Third Sunday of Advent
Memory of Gigi, a child from Naples, who died violently in 1983. With him we remember all the children who suffer or who have died because of the violence of humanity. Prayer for children.
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Third Sunday of Advent
Memory of Gigi, a child from Naples, who died violently in 1983. With him we remember all the children who suffer or who have died because of the violence of humanity. Prayer for children.
First Reading
Zephaniah 3,14-17
Shout for joy, daughter of Zion, Israel, shout aloud! Rejoice, exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! Yahweh has repealed your sentence; he has turned your enemy away. Yahweh is king among you, Israel, you have nothing more to fear. When that Day comes, the message for Jerusalem will be: Zion, have no fear, do not let your hands fall limp. Yahweh your God is there with you, the warrior-Saviour. He will rejoice over you with happy song, he will renew you by his love, he will dance with shouts of joy for you,
Psalmody
Psalm 13
Antiphon
Seek the Lord and you will be saved.
The fool has said in his heart :'there is no God above.'
Their deeds are corrupt, depraved;
not a good man is left.
From heaven the Lord looks down on the sons of men
to see if any are wise,
if any seek God.
All have left the right path, depraved, every one;
there is not a good man left, no, not even one.
Will the evil-doers not understand they eat up my people
as though they were eating bread?
They never pray to the Lord see how they tremble with fear
without cause for fear; for God is with the just
You may mock the poor man's hope,
but his refuge is the Lord.
O that Israel's salvation might come from Zion!
When the Lord delivers his people from bondage,
then Jacob will be glad with Israel rejoice.
Second Reading
Philippians 4,4-7
Always be joyful, then, in the Lord; I repeat, be joyful. Let your good sense be obvious to everybody. The Lord is near. Never worry about anything; but tell God all your desires of every kind in prayer and petition shot through with gratitude, and the peace of God which is beyond our understanding will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
Reading of the Gospel
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Luke 3,10-18
When all the people asked him, 'What must we do, then?' he answered, 'Anyone who has two tunics must share with the one who has none, and anyone with something to eat must do the same.' There were tax collectors, too, who came for baptism, and these said to him, 'Master, what must we do?' He said to them, 'Exact no more than the appointed rate.' Some soldiers asked him in their turn, 'What about us? What must we do?' He said to them, 'No intimidation! No extortion! Be content with your pay!' A feeling of expectancy had grown among the people, who were beginning to wonder whether John might be the Christ, so John declared before them all, 'I baptise you with water, but someone is coming, who is more powerful than me, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fan is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out.' And he proclaimed the good news to the people with many other exhortations too.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Homily
The Gospel brings us to the banks of the river Jordan where John the Baptist preaches the "good news." With the crowds that were gathering around the prophet, we too ask to the Baptist: "What then should we do?" It is the question of this Advent. Let us acknowledge our limits and closures. Often, we are satisfied of ourselves, of our habits, of our pride and we think we did all that we could and therefore we cannot go any further. In fact with this resigned attitude we close the doors of our heart.
The Baptist's answer is made of simple and concrete words: "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." It is a clear answer in front of which we need to ask ourselves how to give something to eat to those who do not have it and how to clothe those who do not have clothing. How can we stay tranquil when so many people in the world do not have food or clothing? This is a major issue in our time in which the poverty and inequality grow. Believers are asked to widen even more their hearts to charity and make room to the poor and the weak so that none "of these little ones should be lost."
To the tax collectors who were approaching to him and asking what they should do, he answered, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you," that is, do not follow your voracious instincts, do not let yourself be dominated by your attempts to fulfil your needs, whether real or false. Indeed, it is easy that daily life makes us all forget the Gospel words and together with the words, also Gospel behaviours. John asks us to be serious, honest, and loyal. He urges the soldiers to reject violence and not to harm others. With simplicity he adds, "Do not abuse and be satisfied." It is a reminder to act in a gentle and humane way towards others, whoever they are and whatever their task is. It is an important reminder in a society like ours, where it is easy to treat others badly. John then asks us to be satisfied. It is not an invite to give up, rather to have limits, a reference to the wisdom of not chasing after all desires and satisfactions consuming them one after another.
John's preaching invites us to look to this global horizon. John knew he was not the Messiah, and said it clearly: "One who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." But he was aware of his responsibility of being a "voice" that cries out. And he honoured this responsibility to the point of martyrdom. Like the Baptist we too are aware of our smallness but also of our responsibility to proclaim the "good news" of the kingdom of God to all.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
