December 15 - Third Sunday of Advent (B)
Themes:
A. Exult for Joy
B. The One You Do Not Know
Readings:
Is
61:1-2, 10-11
1 Thes 5:16-24
Jn 1:6-8, 19-28
Greeting (from the second reading)
May the God of peace make you perfect and holy,
and keep you sound and blameless
for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rejoice, for the Lord is with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
A. Exult for Joy
How come, with all the good things the Lord gives us, that so often we are sad, so joyless? We have one another, we have our faith, we have Jesus as our companion in life, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, we have a Father in heaven who cares. Rejoice, the Lord is near. Rejoice, the Lord is here. Rejoice, here with us is the Lord Jesus. Now with him we can give proper thanks to our Father.
B. The One You Do Not Know
Do you want to know Jesus? Do you want to meet him today? Encounter him in people, accompany them on the road of life, especially the poor, the brokenhearted, the downtrodden and those who are not free. Jesus identifies with them. In them we find Jesus. Then he will no longer remain an unknown, remote person to us. We will then be with Jesus, and Jesus with us.
Penitential Act
Too often we are sad and thankless.
We now ask the good Lord to forgive us.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, you have brought us
the joy of complete forgiveness:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.Jesus Christ, you keep sharing with us
the Good News of the life and the love of God:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.Lord Jesus, you prepare us
for a joy that will last
and that no one can take away from us:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
forgive us all our sins
and turn our sadness into joy.
Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening
Prayer
Let us pray that we may recognize the Lord
when he comes among us
(PAUSE)
Lord God, our Father,
no one has ever seen you
but you have shown yourself to us
in your beloved Son Jesus Christ.
Help us to recognize his face
in the poor and the humble.
Do not allow us to overlook him
in the brokenhearted and the weak.
Let the Holy Spirit give us the courage
to bring his good news of hope and joy
to all who wait for him and need him,
whether they know it or not.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Scripture Readings
First
Reading Introduction: I Rejoice, for God Is Near
to the Humble
To the poor, the brokenhearted,
people imprisoned in their fears, the prophet announces in the name of
God: Rejoice, salvation is coming. God is with you. We hear, first the
words of the prophet, then the response of the people.
First Reading: Is 61:1-2, 10-11
The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me,
because Yahweh has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up broken hearts,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
freedom to those languishing in prison;
to announce the year of Yahweh's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to give comfort to all who grieve;I rejoice greatly in Yahweh,
my soul exults for joy in my God,
for he has clothed me in the garments of his salvation,
he has covered me with the robe of his righteousness,
like a bridegroom wearing a garland,
like a bride adorned with jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its growth,
and as a garden makes seeds spring up,
so will the Lord Yahweh make justice and praise
spring up in the sight of all nations.
Second
Reading Introduction: Rejoice: The Lord Is Coming
Paul asks his Christians to
be joyful and to prepare for the coming of the Lord by their holy Christian
living.
Second Reading: 1 Thes 5:16-24
Brothers and sisters, rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give thanks to God at every moment. This is the will of God, your vocation as Christians.
Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise the prophets' warnings. Put everything to the test and hold fast to what is good. Avoid evil, wherever it may be.
May the God of Peace make you holy and bring you to perfection. May you be completely blameless, in spirit, soul and body, till the coming of Christ Jesus, our Lord; he who called you is faithful and will do it.
Gospel
Introduction: Among You Stands He Whom You
Do Not Know
John the Baptist is God's messenger of Good
News to the people who are humble enough to expect God's help; the Savior
is already here, but you have not recognized him, says John.
Gospel
Reading: Jn 1:6-8, 19-28
A man came, sent by God;
his name was John.
He came to bear witness,
as a witness to introduce the Light
so that all might believe through him.
He was not the Light but a witness to introduce the Light.
This was the testimony of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites to ask him, "Who are you?" John recognized the truth and did not deny it. He said, "I am not the Messiah."
And they asked him, "Then who are you? Elijah?" He answered, "I am not." They said, "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." Then they said to him, "Tell us who you are, so that we can give some answer to those who sent us. How do you see yourself?" And John said, quoting the prophet Isaiah, "I am the voice crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord."
Those who had been sent were Pharisees; so they put a further question to John: "Then why are you baptizing if you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?" John answered, "I baptize you with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know; although he comes after me, I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal."
This happened in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
General
Intercessions
While we wait for the fuller coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us recognize him already present in our hope and in our love. Let us ask him to bring before his Father the needs and the cares of his people as we pray: R/ Come, Lord, stay with us.
- Lord, we pray for the Catholic Church and for all Christian Churches. May all bear witness to your presence by their concern for justice and peace, their search for unity and their respect for consciences, and above all by their hope in your future, we pray:
R/ Come, Lord, stay with us.
- Lord, we pray for all Christians. May they be always people of joy, happy and serene even in the tensions of life, for you have brought us forgiveness and mercy and you let us live in your love. Let our joy be contagious, we pray:
R/ Come, Lord, stay with us.
- Lord, we pray for all who sincerely seek you. Like you, may they bring freedom to prisoners, food and drink to the needy. Let them speak words of encouragement to the brokenhearted and in this way proclaim the good news to the poor, we pray:
R/ Come, Lord, stay with us.
- Lord, we pray for ourselves. Let us be a community of faith and hope, of compassion, mutual respect and service, of unity and sharing, where each feels responsible for the others. May this show people that you are alive among us, we pray:
R/ Come, Lord, stay with us.
Come, stay with us, Lord, and let nothing come between you and us, between us and people. Keep us in your love now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Prayer
over the Gifts
God our Father,
we welcome your Son in our midst
with simple gifts of bread and wine,
your present to us, and also the fruit
of rain and sunshine and the work of our hands.
Let the Spirit of your Son be also upon us
to help us welcome one another
with the bread and the love we share
and with the wine of our joy.
Let this be the sacrifice we offer you today
together with your Son in our midst,
Jesus Christ, our Lord for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
Before the Eucharistic Prayer
Let us with joy give thanks to the Father with Jesus, his Son, already in our midst.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
Let us pray to God our Father
for the coming of his Son
and of his kingdom: R/ Our Father...
Prayer for Peace
Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles:
I leave you peace, my peace I give you.
But we are each seeking our own little peace
at the expense of others;
peace is often on our lips,
but we do not know how to live in peace.
Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church,
and grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom
where you live for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
Invitation to Communion
Happy are we to be invited
to the meal of joy of the Lord.
For this is the Savior announced by the Baptist,
he who is in our midst
and whom we do not always recognize,
Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
we thank you for the joy of this eucharist.
You have given us a glimpse
of him we do not know well,
Jesus Christ, your Son.
Let him stay with us now in everyday life
and help us to know him better
by learning to recognize him
in the people around us,
especially in the poor and the humble,
and by doing for one another
what he did and still does for us.
We ask you this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
In this eucharist we heard the words of the prophet:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me;
he sent me to bring the Good News to the poor.”
At the beginning of this preaching,
Jesus uses the same words about himself.
We share in his mission:
we have to make him visible
in the Church and in the world of today
by our concern for the poor and the humble.
May we carry out this task with joy,
and with the blessing of almighty God:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.May the Lord go with you wherever you go. R/ Thanks be to God.
John the Baptist presents Jesus: "Among you stands one whom you do not know." This is not surprising, for we know that none of us really knows even our own selves, our desires, motivations and possibilities. Similarly, the people we are closest to may be familiar, but do we fully know them, their deepest thoughts and feelings? Jesus wants to be better known by us. We can know him better through meditating on the first reading, the words which Jesus himself chose as a mission statement (Luke 4). As his followers, it's our mission statement too. St. Paul encourages us: God has called us in Christ, and God's mission is always to form the mind and heart of Christ in us.
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