·  13 Lucy (Lucia), Martyr at Syracuse, 304

·  14 Juan de la Cruz (John of the Cross), Mystic, 1591

·  15 John Horden, Bishop and Missionary in Canada, 1893. Robert McDonald, Priest, 1913

·  16 Ralph Adams Cram, 1942, and Richard Upjohn, 1878, Architects, and John LaFarge, Artist, 1910

·  17 William Lloyd Garrison, 1879, and Maria Stewart, 1879, Prophetic Witnesses

·  19 Lillian Trasher, Missionary in Egypt, 1961

OLD TESTAMENT   Zephaniah 3: 14 - 20   (RCL)

                                    Zephaniah 3; 14 - 18a  (Roman Catholic)

Zeph 314 (NRSV) Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;

shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter Jerusalem!

15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you,

he has turned away your enemies.

The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;

you shall fear disaster no more.

16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem

Do not fear, O Zion;

do not let your hands grow weak.

17 The LORD, your God, is in your midst,

a warrior who gives victory;

he will rejoice over you with gladness,

he will renew you in his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing

18 as on a day of festival.

I will remove disaster from you,

so that you will not bear reproach for it.

19 I will deal with all your oppressors

at that time.

And I will save the lame

and gather the outcast,

and I will change their shame into praise

and renown in all the earth.

20 At that time I will bring you home,

at the time when I gather you;

for I will make you renowned and praised

among all the peoples of the earth,

when I restore your fortunes

before your eyes, says the LORD.

CANTICLE   Isaiah 12: 2 - 6   (RCL, Roman Catholic)

Isai 122 (NRSV) Surely God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid,

for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might;

he has become my salvation.

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day

Give thanks to the LORD,

call on his name;

make known his deeds among the nations;

proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;

let this be known in all the earth.

6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,

for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

9    The First Song of Isaiah  Ecce, Deus   (ECUSA BCP)

Isaiah 12:2-6

Surely, it is God who saves me; *

   I will trust in him and not be afraid.

For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, *

   and he will be my Savior.

Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing *

   from the springs of salvation.

And on that day you shall say, *

   Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;

Make his deeds known among the peoples; *

   see that they remember that his Name is exalted.

Sing praises of the Lord, for he has done great things, *

   and this is known in all the world.

Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy, *

 for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.

NEW TESTAMENT   Philippians 4: 4 - 7   (RCL, Roman Catholic)

Phil 44 (NRSV) Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

h/t Montreal Anglican

Paul began the conclusion to the letter back in 3:1a. After a digression – to warn against heresy and self-indulgence and to urge devotion to Christ – he tries to finish the letter, but certain concerns intrude. It seems that “Euodia” (v. 2) and “Syntyche”, two workers for Christ, differ in their understanding of what the way of Christ is, and that this is causing disunity in the Philippian community. We do not know to whom Paul refers as his “loyal companion” (v. 3); he is asked to be instrumental in achieving reconciliation.
V. 4 is the conventional Greek salutation (like our goodbye) but here Paul means “rejoice” literally. May you behave towards others as you should (“gentleness”, v. 5). Paul expects the Second Coming soon: “The Lord is near.” Then v. 6: rather than worrying on their own, the Philippians should ask God to help them, through prayer, both in prayers of “supplication” (petition) and of “thanksgiving”. God’s “peace” (v. 7) will protect them against their own failings and external threats. It “surpasses all understanding” either by being beyond the grasp of the human mind or by achieving more than we can conceive.

Verse 1: “joy and crown”: Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20: “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? Yes, you are our glory and joy!”. [ NOAB]
Verse 3: “my loyal companion”: Probably a leader in the church at Philippi. The Greek word for “companion” can be understood as a proper name, Syzygus. [ NOAB] It may be simply an affectionate term, yoke-bearer. [ NJBC]
Verse 3: “the book of life”: Daniel 12:1 says “... at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book”. For other references to the book of life, see Exodus 32:32; Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27. [ NOAB] [ NJBC]
Verse 4: Paul also mentions rejoicing in Romans 12:12 (“Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer”) and Philippians 3:1 (“Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord”). [ CAB]
Verse 5: “The Lord is near”: This notion is also expressed in Psalm 119:151. The original is marana tha, an Aramaic expression transliterated into Greek meaning Our Lord is come or Our Lord, come. The use of this expression in 1 Corinthians 16:22 suggests that this was an early prayer originating in the Palestinian church. [ HBD] See also Revelation 22:20. [ JBC]
Verse 7: “which surpasses all understanding”: Ephesians 3:20 says “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine”. [ NJBC

GOSPEL   Luke 3: 7 - 18   (RCL)

                   Luke 3: 10 - 18   (Roman Catholic)

Luke 37 (NRSV) 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? 8 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. 9 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."

10 And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" 11 In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?" 13 He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you." 14 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."

15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,  16 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. 17 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."

18 So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

Luke has told us that “... the word of God came to John ... in the wilderness. He went into all the region ... proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins ...” (vv. 2-3). Now John the Baptist addresses people in general (“crowds”, v. 7): he calls them “vipers” (poisonous snakes common in Judea), and accuses them of being baptised with no intention of starting a new, ethical, life. If they think that by being baptised they will evade God’s judgement at the end of the era (“wrath to come”, v. 7), they are wrong: they must also turn to godliness. Being Jewish, having “Abraham as our ancestor” (v. 8) is no assurance of salvation, for anyone who responds to God’s gift of love with appropriate behaviour will be part of the renewed Israel. The people have a choice (v. 9): either respond to God’s offer by beginning a new way of living, or face condemnation at the end of time. (Here “fire” symbolizes adverse judgement.) God will fulfil his promises to Abraham in unexpected ways! Luke gives us three examples of behaviour which fit with turning over a new leaf. The “crowds” (v. 10) are probably ordinary people; they should have selfless concern for the disadvantaged. In spite of attempted reforms, “tax collectors” (v. 12) still collected more than prescribed. The “soldiers” (v. 14) were probably Jews in the service of Herod Antipas; they too were despised. John tells them that they should follow the emperor’s guidelines on military conduct. That “What should we do?” is answered here and elsewhere in various ways probably indicates that simply following rules is inadequate: we must ask again and again in openness to God’s will.
At the time, people expected the Messiah to come at any moment (v. 15): perhaps John would restore Israel’s fortunes and God’s power would triumph now. John says that the baptism he offers is vastly inferior to Jesus’ baptism: for Jesus, he is so unworthy that he cannot even do a slave’s task (“untie ...”, v. 16). (In Acts 2:3, fire is associated with the Holy Spirit.) V. 17 says, in agricultural language, that the godly (“wheat”) will be gathered to Christ but the ungodly (“chaff”) will be destroyed. John preached a message of forgiveness of sins and the advent of a new relationship between people and God.

The parallels are Mark 1:7-8 and Matthew 3:7-12. [ NOAB]
Verses 7-9: John the Baptizer did not understand repentance as adoption of his way of life. Features of it are mentioned in the following verses:

In the desert	1:80; 3:2, 4; 7:24
Abstaining from alcoholic beverages	1:15; 7:33
Prayer and fasting	5:33; 11:1

Verses 7-9: Of the 64 words (in Greek) in these verses, 60 of them are found in the parallel passage in Matthew ( 3:7-10). This similarity is one clue that has led scholars to postulate the existence of a collection of sayings, known as Q (Quelle, a German word meaning source), from which both Matthew and Luke drew. [ NJBC]
Verse 7: “crowds”: For evidence that crowds and people (laos) are generally interchangeable in Luke, see also 7:29-30 and 20:1-5. In Matthew 3:7, we read “Pharisees and Sadducees” instead of “crowds”. Later, via flashback, Luke will show that the Pharisees and high priests rejected John’s baptism (see 7:30 and 20:5) but here Luke focuses on those who accept it. [ NJBC]
Verse 7: “vipers”: They are also mentioned in Isaiah 30:6; 59:5; Matthew 12:34 (where Jesus calls some Pharisees who claim that he heals through the power of evil “You brood of vipers!”); 23:33. Vipers were creatures of the desert. [ NOAB]
Verse 7: “wrath”: God’s judgement by which he deals with evil in the world: see 1 Thessalonians 1:10 (where Paul speaks of “you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming”). [ NJBC]
Verse 8: “repentance”: The word in Greek literally means returning, or coming back to the way of life charted by the covenant between God and Israel. See also Exodus 19:3-6 (where God commands Moses to tell the Israelites “if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation”); 24:3-8; Jeremiah 31:31-34 (“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ... I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts ... they shall all know me ... I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more”). [ NOAB]
Verse 8: John demands right living based on a sincere search for God’s will (Matthew 7:15-20; Galatians 5:22-23) and suited to the protestations of repentance. [ NOAB]
Verse 8: “Abraham as our ancestor”: This is a common theme in Luke. See also 1:54-55, 72-73; 3:34; 13:16, 28-29; 19:9; 20:37; Acts 3:13, 25; 7:17, 32; 13:26; 26:6; 28:20; John 8:33, 39; Romans 2:28, 29. [ CAB]
Verse 9: “fire”: For fire as an agent of God’s wrath, see also Matthew 7:19 (“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire”); 13:40-42 (“Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age”); Hebrews 6:7-8. [NOAB]
Verses 10-14: Only Luke has these verses. He emphasizes the acceptance of the message by ordinary and marginalised people. These people also respond to Jesus’ message. [ NJBC]
Verses 10-11: In 6:29, Jesus advises: “If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt”. For community ownership of possessions, see Acts 2:44-45 and 4:32-35. [ NOAB]
Verses 10, 12, 14: “What [then] should we do?”: In 10:25, a lawyer asks a similar question; in 18:18, a ruler. In Acts, be baptised is part of the answer: see Acts 2:37-38 (Jewish people after Peter’s sermon at Pentecost); 16:30-33 (the Gentile jailer at Philippi); 22:10-16 (Paul, as he tells the story of his conversion).
Verse 11: One might expect a hermit to tell people to adopt his way of life, but he does not. People are to make proper use of material possessions – an idea that Jesus later preaches. [ NJBC]
Verses 12-13: See Luke 19:2-10 for the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector who gives half his possessions to the poor. [ NOAB]
Verse 12: “tax collectors”: NJBC says that collectors of indirect taxes (customs, tolls, tariffs) are intended here. They collected more than was prescribed, and pocketed the difference. They were despised by both Jews and Gentiles. They eagerly respond to Jesus’ preaching too: see 5:27, 29-20 (Levi); 15:1. See also the parable of the Pharisee and the tax (toll) collector.
Verse 13: The emperor Augustus tried to eliminate abuses in the Roman tax system. John’s words reflect these high ideals. [ NJBC]
Verse 14: “Soldiers”: The first Gentile converted to Christianity was Cornelius the centurion: see Acts 10-11. Augustus tried to eliminate extortion in the Roman army. [ NJBC]
Verse 15: In John 1:19-23, when asked “‘Who are you?’”, John the Baptiser answers “‘I am not the Messiah’”. In Luke 7:19, John sends two of his disciples to Jesus to ask him: “‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’”. [ NOAB]
Verse 16: In Acts 1:5, before his ascension, Jesus says “... John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’”. See also Acts 11:16 (Peter explains the events at Cornelius’ house) and Acts 19:4 (some disciples of John are baptised “in the name of the Lord Jesus”). [ NOAB]
Verse 16: “more powerful”: Mightier is used in the New Testament for the leader of the final struggle against evil: see Mark 3:27; Luke 11:20-22; Revelation 18:8. So perhaps this is the meaning here. [ JBC]
Verse 16: “untie the thong ...”: When Paul is visiting the Antioch in central Asia Minor and speaks in the synagogue there, he quotes John the Baptiser as saying: “‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of the sandals on his feet’” (see Acts 13:25). [ NJBC]
Verse 17: “winnowing”: This image is found in Isaiah 21:10; 41:16; Jeremiah 4:11; 15:7; 51:2. This image is also found in Proverbs.
Verse 17: “unquenchable fire”: i.e. ferocious heat. See also Isaiah 66:24 and Mark 9:43ff. [ JBC]
Verse 17: The same idea is found in v. 7 and v. 9. [ NJBC]
Verse 18: “proclaimed the good news”: To Luke, there are many similarities between John and Jesus. [ NJBC]