＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24

Now I am sending my messenger

Ahead of me to clear the way; then suddenly the Lord for whom you long will enter the sanctuary. The envoy of the covenant which you so greatly desire already comes, says Yah­weh of hosts. Who can bear the day of his coming and remain standing when he appears? For he will be like fire in the foundry and like the lye used for bleaching.

 He will be as a refiner or a fuller. He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. So Yahweh will have priests who will present the offering as it should be. Then Yahweh will accept with pleasure the offering of Judah and Jerusalem, as in former days.

 I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the day of Yahweh comes, for it will be a great and terrible day. He will reconcile parents with their children, and the children with their parents, so that I may not have to curse this land when I come.”

 

Ps 25:4-5ab, 8-9, 10 & 14

Lift up your heads and see; your redemptionis near at hand.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊      

Luke 1:57-66

When the time came for Elizabeth, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the merciful Lord had done a wonderful thing for her, and they rejoiced with her.

When, on the eighth day, they came to attend the circumcision of the child, they wanted to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John." They said to her, "But no one in your family has that name!" and they made signs to his father for the name he wanted to give him.

Zechariah asked for a writing tablet, and wrote on it, "His name is John;" and they were very surprised. Immediately, Zechariah could speak again, and his first words were in praise of God.

A holy fear came on all in the neighborhood, and throughout the hill country of Judea the people talked about these events. All who heard of it, pondered in their minds, and wondered, "What will this child be?" For they understood that the hand of the Lord was with him.

 

Gospel Reflection：

The birth of a child is always a happy occasion. The child represents the hope of those who have gone ahead of him or her, and who have done their battles with life, or are about to finish.

There is hope that the newborn will do what they could not accomplish or failed to do. That is why there is excitement in the air when John is born. Everybody in the village knows of the miraculous circumstances surrounding his birth.

The miracle baby is now in their midst. And so, the most important thing is the naming of the child. This was a serious matter in ancient times. For a name carries with it the destiny of the bearer. The baby could not be named frivolously. And so, after much debate, they named him John.

It means that God is gracious. It is an apt name for the child who will later on introduce the graciousness of God Incarnate, our Lord Jesus Christ. And a holy expectation gripped the hill country of Judea. They will watch the child grow with awe and wonder. For through him, the hope of the little people is rekindled while the powers that be are unaware.

 St. John of Kanty, priest

Born   June 23, 1390

Died   December 24, 1473 (aged 83)

Beatified  28 March 1676,

Rome by   Pope Clement X

Canonized    1767,

Rome by Pope Clement XIII