SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (Mt 3:1-12) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
- NHA CHUA CHA
- Dec 7
- 5 min read
FIRST READING - Is 11:1-10
"He shall judge the poor with justice."
A reading from the Book of Isaiah
1 But a shoot shall sprout from the stump[c] of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
2 [d]The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him:
a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A spirit of counsel and of strength,
a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord,
3 and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.
Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
4 But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide fairly for the land’s afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
5 Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.
6 [e]Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze,
together their young shall lie down;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
8 The baby shall play by the viper’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
9 They shall not harm or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord,
as water covers the sea.
10 On that day,
The root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the peoples—
Him the nations will seek out;
his dwelling shall be glorious.
SECOND READING - Rm 15:4-9
"Therefore, I will praise you among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name."
A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans
4 For whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony[a] with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, 6 that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[b] 7 Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8 For I say that Christ became a minister of the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, to confirm the promises to the patriarchs, 9 but so that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:
“Therefore, I will praise you among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name.”
GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Mt 3:1-12
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
✠From the Gospel according to Matthew
[a] 1 In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea[b] 2 [and] saying, “Repent,[c] for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” 3 [d]It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:
“A voice of one crying out in the desert,‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’”
4 [e]John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him 6 and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.[f]
7 When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees[g] coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.[h] 12 [i]His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (Mt 3:1-12)
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Dear people of God,
In today’s Word of God, God recounts John the Baptist calling people to repentance, in preparation for the day God comes to earth to save humanity.
God the Father loves all people in this world! He does not exclude anyone from His loving arms.
Therefore, He sent a messenger ahead to prepare the way for the Savior to come to earth and bring salvation to humankind.
John the Baptist was the incarnation of Elijah of old; he came to urge people to repent, abandon the path of sin, and return to God the Father.
God the Father calls everyone to truly repent, bear the fruit in the form of good and virtuous deeds, and live and act according to the words that God the Father sent His messenger to proclaim to humanity.
This messenger is an example for people to follow, which is to live justly, charitably, lovingly, and sincerely repent of our sins, and open our hearts to receive God’s light coming to humanity.
These things always bring happiness and peace to humankind.
In today’s Word of God, God desires to come to humanity so that humanity may open their hearts to welcome the Son of God dwelling within their hearts, just as the people of old awaited the Savior to free them from the world's dominion.
In today's world, God the Father calls upon everyone to urge our hearts to repent of our sins that we have offended God and others, so that we may always prepare our souls to welcome the Savior, preparing our souls to await the day God comes to call our very soul and body out of this world.
God loves humanity! God reiterates His Word for all humankind to know: urge our hearts to repent and bear the fruit of good and virtuous deeds, so that God the Father Himself may dwell within our souls.
And when God the Father dwells in someone’s soul, that soul will find happiness and peace in God the Father’s love.
As God the Father loves humanity, so too must humanity love our fellow human beings.
That is the call God the Father has set forth for humanity: to love God above all things and love our neighbor as ourselves.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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