2020년 12월 23일 대림 제4주간 수요일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
말라키 예언서. 3,1-4.23-24
주 하느님께서 이렇게 말씀하신다.
1 “보라, 내가 나의 사자를 보내니 그가 내 앞에서 길을 닦으리라.
너희가 찾던 주님, 그가 홀연히 자기 성전으로 오리라.
너희가 좋아하는 계약의 사자
보라, 그가 온다.
─ 만군의 주님께서 말씀하신다. ─
2 그가 오는 날을 누가 견디어 내며
그가 나타날 때에 누가 버티고 서 있을 수 있겠느냐?
그는 제련사의 불 같고 염색공의 잿물 같으리라.
3 그는 은 제련사와 정련사처럼 앉아 레위의 자손들을 깨끗하게 하고
그들을 금과 은처럼 정련하여 주님에게 의로운 제물을 바치게 하리라.
4 그러면 유다와 예루살렘의 제물이 옛날처럼, 지난날처럼 주님 마음에 들리라.
23 보라, 주님의 크고 두려운 날이 오기 전에
내가 너희에게 엘리야 예언자를 보내리라.
24 그가 부모의 마음을 자녀에게 돌리고 자녀의 마음을 부모에게 돌리리라.
그래야 내가 와서 이 땅을 파멸로 내리치지 않으리라.”
복음
루카 1,57-66
57 엘리사벳은 해산달이 차서 아들을 낳았다.
58 이웃과 친척들은 주님께서 엘리사벳에게 큰 자비를 베푸셨다는 것을 듣고,
그와 함께 기뻐하였다.
59 여드레째 되는 날, 그들은 아기의 할례식에 갔다가
아버지의 이름을 따서 아기를 즈카르야라고 부르려 하였다.
60 그러나 아기 어머니는 “안 됩니다. 요한이라고 불러야 합니다.” 하고 말하였다.
61 그들은 “당신의 친척 가운데에는 그런 이름을 가진 이가 없습니다.” 하며,
62 그 아버지에게 아기의 이름을 무엇이라 하겠느냐고 손짓으로 물었다.
63 즈카르야는 글 쓰는 판을 달라고 하여 ‘그의 이름은 요한’이라고 썼다.
그러자 모두 놀라워하였다.
64 그때에 즈카르야는 즉시 입이 열리고 혀가 풀려
말을 하기 시작하면서 하느님을 찬미하였다.
65 그리하여 이웃이 모두 두려움에 휩싸였다.
그리고 이 모든 일이 유다의 온 산악 지방에서 화제가 되었다.
66 소문을 들은 이들은 모두 그것을 마음에 새기며,
“이 아기가 대체 무엇이 될 것인가?” 하고 말하였다.
정녕 주님의 손길이 그를 보살피고 계셨던 것이다.
December 23, 2020
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Advent
Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass
Reading 1
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.
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.
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.
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.
Gospel
Lk 1:57-66
When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
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.”
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.”
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
In today’s Gospel we read the wonderful story of John’s birth to Elizabeth and Zechariah. It reminds us how God was with them and those around them as witnesses of something special. Special because God blessed them with a son in the latter years of their life and to a women who was thought not to be able to have children.
Reading back a few paragraphs in Luke, however, we learn about the story of Zechariah, a good and righteous priest. The Angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah while in the temple and shared with him the good news that he and Elizabeth would become pregnant with a baby boy. The story tells of Zechariah’s fear of Gabriel and quite naturally questions Gabriel about the news. It would seem quite a natural reaction given the biological nature of the situation and the fact that Gabriel was in a position of authority in the community, which generally comes with the privilege of questioning others. Because of Zechariah’s response to Gabriel and his apparent lack of trust in the good news, he was left with the inability to speak until the birth of his son.
Interestingly, instead of going straight to John’s birth, Luke’s Gospel goes on to tell the story about how Mary was approached by Gabriel with a similar message. Although initially frightened, her reaction was quite different from that of Zechariah. She did not question the message or the messenger (she really just wanted to know “how” it was going to happen since she wasn’t “with” a man). She accepted the news with, “let it be.” What a demonstration of faith, courage, and trust. Mary was an unwed teenager who would seem to have every natural tendency to resist and respond with every action imaginable to not accept the news. But, she didn’t. Luke’s Gospel story does not say that Mary was worthy, smart, comes from a good family, or has great potential to be a wonderful mother. It doesn’t qualify her to be the mother of Jesus in any way. So why was she chosen? Perhaps it is because she was humble, modest, simple, and lived a kind of “nothingness” type of life (according to cultural standards) without status in the community? Is this what the “Virgin” Mary means? Not looking at virginity only from a biological viewpoint, but rather also from an inner-most person perspective. And, if this is what virginity can mean, are these the qualities that we need in order to truly receive Christ? Is this the posture we need both inside and out in order to be ready to receive Christ on Christmas morning? Perhaps the Virgin Mary was chosen because she was ready to receive – and ready to receive in an opposite way compared to what we are used to in our culture. It seems that her apparent “nothingness” (her virginity) is paradoxically what put her in an ideal position to receive.
Zechariah was clearly a good man, but the contrast between Mary and him is what caught my attention in this story. Mary represents humility, simplicity, and a way of life that doesn’t match the cultural expectations of power, money, attachment, or achievement. Zechariah, on the other hand, was in a position to question rather than trust. He was not yet ready to receive. Perhaps this was the purpose of the gift of silence he received from Gabriel. He needed more time in silence and stillness. This stillness that he experienced in the nine months leading up to the birth of John allowed him to truly see and rejoice at the gift – it put him in a position to receive. The contrasts between Mary and Zechariah is yet another example in the Gospel stories that show us that nothingness, a certain type of virginity, puts us in a position to receive. We can hear God best when we are still, and without feeling the need for status, power, money, influence, and achievement. It seems that the Gospel stories continue to tell us to let go of these things and return to our virgin-like state – like Mary. If we do, we can then be ready for the coming of the Christ Jesus.
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
CHRISTMAS PRESENCE
“All who heard stored these things up in their hearts, saying, ‘What will this child be?’ ” —Luke 1:66
I hope you’re more excited than you’ve ever been for Christmas — more excited than when you were a little child waiting to open your Christmas presents. The excitement I’m talking about is not primarily an emotion but an expression of faith. It’s not based on Christmas presents but on Christmas presence. The Lord is present. We can see Him setting the captives free, healing the sick, and working miracles (see Lk 4:18). We sense His presence within us, as He purifies our hearts and turns them to Himself. We see the Lord present in the Church, His Word, and the sacraments.
Although our sins blind us to His presence, we experience His presence sometimes and know by faith that He is with us always, even “until the end of the world” (Mt 28:20). Today, although we may feel as if we have a hundred things to do, we should stop everything for a while. If we let Him quiet our hearts, we will understand the words of the hymn “Silent Night.” When all is calm, all will be bright with a deep awareness of God’s presence. As we sit quietly at Jesus’ feet (Lk 10:39), the business and busy-ness of Christmas which have left us jaded will give way to an awareness and awe of Christ’s presence. We will be as a little child (see Mt 18:3). We will enter the kingdom of God and be excited about Christmas.
Prayer: Father, give me an awe of You which is the beginning of Christmas (see Ps 111:10).
Promise: “He will purify the sons of Levi, refining them like gold or like silver.” —Mal 3:3
Praise: “O Emmanuel, King and Lawgiver, Desire of the nations, Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God.”
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
Are you surprised to see the relatives of Zechariah and Elizabeth disagreeing over what to name their newborn child? Don't we do the same thing? This child, however has been named from above! And Elizabeth is firm in her faith and determined to see that God be glorified through this child. The name John means "the Lord is gracious." In the birth of John the Baptist and in the birth of Jesus the Messiah we see the grace and favor of God breaking forth into a world broken by sin, corruption, and death - a world lost without hope.
The Old Testament prophets foretold the return of the prophet Elijah (Malachi 3:1, and 4:5) who would announce the coming of the Messiah - the Savior and Ruler of the earth. John the Baptist fulfills the role of Elijah (Matthew 11:13-14). His miraculous birth shows the mercy and favor of God in preparing his people for the coming of its Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
When God acts to save us he graciously fills us with his Holy Spirit and makes our faith come "alive" to his promises. When we respond to his word with trust the Lord fills us with the joy of the Holy Spirit and renews our hope and gratitude for the mercy and gift of new life and salvation he gives us through Jesus Christ. Do you make your life an offering of thanksgiving to God, along with your family and all that you have and hope to accomplish? God wants to fill us with the joy of his saving presence all the days of our lives, from birth through death. Renew the offering of your life to God and give him thanks for his mercy and favor towards you.
Lord Jesus, you are gracious and forgiving towards us. Renew in me the gift of faith that I may believe your promises and obey your word.
Psalm 25:4-5, 8-10,14
4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
14 The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The parallels between John and Jesus, by Ephrem the Syrian (306-373 AD)
"The elderly Elizabeth gave birth to the last of the prophets, and Mary, a young girl, to the Lord of the angels. The daughter of Aaron gave birth to the voice in the desert (Isaiah 63:9), but the daughter of David to the strong God of the earth. The barren one gave birth to him who remits sins, but the Virgin gave birth to him who takes them away (John 1:29). Elizabeth gave birth to him who reconciled people through repentance, but Mary gave birth to him who purified the lands of uncleanness. The elder one lit a lamp in the house of Jacob, his father, for this lamp itself was John (John 5:35), while the younger one lit the Sun of Justice (Malachi 4:2) for all the nations. The angel announced to Zechariah, so that the slain one would proclaim the crucified one and that the hated one would proclaim the envied one. He who was to baptize with water would proclaim him who would baptize with fire and with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11). The light, which was not obscure, would proclaim the Sun of Justice. The one filled with the Spirit would proclaim concerning him who gives the Spirit. The priest calling with the trumpet would proclaim concerning the one who is to come at the sound of the trumpet at the end. The voice would proclaim concerning the Word, and the one who saw the dove would proclaim concerning him upon whom the dove rested, like the lightning before the thunder." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 1.31)
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