Gospel of January 13, 2019

Book of Isaiah 40,1-5.9-11.
“Console, console my people, says your God.
Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and shout to her that her slavery is over, her iniquity has been taken for granted, because she has received double punishment from the hand of the Lord for all her sins ”.
A voice cries out: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord, smooth out the road for our God in the steppe.
Every valley is filled, every mountain and hill are lowered; the rough terrain turns flat and the steep terrain flat.
Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed and every man will see it, since the mouth of the Lord has spoken. "
Climb a high mountain, you who bring good news to Zion; raise your voice with strength, you who bring good news to Jerusalem. Raise your voice, don't be afraid; announces to the cities of Judah: “Behold your God!
Behold, the Lord God comes with power, with his arm he holds dominion. Here, he has the prize with him and his trophies precede it.
Like a shepherd he grazes the flock and gathers it with his arm; she carries the lambs on her breast and slowly leads the mother sheep ”.

Salmi 104(103),1b-2.3-4.24-25.27-28.29-30.
Lord, my God, how big you are!
wrapped in light as a cloak. You stretch the sky like a curtain,
build your dwelling on the water, make your chariot of the clouds, walk on the wings of the wind;
make your messengers of the winds, your ministers of flames flickering.

How great, Lord, are your works! You did everything wisely, the earth is full of your creatures.
Here is the spacious and vast sea: there small and large animals dart without number.
All of you are waiting for you to give them food in due time.
You provide it, they collect it, you open your hand, they are satisfied with goods.

If you hide your face, they fail, take their breath away, die and return to their dust.
Send your spirit, they are created,
and renew the face of the earth.

Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to Titus 2,11-14.3,4-7.
Dearest, the grace of God appeared, bringing salvation for all men,
who teaches us to deny impiety and worldly desires and to live with sobriety, justice and pity in this world,
waiting for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ;
who gave himself up for us, to redeem us from all iniquity and to form a pure people who belong to him, zealous in good works.
When, however, the goodness of God, our savior, and his love for men were manifested,
he saved us not by virtue of the works of justice we performed, but by his mercy through a wash of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit,
poured out by him abundantly on us through Jesus Christ, our savior,
because justified by his grace we would become heirs, according to hope, of eternal life.

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Luke 3,15-16.21-22.
Since the people were waiting and everyone wondered in their hearts, regarding John, if he were not the Christ,
John replied to all saying: «I baptize you with water; but one who is stronger than me comes, to whom I am not even worth loosening the tie of my sandals: he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire.
When all the people were baptized and while Jesus, also received baptism, was in prayer, the sky opened
and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily appearance, like a dove, and there was a voice from heaven: "You are my beloved son, in you I am pleased".