This Sunday's Readings;

FIRST READING: Baruch 5:1-9

God means to show your splendour to every nation under heaven.

Jerusalem, take off your dress of sorrow and distress, put on the beauty of the glory of God for ever, wrap the cloak of the integrity of God around you, put the diadem of the glory of the Eternal on your head: since God means to show your splendour to every nation under heaven, since the name God gives you for ever will be, ‘Peace through integrity, and honour through devotedness’.
Arise, Jerusalem, stand on the heights and turn your eyes to the east: see your sons reassembled from west and east at the command of the Holy One, jubilant that God has remembered them.
Though they left you on foot, with enemies for an escort, now God brings them back to you like royal princes carried back in glory.
For God has decreed the flattening of each high mountain, of the everlasting hills, the filling of the valleys to make the ground level so that Israel can walk in safety under the glory of God.
And the forests and every fragrant tree will provide shade for Israel at the command of God; for God will guide Israel in joy by the light of his glory with his mercy and integrity for escort.

The Word of the Lord.

Psalm 125

Response: - What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad.

1. When the Lord delivered Zion from bondage,
it seemed like a dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
on our lips there were songs. - Response

2. The heathens themselves said:
‘What marvels the Lord worked for them!’
What marvels the Lord worked for us!
Indeed we were glad. - Response

3. Deliver us, O Lord, from our bondage
as streams in dry land.
Those who are sowing in tears
will sing when they reap. - Response

4. They go out, they go out, full of tears
carrying seed for the sowing:
they come back, they come back, full of song,
carrying their sheaves. - Response

SECOND READING: Philippians 1:3-6. 8-11

Be pure and blameless, and prepare you for the Day of Christ.

Every time I pray for all of you, I pray with joy, remembering how you have helped to spread the Good News from the day you first heard it right up to the present. I am quite certain that the One who began this good work in you will see that it is finished when the Day of Christ Jesus comes. God knows how much I miss you all, loving you as Christ Jesus loves you. My prayer is that your love for each other may increase more and more and never stop improving your knowledge and deepening your perception. so that you can always recognise what is best. This will help you to become pure and blameless, and prepare you for the Day of Christ, when you will reach the perfect goodness which Jesus Christ produces in us for the glory and praise of God.

The Word of the Lord.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION : Lk 3:4.6

Alleluia, alleluia!
Prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight..
and all mankind shall see the salvation of God
Alleluia!

GOSPEL : Luke 3:1-6

All mankind shall see the salvation of God.

In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judaea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the lands of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias tetrach of Abilene, during the pontificate of Annas and Caiaphas the word of God came to John son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. He went through the whole Jordan district proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah:

A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley will be filled in, every mountain and hill be laid low, winding ways will be straightened and rough roads made smooth. And all mankind shall see the salvation of God.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Understanding the Liturgical Cycle

The Lectionary is arranged into two cycles, one for Sundays and one for weekdays. The Sunday cycle is divided into three years, labeled A, B, and C. 2005 was Year A, 2006 was Year B, 2007 was Year C, and so on. The Liturgical Year begins on the 1st Sunday of Advent (usually late November) and ends with the Feast of Christ the King.

In Year A, we read mostly from the gospel of Matthew. In Year B, we read the gospel of Mark and chapter 6 of the gospel of John. In Year C, we read the gospel of Luke. The gospel of John is read during the Easter season in all three years.

The first reading, usually from the Old Testament, reflects important themes from the gospel reading. The second reading is usually from one of the epistles, a letter written to an early church community. These letters are read semi-continuously. Each Sunday, we pick up close to where we left off the Sunday before, though some passages are never read.

The weekday cycle is divided into two years, Year I and Year II. Year I is read in odd-numbered years (2003, 2005, etc.) and Year II is used in even-numbered years (2002, 2004, etc.) The gospels for both years are the same. During the year, the gospels are read semi-continuously, beginning with Mark, then moving on to Matthew and Luke. The gospel of John is read during the Easter season. For Advent , Christmas, and Lent , readings are chosen that are appropriate to the season. The first reading on weekdays may be taken from the Old or the New Testament. Typically, a single book is read semi-continuously (i.e. some passages are not read) until it is finished and then a new book is started.

This year (2019) is Year C Sundays / Year I Weekdays