THE LORD IS IN YOUR MIDST

THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT YEAR C:  

PRAYER BEFORE HOLY MASS  Act of Love before Mass 

O my God, I love Thee with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength and with no other desire than to be inseparably united to Thee. It is through Thy Divine Son that this union is about to be realized within me. In Holy Communion I long to identify myself with Him, that it will no longer be myself, but Him, who lives in me; and when I have received Jesus within myself, then I shall love and be loved by Thee in that same measure, in which I am united to Him. Hasten then, to give me Thy Divine Son, at the hands of Thy priest, that through Jesus, I may unite myself forever to Thee, O God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit.

Readings Lectures Reflection

 

First Reading Zephaniah 3 :14-18

The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst

Shout for joy, daughter of Zion, Israel, shout aloud! Rejoice, exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has repealed your sentence; he has driven your enemies away. The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst; you have no more evil to fear.  

 

When that day comes, word will come to Jerusalem: Zion, have no fear, do not let your hands fall limp. The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult with joy over you, he will renew you by his love; he will dance with shouts of joy for you as on a day of festival.

 

Responsorial Psalm

Sing and shout for joy for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel

Second Reading Philippians 4:4-7

The Lord is very near

I want you to be happy, always happy in the Lord; I repeat, what I want is your happiness. Let your tolerance be evident to everyone: the Lord is very near. There is no need to worry; but if there is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and that peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus.

 

Gospel Acclamation Is. 61: (Lk 4:18)

Alleluia, alleluia!

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me.

He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor.

Alleluia!

 

Gospel Luke 3:10-18

'Someone is coming who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire'

When all the people asked John, ‘What must we do?’ he answered, ‘If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same.’ There were tax collectors too who came for baptism, and these said to him, ‘Master, what must we do?’ He said to them, ‘Exact no more than your rate.’ Some soldiers asked him in their turn, ‘What about us? What must we do?’ He said to them, ‘No intimidation! No extortion! Be content with your pay!’

A feeling of expectancy had grown among the people, who were beginning to think that John might be the Christ, so John declared before them all, ‘I baptise you with water, but someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptise 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 in a fire that will never go out.’ As well as this, there were many other things he said to exhort the people and to announce the Good News to them.

Heavenly Father, thank for your presnece in our midst. Father with you ever near we have no fear. We shout with joy for your saving grace over all your creatures.  Our God is a victorious warrior. He will exult with joy over  us, he will renew us  by his love. Our God will rejoice over his mercy, compassion and saving grace he bestowed on us. Father in expectancy we await the renewal, the rebirth of your Holy Spirit in us by the coming of your Son Jesus Christ our Emmanuel. He is the great one in our midst.  Come Lord Jesus Maranatha

Lord Jesus Christ I trust in you. Virgin Mary pray for  me. Saint Joseph pray for me. God's Holy Angels pray for  me. My Angel Guardian pray for me. Protect me, guide and guard me.

Pray the Holy Rosary may our Blessed Mother intercede on our behalf through Jesus Christ our Lord.