24 Dec
Mon
4th Week of Advent
2 Sam. 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16
Ps. 88:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29
Lk. 1:67-79
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Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth and father of John the Baptist, for doubting the word of the angel, had been struck dumb but when, at the circumcision of his son, he confirmed that the boy's name would be John, he recovered his speech and broke out into this song of praise. In it he thanks God for having "visited his people" and "come to their rescue" just has he had promised through the mouths of the prophets down the ages.

Zechariah goes on to speak of his newly-born son, "You will be called Prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way for Him." That will be John's special role, to prepare us for the coming of Jesus our Saviour. It is also the role given to each one of us by our Baptism.

The first reading from the Second Book of Samuel speaks of God asking David to make him a dwelling place worthy of him. David the king lives in a palace of fine cedar wood while God only has a tent, the tent where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. The implication of this passage for us in today's Mass is that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the new temple where God lives, she is the new Ark of the Covenant - a fitting place, a place of perfection without any trace of sin or evil. But later on, Paul will remind Christians that each one of them, too, is now a temple of God, of the Spirit of Jesus. In the New Covenant there is no longer any temple building but "you are God's temple".



O Prince of Peace, come and take up Your abode in my heart.

DAILY OFFERING
Eternal Father, I offer You everything I do this day; my thoughts, words, joys and sufferings. Grant that, vivified by the Holy Spirit and united to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, my life this day may be of service to You and to others. I also pray that all those preparing for marriage discover in Sacrament the source of Christ's grace for living a fithful and fruitful love. Amen.

PRAYING WITH THE CHURCH
INTENTION
That Christians may free themselves from the subtle forms of cultural conditioning which prevent them from recognising the dignity and rights of others
Elaboration

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P R A Y I N G    W I T H    T H E    C H U R C H    

INTENTION : That Christians may free themselves from the subtle forms of cultural conditioning which prevent them from recognising the dignity and rights of others

Our vocation and mission as Christians is to bring the light of Christ to the world in order to preserve the world from corruption by permeating it with the values of the Gospel. We need, ourselves, first and foremost to be enlightened by Christ. We do not generate light, we only refract, reflect and radiate. It is His light that we must cast on the world. The more transparent our lives are with the values of the Gospel, the better is the light of Christ reflected and the less we are seen.

The world in which we live is mixed with wheat and weeds. There is good and evil. Consumerism is but the logical sequence of a materialistic way of life. Spiritual values are forgotten. Our wants are made to appear as our needs and we are forced to get so immersed in the joys of this world as to forget the joys of the world to come. We are admonished to be aware lest we be trapped by these and other forms of cultural conditioning that mark this world.

Awareness is the first step to change. We pray that this awareness may help us to be delivered from the cultural conditioning that hinders and hampers our vision and prevents us from recognising the dignity and the rights of others.




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