First reading Isaiah 56:1-3,6-8
My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples
Thus says the Lord: Have a care for justice, act with integrity, for soon my salvation will come and my integrity be manifest.
Blessed is the man who does this and the son of man who clings to it: observing the sabbath, not profaning it, and keeping his hand from every evil deed.
Let no foreigner who has attached himself to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.’ Let no eunuch say, ‘And I, I am a dried-up tree.’
Foreigners who have attached themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love his name and be his servants – all who observe the sabbath, not profaning it, and cling to my covenant – these I will bring to my holy mountain. I will make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their holocausts and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.
It is the Lord who speaks, who gathers the outcasts of Israel: there are others I will gather besides those already gathered.
Responsorial Psalm 66(67):2-3,5,7-8
Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.
O God, be gracious and bless us
and let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth
and all nations learn your saving help.
Let the nations be glad and exult
for you rule the world with justice.
With fairness you rule the peoples,
you guide the nations on earth.
The earth has yielded its fruit
for God, our God, has blessed us.
May God still give us his blessing
till the ends of the earth revere him.
Gospel John 5:33-36
‘John was a lamp alight and shining’
Jesus said to the Jews:
‘You sent messengers to John,
and he gave his testimony to the truth:
not that I depend on human testimony;
no, it is for your salvation that I speak of this.
John was a lamp alight and shining
and for a time you were content to enjoy the light that he gave.
But my testimony is greater than John’s:
the works my Father has given me to carry out,
these same works of mine testify
that the Father has sent me.’
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Shining for Jesus
“John was a lamp lit and shining…”. John the Baptist was the lighted lamp that illuminated the way for others to Jesus, who is the one and only true Light of the World. He was contented to be who he was, i.e. the lamp and not the primordial source of Light. Throughout his life, John the Baptist bore witness to the Light by testifying who Jesus was and what He came to do. John 1: 6-9 states: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.That was the true Light which gives Light to every man coming into the world”.
Like John the Baptist, let us allow ourselves to be used by God. We are God’s lamps that illuminate Christ to others this Advent. By looking at our actions and listening to our words, may people encounter Jesus, the Light of the world.
Reflective question:
How can I be a lamp that shines brightly for Jesus?
How can I be a lamp that shines brightly for Jesus?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
