First Reading
Isaiah 11:1-10
1. In baptism you receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, mentioned in this reading: wisdom, understanding, right judgment, courage, knowledge, reverence, wonder and awe in the presence of God. How do these relate to the peace in your heart?
2. “The earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord.” Von Balthasar holds that this is “the drenching of the entire being with the inner understanding of what God is.” (See Here) Discuss this idea. How does this relate to peace in the reading?
Second Reading
Romans 15:4-9
1. John O’Malley, SJ: “Pope Francis is continuously pushing us beyond the comforts of our religious boundaries to encounter the one human family.” Would St. Paul be giving the same advice to the Church today that we read in this reading: “I say that Christ became a minister of the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, to confirm the promises to the patriarchs”
2. There are people with whom you disagree. How easy is it to “think in harmony” with them? Why think in harmony instead of just going along with them, or being nice, or acting like you agree with them?
Gospel
Matthew 3:1-12
1. Judging by John’s appearance (clothing of camel's hair, a leather belt around his waist, eating locusts and wild honey) would you guess his cry was lukewarm, or was it a cry from his heart that called for life-altering change? How would you respond to him? Is the fire within you a conflagration or does it look more like a pilot light? What can you do during Advent to gather some kindling for your fire?
2. Pope Francis summed up John the Baptists’ vocation in three key words: “Prepare, discern and diminish.” Why does he say we also need to diminish ourselves?
John was a man who prepared the way for Jesus without taking any of the glory for himself. … When asked if he was the Messiah, John replied that he was just “a voice” who had come “to prepare the way of the Lord.”
The second vocation of John the Baptist was to discern, among so many good people, who was the true Messiah. When John saw Jesus passing by, he said to the disciples, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” The third vocation of John the Baptist is to diminish himself so that the Lord may grow in the hearts of others.… As Christians we too must prepare the way of the Lord, we must discern the truth and we must diminish ourselves so that the Lord can grow in our hearts and in the souls of others.
