1ST READING
Many
of the prophets experienced toiling for years in speaking God’s Word to
His people and saw very little result for their efforts. Is this the
lot of a prophet? Let us pray that God will raise up modern-day prophets
to speak God’s truth to the world. Let us also pray that people will
have the common sense to listen and respond to what they have to say.
Isaiah 49:1-6
1 Hear me, O coastlands, listen, O distant peoples. The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name. 2 He
made of me a sharp-edged sword and concealed me in the shadow of his
arm. He made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me. 3 You are my servant, he said to me, Israel, through whom I show my glory. 4 Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my
strength, yet my reward is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God. 5 For
now the Lord has spoken who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him and Israel gathered to him; and I
am made glorious in the sight of the Lord, and my God is now my
strength! 6 It
is too little, he says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the
tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a
light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the
earth.
Psalm 139:1-3, 13-14, 14-15
R: I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
1 O Lord, you have probed me and you know me; 2 you know when I sit and when I stand; you understand my thoughts from afar. 3 My journeys and my rest you scrutinize, with all my ways you are familiar. (R) 13 Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. 14 I
give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works. (R) My soul also you knew full well; 15 nor was my frame unknown to you when I was made in secret, when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth. (R)
P S A L M
The
word of salvation has been proclaimed for about 2,000 years (from a
Christian perspective). Yet only about one third of the world is
Christian. We have a long way to go before the Gospel reaches the lives
of all men and women. There are many religions and philosophies in the
world. However, only very few of them contain the truths necessary for
eternal life.
Acts 13:22-26
22 In
those days, Paul said: “God raised up David as their king; of him he
testified, I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart;
he will carry out my every wish. 23 From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise, has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. 24 John heralded his coming by
proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel; 25 and
as John was completing his course, he would say, ‘What do you suppose
that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy
to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’ 26 “My
brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those others among you who
are God-fearing, to us this word of salvation has been sent.”
GOSPEL
John
the Baptist is a precursor to Jesus. He has been sent to prepare the
way for Jesus to proclaim the Gospel. When one reads through Luke’s
infancy narratives, we discover that the Holy Spirit keeps coming up in
reference to the lives of the major figures in the narratives and how
they were filled with the Holy Spirit. We need more of the Holy Spirit
in our lives and that of the Church to empower us in our witness of the
Gospel to the world.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
Luke 1:57-66, 80
57 When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, 60
but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” 61 But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” 62 So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. 63 He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. 65 Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. 66 All
who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will
this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. 80 The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.
think: We need more of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
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 1 Chronicles 4-6
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