＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Zephaniah 3:14-18a

Cry out with joy, O daughter of Zion; rejoice,

O people of Israel! Sing joyfully with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! Yahweh has lifted your sentence and has driven your enemies away. Yahweh, the King of Israel is with you; do not fear any misfortune.

 On that day they will say to Jerusalem: Do not be afraid nor let your hands tremble, for Yahweh your God is within you, Yahweh, saving warrior. He will jump for joy on seeing you, for he has revived his love. For you he will cry out with joy, as you do in the days of the Feast.

 I will drive away the evil I warned you about, and you will no longer be shamed.

 

Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6(6)

Cry out with joy and gladness, For among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

Philippians 4:4-7

 Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again: rejoice and may everyone experience your gentle and understanding heart. The Lord is near: do not be anxious about anything. In everything resort to prayer and supplication together with thanksgiving and bring your requests before God. 

Then the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊      

Luke 3:10-18

 The people asked him, “What are we to do?”   And John answered, “If you have two coats, give one to the person who has none; and if you have food, do the same.”

Even tax collectors came to be baptized and asked him, “Master, what must we do?”  John said to them, “Collect no more than your fixed rate.”   People serving as soldiers ask­ed John, “What about us? What are we to do?” And he answered, “Don’t take anything by force or threaten the peo­ple by denouncing them falsely. Be content with your pay.”

 The people were wondering about John’s identity, “Could he be the Messiah?”  Then John answered them, “I baptize you with water, but the one who is coming will do much more: he will baptize you with Holy Spirit and fire.

As for me, I am not worthy to untie his san­dal.   He comes with a winnowing fan to clear his threshing floor and gather the grain into his barn. But the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.”

With these and many other words John announced the Good News to the people

 

Gospel Reflection：

Read:

John is busy teaching the people how to live an upright life. Many begin to wonder whether John is the Messiah. He has to declare publicly that he is not and that someone greater than him is coming.

Reflect:

John does not only baptize people but teaches them how to leave moral lives. For part of repentance from former sinful life is its reorientation to what is true, holy and pleasing in God’s sight. So, part of religious leadership is a moral life capable of teaching others to do the same.

Because of his activities, speculation swirled around the person of John. After all, nothing like this has happened in Israel for the past four hundred years. Somebody from nowhere comes and shakes the religious life of Israel.

And so, the people cannot anymore bear the suspense regarding John’s identity ask him squarely whether he is the promised Messiah or not. This is the defining moment of John’s career. He could usurp the role and reap a lot of benefits from it, or humbly accept his true role in God’s plan.

He chooses the latter. It is a testament of the greatness of John who does not feel diminished playing second fiddle to God’s chosen one. That is why Jesus praised him as not surpassed by any human born of a woman.

Respond:

We have to teach people sometimes on how to live moral lives. The question is, do we have sufficient credibility to do so? The greatest teaching we can impart to others is the example of our own lives.

 

"He comes with a winnowing fan to clear his threshing floor

and gather the grain into his barn.

But the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out."