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July 12th, 2024 Calender

Daily Reading & Reflections

December 10, 2021

Friday of the Second Week of Advent  

December 10, 2021

Friday of the Second Week of Advent

Lectionary: 185

Reading I

Is 48:17-19

Thus says the LORD, your redeemer,
    the Holy One of Israel:
I, the LORD, your God,
    teach you what is for your good,
    and lead you on the way you should go.
If you would hearken to my commandments,
    your prosperity would be like a river,
    and your vindication like the waves of the sea;
Your descendants would be like the sand,
    and those born of your stock like its grains,
Their name never cut off
    or blotted out from my presence.

Responsorial Psalm

1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6

  1.  (see John 8:12)  Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
    Blessed the man who follows not
        the counsel of the wicked
    Nor walks in the way of sinners,
        nor sits in the company of the insolent,
    But delights in the law of the LORD
        and meditates on his law day and night.
    R.   Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
    He is like a tree
        planted near running water,
    That yields its fruit in due season,
        and whose leaves never fade.
        Whatever he does, prospers.
    R.    Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
    Not so the wicked, not so;
        they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
    For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
        but the way of the wicked vanishes.
    R.    Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.

Alleluia

  1. Alleluia, alleluia.
    The Lord will come; go out to meet him!
    He is the prince of peace.
    R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Mt 11:16-19

Jesus said to the crowds:
“To what shall I compare this generation? 
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ 
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said,
‘He is possessed by a demon.’ 
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ 
But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”

Readings for the Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto 

Reflection: BREAKING THE SHACKLES OF WORLDLY THINKING

John the Baptist and Jesus are two contrasting characters with a common mission of the Kingdom of God. The Jewish leaders had problem with both of them. We know from our experience that the people whom we like can do no wrong and people whom we don't like can do no right. How frustrating it would have been for Jesus to be rejected by the very people whom He came to save! People failed to understand Jesus. The Jewish leaders who listened to Jesus found his message counter cultural, counter establishment, unconventional and too demanding. Jesus' notion of God and salvation did not fit in with theirs. What about us? Are we selective in following Jesus? Jesus calls us out of our comfort zones to take a U-turn and follow him radically. Let us ask Jesus to give us the openness of heart to understand his message and live by it.