Lectionary # 190 and 191, Wed. and Thurs of Advent (3rd week)

Two meditations follow. One for Wed and one for Thurs of 3rd week in
Advent.

Scripture: Lectionary # 190. Isaiah 45:6-8.18.21-25. Psalm
85:9-10.11-12.13-14. Luke 7:18:23:

"Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss." This verse
comes from the Psalmist who gives us these words while we ponder it in the
light of the Psalm Response. Often we learn we can pray the other two
readings with the help of the responsorial psalm. In the words kindness,
truth, justice, and peace we have the biblical virtues that are so
important for us whether we be Christian or Jew. They make the season of
Christmas and Hanukkah alive with human response and personal relationships
with others more meaningful. They help us grow in the graces God gives us
each day; but we must put them into practice.

Our reading joins the first two in the symbol of a kiss--one of the most
intimate and tender of signs with in a relationship. The virtues are thus
bound together through the psalmists "personification" of them. This is
more than just a stroke of literary genius; it is divine revelation coming
from someone inspired by the God of love, the God of the Israelites and the
God of Jesus. The Psalms are the most frequently cited verses of the Old
Testament in the New and we can be sure that Jesus knew them all and prayed
them often. God's words come to us in our limited human language but
sometimes they jump out and enter our hearts because they are so real. Far
from being prosaic, this psalm and the other readings are poetic and
powerful for us.

In the Gospel we return to two real historical figures of monumental
importance in religion: John the Baptist and Jesus. Both are central to
what is being said in Luke's narrative. John is searching and discerning
for he is an authentic prophet who knows what truth is and practices
justice very vigorously. He sends his disciples to ask Jesus whether he is
the anointed one of God, the messiah that John is to announce. Jesus
speaks openly and truthfully by telling them what he is doing. His works
are those already predicted in Isaiah for the deliverer of Israel. There
have been some already but he is the one who delivers from death, sin, and
Evil personified in Satan or the Devil. Jesus, the Word, is the fulness of
truth. John's disiciples have enough evidence about the "Lord" when they
return to their master John. He, in turn, will eventually let his disciples
follow Jesus rather than himself.

Both Jesus and John therefore are bringing about the reality of what the
Psalm says. Kindness and truth have met each other and have kissed in order
to seal their commitment to one another. Peace and justice do the same.
Shouldn't we? Amen.

Scripture: Lectionary # 191: Isaiah 54:1-10. Psalm 30:2-4.5-6.11-12.13.
Luke 7:24-30:

We all need others to help us on our journey of life and this includes
those who are supportive of our spiritual journey toward the realm of God.
Jesus needed his cousin John the Baptist to prepare his way. John was
active in gathering people who came to the border of the desert and
listened to his call for right living in their dealings with one another
and baptism in water through forgiveness. Sinners, soldiers,
tax-collectors and good people were in the crowd that followed him and many
listened and changed their lives because of his preaching. His main task
however was to herald, to witness, and to prepare the way for the Lord who
was coming into this world and already was in the "world." (see John 1:1-18
especially verses 6-8, 12-14).

In accepting the baptism of John the plan of God was coming about for those
who believed the Baptist. Soon they would learn that he was really
announcing the time of the Lord, the Messiah, the One who is to Come. He
was the first one to give us the spirit of Advent. Those who listened to
John would certainly listen to the one he was announcing and preparing for,
namely, Jesus of Nazareth.

Renewal is part of the story of the Baptist and Jesus too in Mark's Gospel
declares this at once as he starts his active ministry: "Now after John was
arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and
saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;
repent, and believe in the good news." (Mark 1:14).

Repentance and renewal are not to be feared. God is a God of love and
peace. We listen to Isaiah describing who God is, "My love shall never
leave you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the Lord, who has mercy
on you." (Isaiah 54:10).

As the center of salvation history begins Jesus helps the crowd who
experienced the preaching of John the Baptist to come to know that John is
that voice crying in the desert, "Prepare the way of the Lord." They did
not go out in the desert to see someone who was a wisp of the wind shaking
a bush, nor someone who was clothed likely the lillies of the field. No
they found a true prophet of justice, peace, and mercy. They move from
curiosity to conviction and from conviction to belief in both John and
Jesus. John is certainly that messenger who was sent ahead to prepare the
way for the one who is the truth, the way, the justice,and the peace that
we all yearn for. We do well in this third week of Advent to know and
accept the role of the Baptist in this moment of renewal and repentance.
We are being prepared to follow Jesus on the way but first we must await
him as we do in Advent. John showed us how to wait for the one who is to
come. Amen.