The summary of the message of the first reading is honor and respect children are obligated to give to their parents. The amazing thing is that this honor to parents, when practiced with love, goes with lots of blessings as stated in the reading. Thus, the author of book of Sirach enumerates these blessings to include:

1. They will earn great favor of God.
2. Their prayers would always be listened to.
3. They would enjoy a long life and be happy with children of their own.
4. Even if they sinned, they would be forgiven.

Beloved Parishioners,

This is the time we celebrate the joy of Christmas that a savior was born for us and the mystery of God becoming man out of His love for humanity. It is a celebration of God’s love as He identifies with our humanness which He transforms by His divine love. It is a time many families gather to share the love of family reunion and God’s blessing as the year winds down. It is a time we celebrate the joy of God’s presence in our midst.

We are very close at Christmas as tonight we begin the celebration of the mystery of the incarnation of Christ among us. As we can see the attention shifts from John the Baptist to Mary the Mother of God. This story is only found in Luke’s gospel. Hence, we reflect upon Mary’s example of faith and obedience to God which permitted her to receive the angel’s message that God’s son would be born as a human person as one of us. She is to be mother of Christ.

Today is known as Gaudete Sunday, Rejoicing Sunday. The first reading we heard today was taken from the prophecy of Isaiah 61:1-2 and 10-12. Biblical scholars divided the work of Isaiah into three parts. Thus, we have the First Isaiah 1-39, the second Isaiah from 40-55 and the third Isaiah from 56-66. Thus, our reading is taken from the third Isaiah and the place of this prophecy was Jerusalem at a time immediately after the return of the exiles.

In today’s gospel reading, we see John the Baptist in the desert calling out to the people of Judea to come out into the open desert and let God find them. Isaiah, in the first reading, calls our attention to the mountains and valley that obscure our vision of God’s Glory. Then, Peter, in the second reading, invites us to a life of holiness and devotion to God. May we open ourselves to the grace that would enable us to respond to this call.

Today begins this special season of advent. It is a time of prayer, a time of repentance and a time of preparation. Advent ushers us into the new liturgical year of the church when we prepare for the coming of the Lord at Christmas, recall His coming many years ago and prepare for His coming at the end of our life. The word advent comes from the Latin word, “Adventum”, meaning, “coming”, but the question is, who will come? Jesus, even though He has come two thousand years ago, He comes every day in our life and we are called to get ready to receive Him anytime He comes.

The Church’s liturgical year concludes with this feast of Christ the King instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 to celebrate the Jubilee year and the 16th centenary of the Council of Nicaea. One of the reasons this feast was shifted to take place at the end of the Church’s liturgical year is to remind us that Jesus is the end of our lives. In instituting this feast, Pope Pius XI proclaimed “Pax Christi in Regno Christi.” The peace of Christ in the Reign of Christ. This means that we live in peace of Christ, when we surrender our lives to Him as our God, Savior and King and allow Him to rule our lives. We honor Christ as the king of the universe and the king of our hearts by allowing Him to take control of our lives.

Today’s gospel presents us with a very famous story many of us are very familiar with. The story of the King or master who gave his three servants talents and left for a long trip. On his return he expected to get a result on how they used the talents. The first two doubled what they were given because they tried and traded with it. The last never did anything on his own.

Wisdom forms the central message in today’s liturgy. The first reading says that wisdom is perceived by those who love her and can be found by those who seek it out. Those who seek it will find it, as it is not hidden nor inaccessible. Another aspect of the passage is that wisdom is personified with feminine pronouns and can be found in solitude. It is a precious gift that helps us navigate through life’s challenges because with wisdom we would be able to make right choices that would enrich our life here on earth and draw us close to God.

Who doesn’t desire the praise and respect of others? Who doesn’t like to be recognized or to be praised? We want others to see us at our best with all our strength and achievement, rather than at our worst with all of our faults and shortcomings.

Prophet Malachi, in the first reading of today, calls the attention of priests who prefer the praise and respect of people rather than giving glory to God. He says, “If you do not listen, if you do not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, I will send a curse upon you and your blessing I will make a curse.” Prophet Malachi condemns the attitude of priests who have abandoned true worship and service of God for self-praise and fame. In the days of Prophet Malachi many priests had lost the true meaning in the worship of God they presided over so that their worship no longer imparts their lives anymore.

The readings of this Sunday, especially the first reading and the gospel, call us to the strong commandment of love. Jesus manifested His love by His death on the Cross to save us from sin and give us new life in God. The crisis experience in various parts of the world today is a result of the failure to heed the commands of Jesus to love. It demands the giving of oneself for the sake of the good of another without counting the cost and without any condition. The commandment of love is what Jesus left for us when he says, “I give you a new commandment love one another as I have loved you.” God is love and to see God in the face of our fellow human being is to live the life of love. In this case our actions towards others are motivated by the spirit of God.

In the first reading from the prophet Isaiah, we see God uses Cyrus, a pagan king, as an instrument to realize the liberation of Israel from the Babylonians. Hence, in Isaiah 45:1 it says, “Thus, says the Lord to his anointed, Cyrus whose right hand I grasp”, and in verse 4, it says “For the sake of Jacob, my servant of Israel my chosen one, I have called you by name, though you knew me not, I am the Lord and there is no other.”

The story of a marriage feast was not something new. It was also frequently used in the Old Testament. A splendid feast or banquet is a good symbol of joy and happiness, as well as mutual union and love. Even in our own experience we can recall a special dinner at Thanksgiving or Christmas at which everyone enjoys not only the fine food and drink but also the conversation and the feeling of friendship and love. As Jesus told the parable in today’s gospel, the king made elaborate preparations for the dinner and then sent out invitations. To the amazement of the king, some ignored the invitation and went off to attend to business and personal affairs. To the absolute indignation of the king, others rose in rebellion against him and murdered his servants.

The first reading and the gospel of today share a common theme in the use of imagery they employed to convey their message. The central imagery shared by both Isaiah and Matthew is that of the vineyard of the Lord. At the same time, the vineyard of the Lord is referred to as the house of Israel. And in each case, the vineyard, instead of producing good fruits, produced wild grapes. According to Isaiah, despite all he did to care for the vineyard on the fertile hillside, planting of the choicest vines, building a watchtower to guard it when he looked for a crop of grapes what it yielded was wild grapes.

Ezekiel’s prophesy in the first reading teaches us the possibility of pardon through repentance for one’s accumulated evils, because God glories in forgiving those who turn back to him, and he ardently desires the salvation of all, but also the risk of losing all the good one has done by returning to doing evil. In the second reading Paul writing to Philippians encouraged them to be united and show their love for each other through humility and service. Christ, who is divine, became man to suffer and die for our salvation. No act of humility on our part can ever rival the humiliation of Christ’s suffering and death on the Cross. Christ willingly took on the role of a servant and allowed himself to be crucified for our sake even though he was innocent of any sin. Then in the gospel of Matthew the parable teaches us that promises can never take the place of performance and fine words are never a substitute for fine deeds.