Thursday Second Week of Advent Dec. 14, 2006

Scripture for Thursday, Dec.14, 2006: Isaiah 41:13-20. Psalm 145:1.11-13, Matthew 11:11-15.

One of our best homilists develops his thought with three points. His name is Father Jim. Well, today at an early hour, I found three themes as the subject of my meditation from the liturgical readings for this Thursday in Advent. First, the revelation of God's name in the prophetical work of Isaiah; second, the priestly blessing which came to mind as I read the Psalm and its response; third, the person of Jesus as the "firstborn into the kingdom of God" through his resurrection. In Isaiah there are three specific names for God that help us to meditate on God as a Person who reveals himself to us. God is the Holy One of Israel, the Lord, and the God of Israel. This personal God relates to us through the Sacred texts we hear and read during this season of Advent. God is involved with us in our history of salvation which comes through the words given to Isaiah. He prophesies as a universalist with the redemptive dimension of God's creative love for us. I pray with this in mind when I read or hear the sacred names of God given to us in Isaiah. Secondly, the Psalm led me to ponder the priestly blessing Moses is to give to his brother Aaron. It is the most beautiful of blessings in the Bible: "The Lord said to Moses: Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them: The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace! So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them." (Numbers 6:22-27). I remember visiting the opening of the Peace Museum here in Dayton and I asked whether I could bless this museum. I read the blessing from Numbers in Hebrew for those gathered at the main desk; they thanked me for doing this. The museum continues to thrive and be blessed by God who is the only Person who can bring peace on earth. Thirdly, Jesus tells us that John the Baptist ushers in the era of the Messiah like an Elijah. Jesus is the person he has anointed and baptized; for us Christians, Jesus is the Messiah. Again, God's salvific and merciful love breaks into our troubled world through persons, namely, the prophets, John the Baptist, and Jesus. They act among God's peoples and speak God's personal forgiveness and love to everyone. We know and believe this through the Scriptures we celebrate during this Advents season. Maranatha... Come, Lord. come. Amen.