1ST READING
If
you think God is a God of doom and gloom, then I challenge you to read
the Song of Songs. It is a beautiful book describing God’s love for us
in terms of two lovers meeting and conversing about their love. The
imagery is very graphic and beautiful, reminding us that God holds
nothing back in His love for us, something that we should be well aware
of by now, given that Jesus, His Son, died for us.
Song of Songs 2:8-14 (or Zephaniah 3:14-18)
8 Hark! My lover — here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills. 9 My
lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Here he stands behind our
wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices. 10 My lover speaks; he says to me, “Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come! 11 “For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone. 12 The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the dove is heard in our land. 13 The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance. Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come! 14 “O
my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff,
let me see you, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and you are lovely.”
P S A L M
Psalm 33:2-3, 11-12, 20-21
R: Exult, you just, in the Lord! Sing to him a new song.
2 Give thanks to the Lord on the harp; with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises. 3 Sing to him a new song; pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness. (R) 11 But the plan of the Lord stands forever; the design of his heart, through all generations. 12 Blessed the nation
whose God is the Lord, the people he has chosen for his own inheritance. (R) 20 Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and our shield, 21 for in him our hearts rejoice; in his holy name we trust. (R)
GOSPEL
“Blessed
is the fruit of your womb,” cries Elizabeth when Mary arrives at her
house. This should be the cry that goes up from the earth every time a
woman conceives. There is a new life to rejoice about. What a wonderful
gift it is to share in the creative power of God. Yet so many children
are aborted today, even for the sake of mere convenience. It is a
holocaust that belies description because the child in the womb is
utterly defenseless. Let us all, with one voice, decry this injustice
and evil and seek to rectify it at once.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law: come to save us, Lord our God!
Luke 1:39-45
39 Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed
are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
think: What a wonderful gift it is to share in the creative power of God.
T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST
Thank You Lord for: ___________________________
____________________________________________
God’s special verse/thought for me today_________
____________________________________________
READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Micah 1-3
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