December 21, 2012 Friday of the Third Week of Advent

[이안드레아]

2012년 12월 21일 대림 제4주간 금요일

제1독서
아가. 2,8-14<또는 스바 3,14-18ㄱ>
8 내 연인의 소리! 보셔요, 그이가 오잖아요. 산을 뛰어오르고, 언덕을 뛰어넘어 오잖아요. 9 나의 연인은 노루나 젊은 사슴 같답니다. 보셔요, 그이가 우리 집 담장 앞에 서서, 창틈으로 기웃거리고 창살 틈으로 들여다본답니다.
10 내 연인은 나에게 속삭이며 말했지요. “나의 애인이여, 일어나오. 나의 아름다운 여인이여, 이리 와 주오. 11 자, 이제 겨울은 지나고, 장마는 걷혔다오. 12 땅에는 꽃이 모습을 드러내고, 노래의 계절이 다가왔다오. 우리 땅에서는 멧비둘기 소리가 들려온다오. 13 무화과나무는 이른 열매를 맺어 가고, 포도나무 꽃송이들은 향기를 내뿜는다오.
나의 애인이여, 일어나오. 나의 아름다운 여인이여, 이리 와 주오. 14 바위틈에 있는 나의 비둘기, 벼랑 속에 있는 나의 비둘기여! 그대의 모습을 보게 해 주오. 그대의 목소리를 듣게 해 주오. 그대의 목소리는 달콤하고, 그대의 모습은 어여쁘다오.”

복음
루카. 1,39-45
39 그 무렵에 마리아는 길을 떠나, 서둘러 유다 산악 지방에 있는 한 고을로 갔다. 40 그리고 즈카르야의 집에 들어가, 엘리사벳에게 인사하였다.
41 엘리사벳이 마리아의 인사말을 들을 때, 그의 태 안에서 아기가 뛰놀았다. 엘리사벳은 성령으로 가득 차 42 큰 소리로 외쳤다.
“당신은 여인들 가운데에서 가장 복되시며, 당신 태중의 아기도 복되십니다. 43 내 주님의 어머니께서 저에게 오시다니, 어찌 된 일입니까? 44 보십시오, 당신의 인사말 소리가 제 귀에 들리자, 저의 태 안에서 아기가 즐거워 뛰놀았습니다.
45 행복하십니다, 주님께서 하신 말씀이 이루어지리라고 믿으신 분!”

Friday, December 21, 2012 Daily Mass Reading

December 21, 2012 Friday of the Third Week of Advent

Reading 1

Sg 2:8-14

Hark! my lover?here he comes
springing across the mountains,
leaping across the hills.
My lover is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Here he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattices.
My lover speaks; he says to me,
“Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one,
and come!
“For see, the winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of pruning the vines has come,
and the song of the dove is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth its figs,
and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance.
Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one,
and come!

“O my dove in the clefts of the rock,
in the secret recesses of the cliff,
Let me see you,
let me hear your voice,
For your voice is sweet,
and you are lovely.”

or

Zep 3:14-18a

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
The LORD has removed the judgment against you,
he has turned away your enemies;
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,
you have no further misfortune to fear.
On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!
The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a mighty savior;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
He will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.

Ps 33:2-3, 11-12, 20-21

Responsorial Psalm

R. (1a; 3a) Exult, you just, in the Lord! Sing to him a new song.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.
Sing to him a new song;
pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.
R. Exult, you just, in the Lord! Sing to him a new song.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
R. Exult, you just, in the Lord! Sing to him a new song.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield,
For in him our hearts rejoice;
in his holy name we trust.
R. Exult, you just, in the Lord! Sing to him a new song.

Gospel Lk 1:39-45

Mary set out in those days
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”

http://www.staygreat.com/

Star of the sea

When Elizabeth heard Mary's
greeting, the baby moved within
her. Elizabeth said, "You are the
most blessed of all women.
Luke 1:41-42

A shabbily dressed man wan-
dered into a church during a
Mass for children. He sat down
and seemed to fall asleep. After
Mass the children sang a hymn
in honor of Mary. The hymn
ended with the words: "Mother
of Christ, Star of the Sea, pray
for the wanderer, pray for me."
Suddenly, the man began sob-
bing loudly. When someone
went over to him, he said,
"I'm alright! It's just that song.
I haven't heard it since I was a
boy; and I haven't been in a
church for years." It occasioned
his return to the faith

What role does the mother of
Jesus play in my spiritual life?

Mother of Christ, Star of the
Sea, pray for the wanderer,
pray for me. Hymn

h

ttp://www.franciscanretreats.net/

The O Antiphon for this fourth Tuesday of Advent is: "O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of heaven: Come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom.”

It is the Lord and the Lord alone, through his redemptive sacrifice, who opens for us the gates of heaven. If we return his love and try to do what he wills us to do, then we will benefit from his promise to us: Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it entered the mind of humankind what God has prepared for those who love him.

Lord Jesus, help us to know your will for us and to do it. Help us to realize deep within our hearts that YOU are the way, the truth and the life and not we ourselves.

“Adonai will place the Key of the House of David on his shoulder; when he opens, not one shall shut, when he shuts, no one will open.” (Isaiah 22: 22).

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

Blessed are you who believed

Today, the text of the Gospel corresponds to the second joyful mystery: the «Visitation of the Blessed Virgin to Her Cousin, St. Elizabeth». It certainly is a complete mystery! A silent inburst of profound and intense joy as History has never ever narrated! It is Mary's joy that has just become a mother, because it is fitting that all grace continues to come through Mary by the work of the Holy Spirit. The latin word “gaudium” express a deep and intimate joy that does not burst out. Despite that, the mountains of Judah were covered with joy. Mary exulted as a mother who has just realized she is expecting a child. And what a Child! A Child that, before being born, already peregrinated through the bouldery trodden tracks leading to Ain Karim, nestled in the heart and lovely arms of Mary.

Joy in Elisabeth's soul and face, and in the baby leaping in her womb. The words of Mary's cousin will travel through time: «Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!» (Lk 1:42). The prayer of the Saint Rosary, as a source of joy, is one of the new perspectives discovered by our Pope John Paul II in his apostolic Letter about the Rosary of the Virgin Mary.

Joy is indivisible from faith. «But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?» (Lk 1:43). The joy of God and Mary has spread all over the world. To allow it within us, we need only to open ourselves through our faith to God's constant influence in our life, while walking our path with the Infant, with She who has believed, by holding St. Joseph's strong and enamored hand. Earthen paths, asphalt, cobblestones or muddy roads through, any Christian always carries upon him, two dimensions of faith: the union with God and the service to others. Both quite closely linked up: with a unity of life that establishes no solution of continuity between one thing and the other.

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

Powerful emotions are expressed in today’s readings ? young love, shouting for joy, exulting, leaping for joy. For many of us, a well-told love story, no matter how unrealistic, is a moving reading or viewing experience (and perhaps it is even more entertaining the more unrealistic it might be!). We have known people like Elizabeth and Zechariah who have waited so long to be blessed with a child, and who then light up the world of all they encounter with their joy of parenthood.

We probably use the word “joy” more times during this season than any other time of the year. We can see the joy on the faces of young children as they open their treasures on Christmas Day. We sing of joy, we write it on (or it already is written for us) on greeting cards we send in the spirit of the season.

But what is joy, and why do we have it at this time of year? And is it joy for the right reasons? And do we really feel joy?

Joy is an emotion of great happiness. We can experience happiness for many reasons ? a commitment to another in a relationship, a promotion at work, a significant accomplishment by a loved one, the birth of a child (or grandchild, as happened to us a few weeks ago!). But these events can and do happen throughout the year. They are not the “joy of the season” that is upon us.

We believe that Jesus, the Son of God, came into this world by taking on the human condition. We can’t demonstrate with certainty that He was born exactly on December 25th, but we do believe that He was born to a human mother. And because His birth is so important to us, it is proper to celebrate it on a regular basis. By tradition we happen to have selected this time of year for that celebration. And so we can feel joy at this time of year because we celebrate our belief in the birth of Jesus annually at this time of year.

But WHY should we feel joy? We have this event in which we believe the Son of God is born as a human being in our midst. Our God, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, the God of the prophets, the one, true God, sent His Son to be one of us, to be human, to experience what we experience, to live as we live, and to die as we die. What does it say of the love God must have for each one of us that God would send His Son to live this life of ours? How can we doubt God’s love once we understand this priceless gift?

But knowing is not the same as feeling. We might believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but how does that make us feel? Do we really feel joy at this time of year, the joy of knowing that God is in our midst? Or are we so distracted by the trappings of celebration, by the bustling of buying, by the hurrying about to get to this or that event, to shut down business activity for year end, to balance the books, to make year-end resolutions for next year, to relax with family and friends, that we don’t give ourselves the opportunity to feel the wonder, the awe, the incredible joy of knowing that this baby, Jesus, is the most unique baby in the history of humankind, because this baby, Jesus, is the Son of God.

My challenge for myself, and you if you wish, is to go off by myself for a small piece of time to reflect on the awe of God in our midst in the form of the baby Jesus. My hope is that by being separate for a time from all that makes this season so special for us as humans, I can feel the divine in my life that is the baby Jesus.

And so my prayer today is for the grace to look beyond the pleasant distractions of this season of celebration, however wonderful they are, so I can feel the true joy of knowing that Jesus has come into the world for me.

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

"Jesus appointed twelve to be with him"

What is God's call on your life? When Jesus embarked on his mission he chose twelve men for the task of preaching the kingdom of God and healing the sick in the power of that kingdom. In the choice of the twelve, we see a characteristic feature of God's work: Jesus chose very ordinary people. They were non-professionals, who had no wealth or position. They were chosen from the common people who did ordinary things, had no special education, and no social advantages. Jesus wanted ordinary people who could take an assignment and do it extraordinarily well. He chose these men, not for what they were, but for what they would be capable of becoming under his direction and power. When the Lord calls us to serve, we must not shrug back because we think that we have little or nothing to offer. The Lord takes what ordinary people, like us, can offer and uses it for greatness in his kingdom. Do you make your life an offering to the Lord and allow him to use you as he sees fit?

"Lord Jesus, fill me with gratitude and generosity for all you have done for me. Take my life and all that I have as an offering of love for you, who are my All."

Psalm 85:8-14

8 Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
9 Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.
12 The LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.

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

Our journey through Advent is now coming to a close and our gospel reading looks toward the birth of Jesus with great anticipation.

In a few short days our Lord will be with us and the Christmas season begins. This is a time of renewal and great hope for us all. I ask you to seriously reflect before you answer this simple question: are you ready?

Will you recognize the Lord when He comes, much as Elizabeth did even though He had not yet been born? Will you leap for joy as John the Baptist did in his mother's womb when he encountered the Lord? Will you believe the words and promises made by God through the ages, that all is now fulfilled?

My friends, you are all in my prayers as we wait with great hope for the birth of our Lord.

~ Don Claunch, SFO

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

Mary bears the Incarnate Word in the silence of her womb, journeying over the hill country. Did she see the starry night and wonder at its beauty and know the infant in her womb as the loving Creator of the stars as the beautiful Advent Vesper hymn, Creator alme siderum, sings of? More than we can imagine. Can you ever doubt the fullness of the Church in the living Catholic faith when we see the Church alone among all the Christian communities professing the complete, unsurpassed greatness of Mary? "Who am I that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" “Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”
Collect: The prayers of Your people, mercifully hear, O Lord, so that they who are made happy by the coming of Your Son in our flesh, may obtain the reward of eternal life when He comes in His Majesty. Through our Lord.

http://goodnews.ie/calendar.php

Ancient Christian writers delighted to notice that John was a prophet even before he was born, because he gave witness to Christ by leaping in his mother’s womb. Origen (b. 185) wrote, “At that moment Jesus made his forerunner a prophet for the first time.” Maximus of Turin (d. 408 / 423) wrote, “Not yet born, John already prophesies and, while still in the enclosure of his mother’s womb, confesses the coming of Christ with movements of joy?since he could not do so with his voice.” Later the same Maximus noted that at the end of his life John was still giving witness to Christ ? from the confines of a prison. “We should not be surprised that after Herod put him in prison, he continued to announce Christ to his disciples from his confinement, because even when he was confined in the womb he preached the same Lord by his movements.”

What does it seem to say? There is more to people than what comes from their conscious wills. The story of my life is much more than what I did between and what happened to me between birth and death. To push it to the end: the full story of my life would have to be the story of the universe ? and also, the mystics tell us, the story of God. Any selections are bound to be out of context; they are abstract in a literal sense: abstrahere is ‘to pull away’. When Hegel said the individual was abstract, he was just trying to get the full view.

Crucially, for a Christian, the full story of your life is the story of Jesus. He is your larger self. St Paul wrote, "As in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members of one another" (Rom 12:4-5). “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” (1 Cor 6:15).

St Ambrose (333 ? 397) relates it to today’s reading: “Elizabeth exclaimed, ‘Blessed is she who believed.’ But you also are blessed who have heard and believed. For a soul that has believed has both conceived and bears the Word of God and declares his works. Let the soul of Mary be in each of you, so that it magnifies the Lord. Let the spirit of Mary be in each of you, so that it rejoices in God.”

http://www.presentationministries.com/

ICONS OF CHRISTMAS

"Let me see you, let me hear your voice." 뾖ong of Songs 2:14

To prepare the way for Christ's coming this Christmas, we must remove mountains of sin, fill in death-valleys of emptiness, make crooked, labyrinthine ways straight, and knock off the rough edges of our relationships and attitudes (see Lk 3:4-6). In other words, it's humanly impossible to prepare the way of the Lord. Only God Himself can do it. He will do it by convicting us of our sins, especially through prophecy, which will penetrate, divide, and judge the thoughts and reflections of our hearts (Heb 4:12).

Prophecy communicates what God is communicating when He is communicating it. Prophecy can be expressed in words, songs, dramas, lifestyle, and in pictures. There are certain prophetic pictures (sometimes called icons) which have led people to repent and prepare their lives for Jesus. Some of these are pictures of Jesus crucified, Jesus risen, the Good Shepherd, Jesus at the door (Rv 3:20), the infant of Prague, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Baby Jesus, etc.

In today's first readings, we see pictures of Jesus, the leaping Lover (Sg 2:8) and singing Lord (Zep 3:17). In today's Gospel reading, we see the picture of Jesus, the Baby in Mary's womb (Lk 1:42). Look at a prophetic picture of Jesus, especially one of the Sacred Heart, the Baby in the manger, or the Fetus-Baby in the womb. Look at Jesus repeatedly until the sword of prophecy pierces your heart and leads you to repent and prepare the way for Christmas.

Prayer: Jesus, cleanse the temple of my heart (see Lk 19:45).

Promise: "Blest is she who trusted that the Lord's words to her would be fulfilled." 뾎k 1:45

Praise: "O Radiant Dawn, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death."

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

Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. These are Elizabeth’s words to her cousin Mary and, I believe, the word of God to each of us today. We are blessed when we believe. Not necessarily in the “God will provide me with the parking place” sort of way ? although who am I to question another’s faith? But we do believe that God created us in love, that God’s Son became a human being so that we might become divine, that God continues to act in creation for our good. Lord, I do believe; help my unbelief. Pbs

http://www.judeop.org/dailyhomilette2.htm

“Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?” Shakespeare begins a famous love poem (Sonnet 18) and continues, “Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” Although saints have experienced the love of God, they seldom express themselves more eloquently than human lovers. For this reason the Song of Songs was adopted from Hebrew love poetry to describe God’s love for Israel. Today’s first reading provides a sample of the exquisite love poem reframed to express divine passion.

The Church juxtaposes the passage from the Song of Songs with the gospel of Mary visiting Elizabeth to indicate the joy God brings to His people. Mary bears Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, into the presence of the not-yet-born John representing the expectant Israel. Unable to express his glee in words, the fetus leaps in his mother’s womb. Likewise, Israel can rejoice for at long last her lover has come to save her from disgrace.

We really should wait until the evening of the 24th to celebrate Christmas; however, like John in the gospel we cannot but anticipate Jesus’ actual birth. Still we should hold jubilation in tension with the watchfulness which Jesus called us to at the beginning of Advent. We need to attend to those who are losing their grip on hope before sitting too comfortably at our table of plenty.

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

My many years in campus ministry have meant that I have witnessed a lot of weddings and subsequently have celebrated a lot of baptisms! Visits to many of these couples have meant that I have spent time with expectant moms. A recent visit with one of those couples featured an occasional glimpse of mom placing her hand on her tummy because baby was vigorously kicking! It is well known that babies in utero can react to outside stimuli as well as to the moods of mom! All of this can help us to visualize the "visitation" of Mary to Elizabeth! Of course, Elizabeth is six months along and Mary is just newly pregnant. So, John the Baptist is already getting active.

The preval‎ent mood of today's scripture (even the one from the Song of Songs) is one of joy! There is the joy that an expectant mother may experience. There is the shared joy of the "sisterhood" of expectant moms. I witnessed this when in public places with a pregnant friend. There will be the joy of John's father, Zechariah, when John is born and Zechariah recovers his speech! Can we see this as more than biblical history and "catch the mood" and join in the joy? Both these children were born to more than their parents and families. They are being born for us! AMEN

http://biblereflection.blogspot.com/

Today's first reading from the Song of Songs is from one of several
Old Testament books that paint a picture of a God who deeply loves his
people. God will stop at nothing until they respond; He calls them as
beloved and beautiful one, inviting them to come with Him. We must let
go of the things that hold us back and allow the will of God to
control our lives. When we are able to reach that point of surrender,
we can express our love in the words of today's Psalm, "cry out with
joy to the Lord, sing a new song to him." God's love unleashes joy in
our lives and allows us to respond to that love in ways that can
surprise us.

The gospel reading from Luke provides us with a wonderful example of
belief and trust. This is expressed in the lives of two ordinary
women. In yesterday's gospel, we were able to recognize Mary's belief
when she said "yes" to Gabriel's announcement that she was to become
the mother of Jesus. This event prompted Mary to travel to Elizabeth.
There Mary sees the sign of God's power at work in the womb of
Elizabeth. These events confirm‎ Mary's belief in the greatness of God.

The Holy Spirit to whom Mary and Elizabeth responded is the same
Spirit that each one of us received in Baptism and Confirmation. We
too are filled with the Holy Spirit. We only need to listen to the
call of the Spirit and say "yes" to God as often as we can as we seek
to reach the level of belief and trust like Mary and Elizabeth. When
we apply God's promises to our own lives, we, like Mary and Elizabeth,
will know the excitement and serenity that come from having complete
faith in our God.