
Third Sunday of Advent
 Reading 1
Zep 3:14-18a
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
The LORD has removed the judgment against  you
he has turned away your enemies;
the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your  midst,
you have no further misfortune to fear.
On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!
The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a mighty savior;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
he will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.  
  Responsorial Psalm
   Is 12:2-3, 4, 5-6
R. (6)  Cry out with joy and gladness:  for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
R. Cry  out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.
R. Cry  out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious  achievement;
let this be known  throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is  the Holy One of Israel!
R. Cry out with joy and gladness:  for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.  
Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again:  rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all  understanding
will guard your hearts and  minds in Christ Jesus.
     Gospel
   Lk 3:10-18
  
   The crowds asked John the Baptist,
“What should we do?”
He said to them in reply,
“Whoever has two cloaks
should share with the person who has none.
And whoever has food should do likewise.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized and  they said to him,
“Teacher, what should we do?”
He answered them,
“Stop collecting more than what is  prescribed.”
Soldiers also asked him,
“And what is it that we should do?”
He told them,
“Do not practice extortion,
do not falsely accuse anyone,
and be satisfied with your wages.” 
Now the people were filled with  expectation,
 and all were asking in their hearts
 whether John might be the Christ.
 John answered them all, saying,
 “I am baptizing you with water,
 but one mightier than I is coming.
 I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his  sandals.
 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit  and fire.
 His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear  his threshing floor
 and to gather the wheat into his barn,
 but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable  fire.”
 Exhorting them in many other ways,
 he preached good news to  the people.
Fourth Sunday of Advent
 Reading 1
Mi 5:1-4a
Thus says the LORD:
You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah
too small to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel;
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient times.
Therefore the Lord will give them up, until  the time
when she who is to give birth has borne,
and the rest of his kindred shall return
to the children of Israel.
He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock
by the strength of the LORD,
in the majestic name of the LORD, his God;
and they shall remain, for now his  greatness
shall reach to the ends of the earth; he shall be peace. 
  Responsorial Psalm
   Ps  80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19
(4)  Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your  face and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
from your throne upon the cherubim, shine  forth.
Rouse your power,
and come to save us.
Lord,  make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see;
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has  planted
the son of man whom you yourself made  strong.
Lord,  make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
May your help be with the man of your right  hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made  strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon  your name.
Lord, make us turn to you; let  us see your face and we shall be saved. 
Brothers and sisters:
When Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
                       but  a body you prepared for me;
in holocausts and sin offerings you took no  delight.
Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the  scroll,
behold, I come to do your will, O God.’“ 
First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings,
 holocausts and sin offerings,
 you neither desired nor delighted in.”
 These are offered according to the law.
 Then he says, :Behold, I come to do your  will.”
 He takes away the first to establish the  second.
 By this “will,”  we have been consecrated 
Mary set out
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth  heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth,  filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to  me?
For at the moment the sound of your  greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord

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