2nd Sunday in Advent

The Gospel today according to Matthew ( 3 : 1- 12 )



In due course , John the Baptist appeared ; he preached in the wilderness of Judea and this was his message ;

" Repent , for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand " . This was the man the prophet Isaiah spoke of when he said :


A voice cries in the wilderness ;

Prepare a way for the Lord ,

make his paths straight .


This was John , wore garment made of camel-hair with a leather belt round his waist and his food was locusts and wild honey . Then Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole of Jordan district made their way to him and they were baptised by him in the river Jordan , they confessed their sins . But when he saw a number of Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism he said to them , " Brood of vipers , who warned you to fly from the retribution that is coming ? But if you are repentant , produce the appropriate fruit and do not presume to tell yourselves , " We have Abraham for our father , ' because , I tell you , God can raise children for Abraham from these stones . Even now the axe is laid to the roots of the trees , so that any tree which fails to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire . I baptise you in water of repentance , but the one who follows me is more powerful than I am , and I am not fit to carry his sandals ; He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire . His winnowing-fan is in his hand ; he will clear his treshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn ; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out " .