Our Daily Bread : Scripture Readings For The Day (Dec. 2, 2012)
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
December 2, 2012
First Reading
Jer 33:14-16
The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise
I made to the house of Israel and Judah.
In those days, in that time,
I will raise up for David a just shoot ;
he shall do what is right and just in the land.
In those days Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure;
this is what they shall call her:
“The LORD our justice.”
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14
R. (1b) To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior, and for you I wait all the day.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice, and teaches the humble his way.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him, and his covenant, for their instruction.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Second Reading
1 Thes 3:12-4:2
Brothers and sisters:
May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen.
Finally, brothers and sisters, we earnestly ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that, as you received from us how you should conduct yourselves to please God and as you are conducting yourselves you do so even more.
For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
Gospel
Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
Jesus said to his disciples:
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.
“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth.
Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Reflection
The coming of the Son of Man in power and glory is the moment of universal redemption. Jesus announces the end of Jerusalem and of the world. This catastrophe will reveal to the believers the sense and purpose of the Holy City: the coming of the Son of Man. The destruction that will come is not a reduction to nothing but a revelation of the final aim: the coming of the Kingdom of Christ. As we believe in the first coming of Christ, it is necessary to believe also in his second coming. From such faith arise expectation and watchfulness.
To be watchful is to know that the last end of things is not their immediate termination, that death is not the end, and to discern that death and the collapse of things like that of Jerusalem is a sign of the coming of God’s kingdom, of redemtion and liberation in God. The second coming of the Lord should dominate all our life, and we should await with faith the coming and glorious day.
In our expectation, we must be prepared and be ready because the Lord will come as judge. We who desire to participate in the eternal goods and prepare to receive them should remain watchful so that when he comes, the Lord will not find us lazy and careless. As we keep watch, it is also essential to pray, meditating and hoping, for genuine prayer brings us to meeting with God and to intimacy with Him.
Advent time of joy, thanksgiving and prayer to God si that He continues to come to us and to the world till His glorious coming at the end of times.