SATURDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

King of the peoples
and cornerstone of the Church,
come and save man,
whom you made from the dust of the earth.

MALACHI 3:1-4,23-24 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Every prophecy ever made in the Old Testament has been fulfilled by You in the New. Every promise ever made by God has been answered in You. You O Lord, our God, our King, and our Redeemer are the final and most glorious Covenant made by God with His people. Thank You, Lord, for sending Your Holy Spirit to abide in the Church, Your mystical body, and in each of us who are members of that Body. The Holy Spirit makes actual all that You O Lord have made possible by Your Incarnation, Your Life, Your Passion, Your Death, and Your glorious Resurrection. We who once had no hope are now alive with hope and it is a hope that will never be dimmed for we know that in the end our faith and our hope in You will be rewarded in the eternal beatific vision.

John the Baptist was the first witness to the truth, he prepared the way, and he announced that the One who coming after him was the real life-giver. He met You while You were both in the womb of your mothers. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he recognized You and leaped with joy in his mother's womb.

Beloved, You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life - there is no other. Today, Lord, as we prepare to celebrate the day of Your birth let us contemplate the humility of God, and be struck anew by the wondrous love of God that gave us His only Son to redeem the world.

Grant us the grace to be uncompromising witnesses to the truth like John the Baptist and let us be unafraid of those who can kill the body but after that are powerless to do anything else. We entrust both our bodies and our souls in Your care in complete confidence that You O Lord will save Your people. 

PSALM 24(25):4-5,8-9,10,14 ©

Lord, make me know your ways.

Lord, teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your truth, and teach me:
for you are God my saviour.

The Lord is good and upright.

He shows the path to those who stray,
He guides the humble in the right path,
He teaches his way to the poor.

His ways are faithfulness and love

for those who keep his covenant and law.
The Lord’s friendship is for those who revere him;
to them he reveals his covenant.

Stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.

LUKE 1:57-66 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Names are important - Zechariah and Elizabeth both knew that the baby she had conceived was by a miracle of God. Zechariah was struck dumb because of his disbelief and had nine months to contemplate what all this meant and from his beautiful canticle of praise when his tongue was loosed we see its fruit. On the eighth day of her son's birth, the child was to be circumcised and given a name. When asked what they were going to call him she said, 'John', they questioned her judgment and referred to the child's father who wrote on a tablet, 'His name is John', it was the name given by God for it was God who gave the child his identity. The moment he conferred on the child the name God had chosen for him he was able to speak again. 

Every child who is baptized is given the name of Christian, the name of Christ making us adopted children of the Father and co-heirs with You to the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the will of God for us in You by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is our identity before God as members of Your Body, the Church which You founded, and of which John was the first witness.

‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.