Second Sunday of Advent

On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.  The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him; a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.  Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.  He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.  Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.  Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.  The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox.  The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.  There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as waters covers the sea.  On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious.

R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever.

 O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king’s son; he shall govern your people       with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment.

R.  Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever.
Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more.  May he rule from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

R.   Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.  He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save.

R.   Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever.
May his name be blessed forever; as long as the sun his name shall remain.  In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed; all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.

R.  Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever. 

Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”  It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:  A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.  John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist.  His food was locusts and wild honey.  At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.  When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.  And do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.”  For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree that does not bear fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.  I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I.  I am not worthy to carry his sandals.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in his hand.  He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”