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| Sunday 17th December, 2006 - 2006
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Zephaniah 3:14-18. Cry out with joy and gladness: for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel—Isaiah 12:2-6. Philippians 4:4-7. Luke 3:10-18. Link to Readings
'What then should we do?‘
The crowd, including tax collectors and soldiers, ask John what should be done to prepare for the coming of the holy one of God. His response is the call to act justly. We prepare the Way of the Lord by sharing food and clothing with the poor, and carrying out our work in a way that contributes to the common good.
As we await the birth of the divine love at Christmas, let us prepare our hearts by living our baptismal call to be people of justice, sharing generously with those in need and seeing our work as a means to transform the world into the Kingdom of God.
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| Ss Cyril and Methodius
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Centuries before Mass in the local language was normal throughout the Catholic world, Churches in Slavonic lands were celebrating the liturgy in a version of their own language. They looked back to two brothers, Cyril and Methodius (9th century), who had devised a written language, later called Cyrillic, for them and translated the liturgy and the Bible into it. Sent to Slavic lands as missionaries by the emperor, they met opposition from German priests and bishops, who treated them as interlopers. The pope befriended them, inviting them to Rome, where their vernacular liturgy was celebrated in St Peter’s basilica. After Cyril’s death in Rome, me4thodius went back to the Slavs, carrying the pope’s authorisation of his mission. Despite this, and the fact that he was now an archbishop, he still met opposition, being imprisoned for two years. Restored by the pope to his see, he won further papal approval of his vernacular liturgy.
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