Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent
December 15, 2020
Daily reading from the USCCB: Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13
The prophet Zephaniah preached about 100 years after the northern kingdom of Israel had been destroyed by the Assyrians. By this time the southern kingdom of Judah was in political, economic, and spiritual decay. The prophet foretells doom for Jerusalem if the people don’t change their ways.
If they do repent and turn away from their sinfulness, God will remove the proud and self-seeking from their midst and leave behind a remnant who are humble and lowly–who are devoted to the truth. They will pasture their flocks in peace.
Still today God reaches out to the humble and lowly–to those who feel no need for self-aggrandizement. It is they to whom God offers salvation. God’s plans involve the exaltation of the poor.
