In today’s first reading from Joel, it starts off a bit bleak and dark, but it’s filled with hope. When the Lord comes, He will bring light into their darkness. He will vindicate all those who suffered under unrighteousness.
In this month of October, as we are drawing close to the start of Advent, it’s a good reminder that we should stay awake and stand ready for when the Lord comes. All of us who are just in the Lord shall rejoice!
The Lord reminds us in today’s Gospel that happy are those, or rather blessed are those, who listen to the Word of God and does His will. Amen.
Saint John XXIII, Pope pray for us…
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First reading
Joel 4:12-21 ·
The day of the Lord is near; sun and moon grow dark
The Lord says this:
‘Let the nations rouse themselves, let them march
to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for I am going to sit in judgement there on all the nations round.
Put the sickle in:
the harvest is ripe;
come and tread:
the winepress is full,
the vats are overflowing,
so great is their wickedness!’
Host on host
in the Valley of Decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the Valley of Decision!
Sun and moon grow dark,
the stars lose their brilliance.
The Lord roars from Zion,
makes his voice heard from Jerusalem; heaven and earth tremble.
But the Lord will be a shelter for his people, a stronghold for the sons of Israel.
‘You will learn then that I am the Lord your God,
dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be a holy place,
no alien will ever pass through it again.’
When that day comes, the mountains will run with new wine and the hills flow with milk,
and all the river beds of Judah
will run with water.
A fountain will spring from the house of the Lord to water the wadi of Acacias.
Egypt will become a desolation,
Edom a desert waste on account of the violence done to the sons of Judah whose innocent blood they shed in their country.
But Judah will be inhabited for ever, Jerusalem from age to age.
‘I will avenge their blood and let none go unpunished’, and the Lord shall make his home in Zion.
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Gospel
Luke 11:27-28
‘Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!’
As Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, ‘Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!’ But he replied, ‘Still happier those who hear the word of God and keep it!’
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