. The one son, who when asked by his father to go out and work in the vineyard, replied “I will not,” but later on realized he was wrong and repented. He made a U turn. He went into the vineyard and worked as his father wished. The second son told his father when asked the same thing, “Yes, sir,” but then he did not go. He was a liar; he was one who “talked the talk” but didn’t “walk the walk.” This kind of person gets nothing done.
 
Where are we in this parable? Have we previously said “no” to one or the other of the Lord’s commands and then repented? Or are we one who preaches to others, talks the talk, but then doesn’t practice what he preaches or walk the walk? The latter attitude will accomplish nothing during Advent.

http://www.evangeli.net/gospel/gospel.html

The son answered: ‘I don't want to’. But later he thought better of it and went

Today, we contemplate the father who had two sons and went to the first and said to him: «Son, today go and work in my vineyard» (Mt 21:28). And he answered: «‘I don't want to’. But later he thought better of it and went» (Mt 21:29). Then, he also went to the second with the same command. And he replied: «‘I will go, sir’, but he did not go» (cf. Mt 21:30). What really matters is not saying “yes”, but “doing it”. As the saying goes «actions speak louder than words».

On another occasion, Jesus will refer to the doctrine taught by this parable: «Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven» (Mt 7:21). As Saint Augustine wrote, «there are two wills. Your will has to be corrected so as to identify it with God's will; but do not try to bend God's will to adapt it to yours». In the Catalan language we say a child “believes” you to mean he obeys you. There is an identification of obedience and faith, of the reationship that exists between trust and obedience.

Obedience comes from the Latin composition “ob-audire”: meaning, to listen with great attention. And this is should be evident in our prayer, in our not turning “a deaf ear” to the voice of Love. «We men tend to “defend ourselves”, to adhere to our selfishness. But God demands that, when obeying Him, we put our faith to work. At times, our Lord suggests what He wants in a whisper, deep, down, inside our conscience: we must remain on high alert! to be able to distinguish his voice and be faithful to it» (Saint Josemaria Escrivà). To abide by God's will implies becoming a saint; to obey does not mean to be a puppet in someone else's hands, but to interiorize what we must accomplish: and then, to do it “because you feel like it”.

Our Mother, the Virgin Mary, a great teacher of obedience to the faith, will show us the way to learn how to obey the will of the Father.

http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

The first reading is from a little known Old Testament prophet, Zephaniah. He appears to have been a contemporary of Jeremiah in the seventh/sixth century before Christ. The Book of Zephaniah has only three chapters and today’s text is one of only two that make it into the Lectionary. The other text, Zephaniah 3:14-18a, is a call for the people to rejoice. We hear it read on the Third Sunday of Advent, as well as on the Monday of the Fourth week of Advent, and on the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Our text is read only today, and, after reading it, I wonder how the people might respond to the other text that invites them to “Shout for joy, O Daughter Zion!” Israel is rebellious and polluted. She does not listen to God. She refuses to be corrected. She trusts in herself and does not call upon God. Yet the Lord makes her some mighty promises. She will be changed and purified. She will become humble and lowly. She will not be ashamed of her words or her deeds. God promises to protect her and holds out for her a future of peace. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that God’s future reign includes not only a remnant from within Israel but also those from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia and as far as the recesses of the North. All who listen to God are welcome.

If the first reading is about a people who refuse to listen to God, the responsorial psalm is about a God who will not refuse to listen to his people, especially the poor. God hears and saves those in distress. He not only rescues them but confronts their oppressors. Those who gaze upon the Lord will become radiant with joy. To God belong blessing, praise, and glory for the Lord hears the cry of the poor.

Has the human predicament really changed that much? It seems to me that the history of the human race is one of not listening to God, seeking for answers to the problems that inevitably come, with a few responding to God’s loving call to listen to him, do his will, and experience the joy and peace he created for us in the beginning. Jesus then makes it clear that it is not always the religious folks who respond to God’s call. He likens us religious folks to a son who says one thing to his Father but then does something else while those who say openly that they reject the Father’s teachings actually come around and do what the Father wants. I had friends in college who were referred to as “Bible thumpers.” They were the ones who carried around a Bible and were not slow to tell everyone what they should do to please God. There is certainly nothing wrong with carrying a Bible or even announcing the word of God but some of these folks created an atmosphere of resistance because they talked the talk but didn’t walk the walk. On the other hand, I once visited a friend in his dorm room only to see his roommate reading an issue of Playboy Magazine. Later my friend told me that his roommate always read his Bible inside of an issue of Playboy because he didn’t want anyone to think he was one of those “Bible thumpers.”

My friend’s roommate need not have worried. God knows the children who love him. It’s not the ones who say “Yes, Yes” and never enter the vineyard. It’s those who, despite their protestations, do his will.

http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/

"The tax collectors and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you"

Jesus asks us a simple question: What do you think? Who will inherit the kingdom of heaven? Scripture warns that the proud and the haughty will fall, but the humble and lowly will be raised up. Pride leads to sin and rebellion. Humility leads to repentance and submission to the will of God. The prophets of Israel warned their people that unfaithfulness and disobedience would lead to their downfall – they would be scattered among the nations and lose everything that was once precious to them – their temple and holy city Jerusalem, their royal priesthood, their unity as a holy nation, and their covenant relationship with God as his chosen ones would be damaged as well. Israel suffered disgrace and lost hope of mercy and restoration. The prophet Zephaniah reminded his people that God would bring healing, pardon, and restoration to those who turned back to him with repentance and trust.

 Jesus shocked the self-righteous Jews, who outwardly practiced the external rituals of their religion while inwardly harboring evil thoughts and intentions, by declaring that the tax collectors and harlots would enter the kingdom of God before them. Jesus illustrated his point with a simple story of two imperfect sons. The father amply provided for his sons everthing they needed – food, clothing, and shelter. He thought they would be grateful to work for him in exchange for his generous provision and care for them. He expected them to show their gratitude and respect through their obedience and diligence in tending his vineyard. Although the "rebellious" son told his father to his face that he would not work for him, he afterwards changed his mind and did what his father commanded him to do. The "good" son said he would work for his father, but didn't carry through. He did his own will contrary to his father's will. Now who was really the good son? Both sons disobeyed their father; but one repented and then did what the father told him.

Jesus makes his point clear: Good intentions are not enough. And promises don't count unless they are performed. God wants to change our hearts so that we will show by our actions that we respect his will and do it. God offers each of us the greatest treasure possible – unending peace, joy, happiness, and life with him in his kingdom. We can lose that treasure if we refuse the grace God offers us to follow in his way of truth, love, and righteousness. Jesus encourages us to think – to think about the consequences of our choices, especially the choices and decisions that will count not just for now but for eternity as well. The choices we make now will affect and shape our future, both our future on earth as well as in the life of the age to come. Are you ready to obey your heavenly Father and to choose for his kingdom of righteousness and peace?

"Lord Jesus, change my heart that I may desire to do whatever is pleasing to you. Help me to respect your will and give me the strength, joy, and perseverance to carry it out wholeheartedly."

Psalm 34:2-3, 6-7, 17-19, 22

2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.
3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
6 This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD, and was saved from every trouble.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears, and rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD rescues them from them all.
22 The LORD redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

http://www.daily-meditations.org/index2.html

In today's Gospel we see just how wonderful God is.

Though we often turn away from Him to follow our own course, He doesn't hold it against us or write us off. He waits.

Then, when by Grace we come to our senses and turn back to Him, He doesn't keep reminding us of how wrong we have been, but rejoices that we are back, that we have changed our minds.

With others, we don't very often get a second chance at things, an opportunity to wipe the slate clean without some residue, but with God we do.

Turn back then to The One who is unlike anyone or anything you've ever known, the author of Love, who knows what the word really means!

Spend some time to prepare for God's greatest gift of Love.

"Prepare ye the Way of the Lord!"

~ Donna Raye Nelson, OCDS

http://www.contemplative.com/weekday_readings.htm

The Kingdom of God demands holiness. Unless your holiness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you will not enter the Kingdom of God. It does not make any difference what went on in our lives up to now. Now is the time to expect the power of Christ’s Kingdom. It is the time to wake from sleep as from the dead and Christ will enlighten us. So, we may have been like the tax collectors and prostitutes, but now it’s different. Our past does not have to hold us back. Indeed it may be a blessing, “ a happy fault.” The holiness of the Kingdom is not something we manufacture. It is a gift from the Holy Trinity. It is God who saves. What we bring is repentance and obedience. Feeling good about our selves aside from God's mercy is not the obedience of daily Gospel living. The Advent voice of John the Baptist calls us to repentance as entrance into the Kingdom.

http://goodnews.ie/calendar.php

When you say ‘no’ you feel you really exist.  It's the word of separation, boundary, individuality, defiance…. Of course it is necessary to say ‘no’ at times, but I'm thinking rather of the compulsion to say ‘no’.  Children at the age of two or so become ‘no’ for a while: call it individuation, or the birth of ego... Through saying ‘no’, the ego gains strength.  That is a natural process in children; it’s like growing a skin.  Without it we would be too vulnerable.  The trouble is that as we grow up we identify ourselves with that skin, forgetting everything that lies deeper – because everything deeper than the skin is normally invisible.  Then our lives become a consistent ‘no’: our first instinct towards a stranger – or a new idea, or anything unfamiliar – is separation, resistance.  That is a lonely track.  The author of the Incomplete Work on Matthew: “No one would ever have been able to sin unless he had first said in his heart ‘I will not.’”  Read the passage from Thomas Merton below (this month’s Wisdom Line). 

When you say ‘yes’ you are part of something else; it's the word of self-forgetfulness.  It's a key word in religion.  Jesus did not look for his identity in ‘no’; he was able to express his identity in his ‘yes’ to the Father.  Mary's fiat too: “Let it be done....”  And the great ‘Amen’ at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer – and of every prayer – means ‘Yes’.  Yes could be a name of God.

But worse than ‘no’ is a pretended ‘yes’.  ‘No’, if pursued to the end, leads you to an impasse: you would be all alone; you would be plunged into crisis.  You would be an outcast (cast out by yourself).  The pain of that could convert you to ‘yes’.  It is a difficult journey, but it is a journey; while a pretended ‘yes’ is not a journey at all: it's trying to have it both ways, while going nowhere.  Religious teaching often has the effect of only getting you to say a polite ‘yes’, with no transformation.  It is worse than ‘no’.  If you say ‘no’ with vigour, one day you will come to the end of it and say a real ‘yes’.  But politeness can go on forever. 

http://www.presentationministries.com/

JUST DO IT?

"Which of the two did what the father wanted?" 뾏atthew 21:31

As we near Christmas, we mistakenly think we have so many things we need to do. Here are a few things which really must be done before Christmas:

• "Repent and believe in Him [Jesus]" (Mt 21:32).
• Do what our Father wants (Mt 21:31).
• "Go out and work in the vineyard" (Mt 21:28).
• Hear God's voice and accept correction (Zep 3:2).
• Trust in God and draw near to Him (Zep 3:2).
• Let the Lord change and purify our lips (Zep 3:9).
• "Call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord" (Zep 3:9).

The good news is that we don't have to do all that we thought we had to before Christmas. As nice as they are, we can get along without Christmas presents, parties, cards, cakes, and cookies. Mary, Joseph and Jesus did without them at the first Christmas. Even today, most of the world can't afford these niceties.

The good news is also that the to-do items listed above need not be done by our own power. Like Mary, we only must let it be done to us according to God's word (Lk 1:38).

Prayer: Father, let Your Son Jesus be Lord of my life and of my Christmas.

Promise: "I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the Lord." 뾝ep 3:12

Praise: Going to Confession during Advent is a priority for Margaret.

http://www.judeop.org/daily_bread.htm

He said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. We may be among those who readily said "Yes" to Advent when it began, but by now, perhaps, we must admit that we have not followed through. We haven’t changed anything, but instead find ourselves taken in again by the consumerism and greed that co-opt the season each year. Or we may be among those who said "No" to Advent at the start … but now we’re having second thoughts. The good news is that Advent is a standing invitation. Whether we’ve been fickle or slow, there is still time to use this blessed season well, time for loving service to others and prayerful anticipation of our Lord. For the grace to turn to God, we pray. Ecw

http://www.judeop.org/dailyhomilette.htm

In his book on faith historian Paul Johnson tells of a fire-and-brimstone preacher who had to change his tune. The preacher said that in his early years people packed the churches and hung on his words. But with a new era (the 1970s or so) similar congregants no longer believed in the ravages God supposedly racks on sinners.

John the Baptist seems to have a similar difficulty, at least with the more sophisticated type of listener. According to today’s gospel his warnings about hellfire cause at least some publicans and prostitutes to change their ways but the self-righteous ignore him. Today we imagine these sophisticates making excuses for their sins like the delinquents in West Side Story: “I’ve got a social disease”

Jesus, however, assures us that there is no excuse for not repenting. Each of us is in constant need of repair to extract prejudice, carelessness, and pride. That he is here to help us is what Christmas is all about.

http://www.judeop.org/dailyreflections.htm

Have you taken out the crib set yet? Most of them will include a figure of a shepherd and a sheep or two. They represent the poorest of the people, and, in fact had a bad reputation in Jesus' day. Yet Jesus represented himself on a number of occasions as a shepherd figure, which was usually reserved in the Old Testament for kings! So the shepherd is an important figure in that crib set.

If you read the prophecy for today from Zephaniah as you put down that shepherd figure in the space available, you can have a visual and emotional experience of the hope that this prophecy offers to the "remnant of Israel" - those who remain faithful to the Lord in the midst of great infidelity and oppression.

Advent is the season of Hope, par excellence. We need this season to help us get through the secular Christmas with all its social demands or reminders of problems such as illness, death, loss of job, economic loss, etc. The birth of Christ is God's promise to the faithful. A promise is hard to "gift wrap" but God found a wonderful "gift wrapping" in the child in the manger! AMEN

http://biblereflection.blogspot.com/

What is common in tax collectors and prostitutes is that their sin is
quite public in nature. Others know it and they know it. It is quite
obvious. This can work in their favor in the sense that they easily
identify themselves as sinners. Therefore, they have a better chance
of conversion.

The most difficult part of conversion is to admit that we have sins.
More often than not, we always say that: "well, I am a sinner, but not
as sinful as my neighbor, or my competitor or my enemy". There are
those who think that we are on the road to holiness, but in the end
never even attempt to walk a single step in this journey due to
complicity, overconfidence and pride. Many times, we don't think that
we have committed very grave sins. We run the risk of becoming a
complete first-class Pharisee and moralist, judging everyone from our
high throne. Therefore, let us be cautious; let us learn holiness by
looking and examining ourselves regularly so that we can enter
conversion.