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.