Lectionary # 182 and # 183 Mon and Tue, Dec. 6, 7 Second week of Advent
5:17-26:
"We have seen incredible things today." Luke 5:26. We can join in
spiritually with the multitude of people who say this about Jesus as he
begins his ministry of healing. As one who lived among them in a hidden
way, now he comes as a prophetic voice that speaks with greater authority
than the prophets. He can deliver immediately what he promises: the blind
see, the dear hear, sinners are converted. In this Second Week of Advent is
John the Baptist who has opened up the way for the coming of the Lord. He
comes humbly but with inner authority that flows out into works of healing
supported by divine words of inspiration. For us, like the crowd, we come
to Jesus during this Advent to hear him, to see him in the sacraments and
in one another and to enter into the spirit prepared for him through John
the Baptist. Renewal, repentance, and a change of our way of thinking. We
are now to think the thoughts of God in what we do and what we say. The
Gospels open up for us what these thoughts are. We too will be astonished
at how Jesus works within us and in others. The little suprises of grace
come each day; we need only to be attentive to them.
Incredibles happenings are promised by Isaiah. He leads us into the
idyllic imagery of the messianic times and thought they are beautiful and
seem unrealistic they are happening unnoticed by the ordinary eye. We need
the faith of the heart which gives us the insights and motivations that
stem from the prophets, the psalms, and Jesus. Advent is that time for
pondering, meditating, praying and contemplating.
Isaiah makes us aware that a person is going to be the messiah; not simply
a time or era of peace. The very Son of God will be Emmanuel among us.
Matthew will meditate on this already in his first chapter of his gospel.
Our salvation is from God and God's Son who always does the will of his
Father. We, in turn, realize that grace is constantly building on nature
as Isaiah describes it. Then the Psalm we have in our readings
personalizes the great gifts of God by joining them in pairs: "Kindness
(hesed) and truth (emeth) shall meet; justice (tsedeq) and peace (shalom)
shall kiss. Grace and nature are intwined with subtle and unseen bonds. We
sense the beauty of what Isaiah has presented and now sing it in the Psalm.
There is unity in these Advent readings and each day brings us into a
mosaic of the Coming of the Messiah, the Christ. In Advent our ears are
more in tune with the prophets; our eyes are able to see what John the
Baptist has seen. The events promised by Isaiah are real even though
idyllic in their verbal expressions. With Paul already giving us the go
ahead with his clarion pen-voice: "Rejoice! The night is far spent and our
salvation is so much the more present. Maran atha! Come, Lord, come!
Amen.
Scripture for Dec. 7, Second week in Advent:
Lectionary # 183. Isaiah 40:1-11. Psalm 96:1-2.3. 10.11-12.13. Matthew
18:12-14:
"Comfort, ye, comfort ye my people saith your God". This version has more
of an Advent tone to it than some of the other translations and helps us to
enter more deeply into two of the great models for Advent: Isaiah and John
the Baptist. In the prophetic words, John' mission is announced and
carried from Isaiah into the Gospels. John will indeed prepare the way of
the Lord and help them to hear and experienced the comforting words of the
Messiah Jesus. They need not look for another. John's disciples will help
the master to realize that the Christ is now among his people and the
Baptist will fade into the background and soon give his life for the coming
of the kingdom.
The prophet, then John, and finally the confirming words of Jesus help us
to blot out the guilt of the past that often haunts us. The kingdom is
among us. Emmanuel is present in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. For us,
we need the daily reminder that we live in the peace of Christ, a peace
this world cannot give, and that all of our sins are forgiven. This is the
time for renewal and for a metanoia. For us who are sinners, changing one's
mind or rethinking our behaviors involves repenting or changing one's life;
for those who are religious people not conscious of sin the demand of
metanoia might be better translated literally as a change of mind,
attitude, and motivation. If we reflect on the opposition encountered by
Jesus' demand, the Gospels record little rejection of him by sinners but
quite the opposite from those who considered themselves right.
Jesus acts as the good shepherd dor the little ones--the children. He
teaches us a lesson that we need very badly in our society where children
are abused at home, at school, and even by those who represent the Church.
The changing not only of our minds but also our hearts helps us to move
away from negativity, cynicism, and rash judgments. We then feel and
experience the hope, joy, and peace Isaiah prophesies for us. We hear
Isaiah pointing the way to the Good Shepherd by his own mention of a
shepherd who feeds his flock and gathers his lambs in his arms. Then in
the Gospel, we hear Jesus himself assuming the role of a shepherd who
searches for the lost sheep and gathers in the innocent into his arms. We
see this applied by Jesus to the children, the little ones who surround him
and felt protected and loved by him. He tells us that it is the Father's
plan that not one of these little ones should be in any way harmed. His
words are of comfort to those who are parents and do show the love that
children need. "It is not part of your heavenly Father's plan that a
single one of these little ones should ever come to grief." (Matthew
18:24).
Psalm 96 assures us that the comfort promised by God through the mouth of
Isaiah is real and effective in those who allow God to work within them.
We are to exult in the Lord before he comes; he comes to rule the earth and
he shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with his constancy.
(Ps. 96:13). Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus, come. Maran atha!
Amen.Scripture: Sat. of First week of Advent. Lectionary 181: Isaiah
30:19-21.23-26. Psalm 147: 1-2.3-4.5-6. Matthew 9:35-10:1.6-8:
Pathos and hope well up in our hearts and minds by today's readings.
Pathos deals with the experience of our feelings in times of hardship,pain,
or disappointment. It is directly related to the word for suffering
(pathien in Greek). We are all afflicted by such sufferings and some are
almost paralyzed by them day in and day out. The readings then give us the
other side of the pathos by offering us God's gift of hope. The two words
may be in tension with one another, but the Scriptures unravel and loosen
the hold of one over the other. Jesus shows his pathos for the ailing
people of the land in which he was born; he has mercy on them and sees that
the harvest is so many that he beckons the disciples to help him in what he
is doing for the poor, the blind, the lame, the deaf, the marginal.
We are startled to see that Jesus' focus is exclusively on his own people.
He realizes that one--even if he be the Messiah--can only do so much. He
does not micro-manage what he is doing; he delegates the curing, healing,
exorcizing to his disciples, the twelve men whom he has chosen to help with
the harvest. There is more that enough to do even in his own land for all
of his disciples and followers. After his death, a universal sending will
take place through the downpour of the gifts of the Holy Spirit upon the
apostles and Mary.
We sense the same tension in Isaiah between pathos and hope. The prophet
however is offering more of a hopeful vision than one of pathos. In the
Gosplel we are in need of God's mercy. Jesus had pity upon them and us for
he was merciful. The psalm likewise has the same message. God heals the
wounds of his people and gives them great almost idyllic hope through
Isaiah and the Psalmist. Patience, waiting, and trusting are offered as a
way of coping while believing these things will come to be real and a time
of peace and prosperity will follow.We too join in these tensions of pathos
and hope allowing Jesus to unbind our wounds without his worrying about his
own sufferings. Thus he is the wounded healer.
How do we handle our problems, our worries, our ills? There is another
message to help us answer, namely, God promises that a voice will tell us
what to do. Is this the voice of our heart, mind, and soul? Or is it the
Holy Spirit within us? " While from behind you, a voice shall sound in
your ears: "This is the way; walk in it." It is both our voice of
conscience and discernment as well as that of the Holy Spirit. This voice
helps us to make good choices about helping Jesus in his healing mission to
all peoples. We are the hands of the wounded healer Jesus. He it is who
heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds. The reign of God is at
hand. We sense the presence of the Lord and continue to cry out, Come ,
Lord Jesus, come. Maranatha.
Prayer: Lord, strengthen me to wait upon you with courage and faith. Let me
seek one thing: to dwell in your house all the days of my life and there
gaze upon your loveliness. Lord, cure my blindness that I might see your
beauty. Yes, Come, Lord Jesus, and let us see your face and we shall be
saved. Happy are all who long for your coming. May each of us be your
instrument in stirring these desires in our brothers and sisters. Amen.
(Fr. C. Stuhlmueller, C.P.P. )
Second Sunday of Advent Scripture readings for Sunday, December 5, 2010,
cycle A. Lectionary # 4
Scripture: lectionary # 4. Isaiah 11:1-10. Psalm 72:1-2.7-8. 12-13.17.
Romans 15:4-9. Matthew 3:1-12:
Our saintly leader for this second Sunday in Advent is John the Baptist.
We recall how Mark, the Evangelist, actually starts his gospel with John
the Baptist as the voice crying out, "Prepare, the way of the Lord." We are
to reform and renew our spiritual lives and discipline our bodies while
doing justice for others. The Kingdom of God is at hand. It is a Lenten
message, but also a call that sobers us to realize Advent is the time when
the King of the Kingdom comes among us and gets us ready also for his
Second Coming. Matthew has completed the first two chapters before he
comes to this scene. He is dependent on Mark for it, but he enchances it
with much more description about John the Baptist; it is thick description
and we get a picture of how the early Chritians envisioned John. John is
interested in preparing us for the coming of the Messiah who we believe is
Jesus,the Son of God and son of Mary.
The Gospel gives us the contrasting effects of the Baptism of John and that
of the Holy Spirit that the Messiah will give us. John invites the people
and even the Roman soldiers to receive a baptism of immersion in the Jordan
River. He is an apocalyptic preacher of strict divine judgment. Jesus, on
the other hand, is the one who will baptize in the Holy Spirit and that
baptism will be like a fire purging us from all of our sins effectively.
This latter baptism prepares us for the second coming of Christ the Lord
who also is the Messiah. We are thus made aware of the first coming of
Christ the Messiah through John the Baptist, then through the Holy Spirit's
baptism we are made aware of the Lordship of Jesus and his ultimate coming
at the end times.
The other leading person for us is again the constant and classic prophet
Isaiah. He insists on the uniqueness of God, God's oneness, and absolute
holiness. ( Remember his vision and the Sanctus ! Sanctus! Sanctus! Holy!
Holy!Holy! We Christians like that since it reminds us of the Trinity of
Persons in One God!) Isaiah helps us establish something about the Messiah
who descends from David and Jesse. Jesus is the shoot from the stump of
Jesse. The seven gifts of God's Spirit are given to this Messiah: wisdom,
understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, fear and reverence for the
presence of God, piety.
Psalm 72 is a messianic psalm praising the works of the Messiah King. It
complements what we have seen at the end of the passage in Isaiah: "On
that day the root of Jesse is set up as a signal for the nations; the
Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious." (Isaiah
11:10). Amen.
posted by Fr. Bert SM at 11:59 AM
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