Third Sunday of Advent; 12 December 2021; Advent 3C (RCL); Zephaniah 3:14-20; Canticle 9; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18.
Zephaniah, like so many of the prophets of the exile, imagines the restoration of Jerusalem and the return of the captives. A common theme in all the songs of restoration is the presence of God in the midst of God’s people. Even Canticle 9, a poem from the period before the exile, imagines God present in the midst of God’s people. Both imagine God as a warrior protecting the people. Canticle 9 picks up the theme of security (draw water with rejoicing from the springs of salvation — the wells are inside the walls).
Continue reading “A new people”