Joy
Rejoice!
John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You
brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits
worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our
ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to
Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore
that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the
fire."
And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" In
reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has
none; and whoever has food must do likewise." Even tax-collectors came to be
baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?" He said to them,
"Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you." Soldiers also asked him,
"And we, what should we do?" He said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone
by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your
wages."
As the people were filled with expectation, and all
were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the
Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one
who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his
sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork
is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his
granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable
fire."
So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the
good news to the people.
Luke
3:7-18
John the
Baptist
Painted choir-screen
sculpture depicting John the Baptist being questioned
1508-1519
Cathedral of Notre
Dame
Amiens,
France
The
most profound joy has more of gravity
than of gaiety in it.
~
Michel de Montaigne
I think we all sin by needlessly disobeying the apostolic
injunction to "rejoice" as much as by anything
else.
~ C.S.
Lewis
Rune and
Trish with Sylvia at our Christmas Party
for our
Wednesday Breakfast Group at Carmon's and Donald's home.
Karel and
Linda
Loie and
Carolyn Mc.
Ginny
and Jackie at a delightful Brunch at Joanie's home on
Thursday.
Anne, Jana
(our exchange student from Germany), and Kimra
at our Rotary
Holiday Party at the Lakehouse
WOW!!!
Robert, Mark,
Jana, and Hanna singing
Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht.
Our Painted
Toe Society had a Reception at Capelli's in Denver.
What a lovely
venue for our exhibit and what a nice job of hanging
and preparing
for the reception!
Terrey,
Carolyn M., and Denise at the reception
My painting
of Pogo sold!!!
Susan, my
neighbor and Pogo's mother, and Jenny, her expectant daughter (Dec.
31!),
came to the
show hoping to buy Pogo's painting, but they were too
late!
On Saturday,
I went to a party for one of my former fifth grade
students!
Allison (with
her mother, Sheila) is now 26 and thrilled to have
a job
teaching kindergarten! She also just finished her
master's
degree in
math and science. A very bright young woman!
We consider Christmas as the encounter, the great
encounter, the historical encounter, the decisive encounter, between God and
mankind. He who has faith knows this truly; let him
rejoice.
~ Pope Paul
VI
December 13,
2009 Third Sunday of Advent
Previous OPQs may be found
at:
In Luke
3:7-18, Paul also calls us to rejoice. In fact, he says
that we should rejoice always, because the Lord is
near.
Agnus Day, by James
Wetzstein
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Isaiah
12:2-6
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:7-18
