Third Sunday of Advent

1st Reading – Isaiah 61:1-2A, 10-11

The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach to the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, to preach leniency to captives and release to the confined, and so to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vindication of our God.

I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, and my soul will exult in my God. For he has clothed me with the vestments of salvation, and he has wrapped me in the clothing of justice, like a groom arrayed with a crown, and like a bride adorned with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its seedlings and the garden produces its seeds, so will the Lord God bring forth justice and praise in the sight of all the nations.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Luke 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54

R. My soul rejoices in my God.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:

R. My soul rejoices in my God.

the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.

R. My soul rejoices in my God.

He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

R. My soul rejoices in my God.

 

2nd Reading – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Brothers and sisters:

Always rejoice.

Pray without ceasing.

Give thanks in everything. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for all of you.

Do not choose to extinguish the Spirit.

Do not spurn prophecies.

But test all things. Hold on to whatever is good.

Abstain from every kind of evil.

And may the God of peace himself sanctify you through all things, so that your whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved without blame unto the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He who has called you is faithful. He shall act even now.

 

Alleluia – Isaiah 61:1 (CITED IN Luke 4:18)

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel – John 1:6-8, 19-28

A man named John was sent from God.

He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.

He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light.

And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?” he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Messiah.”

So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”

So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?”

He said: “I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert, “Make straight the way of the Lord,”‘ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

Some Pharisees were also sent.

They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?”

John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”

These things were done in Bethania, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.