Lectionary# 181 and Lectionary # 5. Saturday of First week of Advent and Second Sunday Cycle B 2008 (Mark)
147: 1-2.3-4.5-6. Matthew 9:35-10:1.6-8. Lectionary # 181:
During this first week of Advent we were listening to the accounts of
the many healings of Jesus upon the people. These events are meant to be a
healing experience for us as we learn to intensify our prayer, to listen
with our hearts to the words of God, and to prepare and be attentive for
the Advent of the Lord both in time and at the end of time. We continue to
live in the sacrament of the present moment patiently while waiting with
great expectation for the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah, John the Baptist,
will model for us how to live in the present. After all, we have no control
over what is to happen in the future nor should we try to live the past
which is a closed chapter in our book of life.
In the Gospel we see Jesus is overwhelmed with the present harvest of
souls that he envisions. He needs the disciples, that is, he needs us to
help with what he has begun. He commissions his disciples to be wounded
healers, to expel peoples' demons of addiction, fear and anxiety, and of
terrible anger. The disciples like Jesus are to heal and cure those who
suffer and are ill. We too can help them by visiting the sick, or paying
attention to someone who is crying out for help. We can search out a lonely
person whom we know just needs a presence, and, maybe a listening ear.
Advent lends us its atmosphere to think about these commissions of Jesus
and to personalize them in what we do. Our witness then proclaims that
"the kingdom of God is at hand." Jesus definitely wants to us to share in
his mission of bringing about the kingdom of God. He even begs us to pray
that we do not shun what we see needs to be done. He himself encourages us
to pray, "Beg the harvest master to send out laborers to gather his
harvest."
Psalm 147 shows us that God, the Father of Jesus, is concerned for
all of his people. "God heals the brokenhearted and binds up their
wounds...God sustains the lowly." ( Psalm 147:3, and 6a). The refrain of
the Psalm prompts us to keep seeking our entrance into the realm of God for
"Happy are all who long for the coming of the Lord." The verse is from
Isaiah 30:18 and may be translated fully in this way, "and so will the Lord
expectantly wait to show you His graciousness and so will He arise to show
you compassion." God gives us an example of what Advent should lead us to
do ---wait expectantly for the Presence of God and yearn to experience
God's compassion.
From the Prophet Isaiah who is our prophet for this first week of
Advent we have God's promise to teach us, to heal us, and to pour out upon
us the abundance of nature's best gifts. Thus all three of our readings
confirm that God and Jesus will restore us to spiritual wellness and even
heal us physically and psychologically by freeing us of our selfish
addictions. Isaiah tells us, "On the day of the Lord when he binds up the
wounds of his people, he will the bruises left by his blows...He will be
gracious to you when you cry out." Amen.
Scripture for the Second Sunday of Advent, B Cycle (Mark's Gospel). Isaiah
40:1-5.9-11. Psalm 85:8-9.11-12.13-14. II Peter 3:8-14. Mark 1:1-8.
Lectionary # 5.
Enter the scene another Prophet:John the Baptist. We now on this
Second Sunday of Advent are led by the last of the great prophets of the
Scriptures who will usher in the time of the Lord Jesus for us. Mark
begins his Gospel with the announcement of the one who will prepare the way
of the Lord and we know well it is the person of John the Baptist born of
Elizabeth and Zachariah. Mark's groundbreaking Gospel opens with a
magnificent first line--"A beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ
(Messiah), the Son of God." This first good news of the New Testament was
composed around 70 A.D. the year the holy and sacred Temple of Jerusalem
was ransacked and destroyed by the Roman legions. Mark then gives us the
earliest and freshest image of John the Baptist ever written which Luke
will theologize in a magnificent verse: "Up to the time of John, it was the
Law (the Torah) and the Prophets; from then onwards, the kingdom of God has
been preached and everyone is forcing their way into it. (Luke 16:16).
We are moving along in Advent and the fullness of what this
liturgical season means, namely, a time to prepare a way for us to travel
with God and to run with enthusiasm into the kingdom of God. God's
revelatory words open up the way for us to walk and even to run. No wonder
then that Paul has already alerted us saying to be awake, attentive, and to
rejoice for something new is happening and only by living out all of Advent
will we then experience what it is. Yes, again, we pray in union with all
the saints, "Maranatha, Come, Lord Jesus, Come!" Amen.
posted by Fr. Bert SM at 10:57 AM
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