December 6, 2010
Monday of the Second Week of Advent
Monday of the Second Week of Advent
The desert and the parched land will exult;
the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with abundant flowers,
and rejoice with joyful song.
The glory ofLebanon will be given to them,
the splendor ofCarmel and Sharon
They will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
With divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
Then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with abundant flowers,
and rejoice with joyful song.
The glory of
the splendor of
They will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
With divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
Then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
Streams will burst forth in the desert,
and rivers in the steppe.
The burning sands will become pools,
and the thirsty ground, springs of water;
The abode where jackals lurk
will be a marsh for the reed and papyrus.
A highway will be there,
called the holy way;
No one unclean may pass over it,
nor fools go astray on it.
No lion will be there,
nor beast of prey go up to be met upon it.
It is for those with a journey to make,
and on it the redeemed will walk.
Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return
and enterZion
crowned with everlasting joy;
They will meet with joy and gladness,
sorrow and mourning will flee.
and rivers in the steppe.
The burning sands will become pools,
and the thirsty ground, springs of water;
The abode where jackals lurk
will be a marsh for the reed and papyrus.
A highway will be there,
called the holy way;
No one unclean may pass over it,
nor fools go astray on it.
No lion will be there,
nor beast of prey go up to be met upon it.
It is for those with a journey to make,
and on it the redeemed will walk.
Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return
and enter
crowned with everlasting joy;
They will meet with joy and gladness,
sorrow and mourning will flee.
This prophecy does not refer to the past or to the future but to now. The one who is to come and bring al these blessings is here already. If we can know him we will experience these blessings now in our hearts. The secret is to search for Jesus now and find him through prayer and his Word.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (Isaiah 35:4f) Our God will come to save us!
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD –for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
Lk 5:17-26
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD –for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
Lk 5:17-26
Gospel
One day as Jesus was teaching,
Pharisees and teachers of the law,
who had come from everyvillage of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem
were sitting there,
and the power of the Lord was with him for healing.
And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed;
they were trying to bring him in and set him in his presence.
But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd,
they went up on the roof
and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles
into the middle in front of Jesus.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said,
“As for you, your sins are forgiven.”
Pharisees and teachers of the law,
who had come from every
were sitting there,
and the power of the Lord was with him for healing.
And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed;
they were trying to bring him in and set him in his presence.
But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd,
they went up on the roof
and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles
into the middle in front of Jesus.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said,
“As for you, your sins are forgiven.”
Then the scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves,
“Who is this who speaks blasphemies?
Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them in reply,
“What are you thinking in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”–
he said to the one who was paralyzed,
“I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”
“Who is this who speaks blasphemies?
Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them in reply,
“What are you thinking in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”–
he said to the one who was paralyzed,
“I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”
He stood up immediately before them,
picked up what he had been lying on,
and went home, glorifying God.
Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God,
and, struck with awe, they said,
“We have seen incredible things today.”
picked up what he had been lying on,
and went home, glorifying God.
Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God,
and, struck with awe, they said,
“We have seen incredible things today.”
Advent is the time of looking forward to the coming of the Lord who has already come. We long for the fulfillment which is already available to us. The Gospel is not the story of the past but of the present. The house where we are all gathered is the Church, founded by and enlivened by Jesus through his Spirit. Jesus is as present in the Church as he was that day in the house. He continues to teach for those who are willing to listen. He teaches through the Word his Church proclaims. By our sins we are paralyzed and helpless. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation he heals our paralysis and through the Holy Eucharist he nourishes our life and makes us active in ministering to others. This is the time of the Lord. We can meet him today.
December 7, 2010
Memorial of Saint Ambrose, bishop and doctor of the Church
Memorial of Saint Ambrose, bishop and doctor of the Church
Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly toJerusalem
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.
says your God.
Speak tenderly to
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
The rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
The rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
A voice says, “Cry out!”
I answer, “What shall I cry out?”
“All flesh is grass,
and all their glory like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it.
So then, the people are the grass.
Though the grass withers and the flower wilts,
the word of our God stands forever.”
I answer, “What shall I cry out?”
“All flesh is grass,
and all their glory like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it.
So then, the people are the grass.
Though the grass withers and the flower wilts,
the word of our God stands forever.”
Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion , herald of glad tidings;
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities ofJudah
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.
The theme of Advent is “comfort”. We must realize what we are. ‘Unredeemed human nature’ perishes. It is like grass and its glory like the flower, so beautiful today but tomorrow it withers and then dies. History proclaims this. But we have been saved. The prophet proclaims that God is coming. He will come in glory to bring his work of creation to fulfillment, but he has already come secretly. God longs to be with us. For this reason he will never leave us. Let us recognize Jesus in the Holy Eucharist so that we can see him in others to.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see Isaiah 40:10ab) The Lord our God comes with power.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name;
announce his salvation, day after day.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name;
announce his salvation, day after day.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”
“What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”
The very fact that God has created you means that you are precious to him. He gazes on you with love. He longs for you to long for him. He will do anything for you to bring you to eternal happiness with himself. In Advent we are amazed that God who lives ‘in unapproachable light’ should want to become a human being and live among us. More than that, he comes in great humility as a humble servant of each of us. He heals our sicknesses, forgives our sins and washes our feet. His great desire is that we respond to him who has lowered himself to our level in order to raise us to his. He is now searching for you. What will be your response this Advent? He asks nothing except that we come to him with sincerity and the desire to listen and to love. Do you?
December 8, 2010
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree,
the LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden;
but I was afraid, because I was naked,
so I hid myself.”
Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked?
You have eaten, then,
from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!”
The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with meC
she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.”
The LORD God then asked the woman,
“Why did you do such a thing?”
The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.”
the LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden;
but I was afraid, because I was naked,
so I hid myself.”
Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked?
You have eaten, then,
from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!”
The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with meC
she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.”
The LORD God then asked the woman,
“Why did you do such a thing?”
The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.”
Then the LORD God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this, you shall be banned
from all the animals
and from all the wild creatures;
on your belly shall you crawl,
and dirt shall you eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike at your head,
while you strike at his heel.”
“Because you have done this, you shall be banned
from all the animals
and from all the wild creatures;
on your belly shall you crawl,
and dirt shall you eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike at your head,
while you strike at his heel.”
The man called his wife Eve,
because she became the mother of all the living.
because she became the mother of all the living.
We must understand the message clothed in the form of a story. The sacred author is not describing something that happened in the way he tells his story. He is telling a story to give us God’s message. All the sufferings we have to undergo in this life are the result of disobedience to God’s commands. We are deceived and think that his commands are a kind of strait-jacket. If we understand them properly they are liberating and a source of happiness. As Eve introduced sin into the world with all its consequences so Mary, a second Eve, will introduce into the world ‘all the blessings of the heavenly places’. Through her the Deceiver will be destroyed.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (1) Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. 4 Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before him. Because of his love 5 God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his children - this was his pleasure and purpose. 6 Let us praise God for his glorious grace, for the free gift he gave us in his dear Son!
11 All things are done according to God's plan and decision; and God chose us to be his own people in union with Christ because of his own purpose, based on what he had decided from the very beginning. 12 Let us, then, who were the first to hope in Christ, praise God's glory!
In this passage Paul mentions ‘with Christ’, ‘through Christ’, ‘in Christ’ six times. Through faith in Jesus we receive all God’s blessings. We were chosen before creation to be his children. This is a free gift, given to us through our union with Jesus. It is a gift of his love. We should rejoice in him, love and praise him. Of the entire human race he chose Mary before the foundation of the world to be his mother. She was chosen to be intimately united in body, mind and spirit with him. She was created to be a worthy mother of God – a free gift to her through Christ. Born into a sinful race God redeemed her perfectly in view of the death of her Son on the Cross. She was conceived full of grace as a gift through and in her union with Jesus, the source of all graces.
Gospel
The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town ofGalilee called Nazareth
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.
to a town of
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.
The New Creation begins with the Creator himself becoming a human being. Because mankind had chosen to rebel against God the old creation lay in ruins. Jesus, the New Adam, would through obedience to God, in faith, constitute a new race, blessed in every way according to God’s plan of love. A fallen angel, Satan, had come to Eve. She had listened to his lie, distrusted God and disobeyed. She thereby introduced sin into the world and the evils we still suffer today. Members of the doomed creation follow her. In the New Creation Mary is a new Eve. An angel, Gabriel, comes to her. She listens to his word, puts her faith in God and obeys: I am the handmaid of the Lord. She introduces into the world all the Blessings of God. We celebrate God’s New Creation today. Do you follow the old Eve or Mary, the new?
December 9, 2010
Thursday of the Second Week of Advent
Thursday of the Second Week of Advent
I am the LORD, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I will help you.”
Fear not, O worm Jacob,
O maggotIsrael ;
I will help you, says the LORD;
your redeemer is the Holy One ofIsrael
I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, and double-edged,
To thresh the mountains and crush them,
to make the hills like chaff.
When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off
and the storm shall scatter them.
But you shall rejoice in the LORD,
and glory in the Holy One ofIsrael
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I will help you.”
Fear not, O worm Jacob,
O maggot
I will help you, says the LORD;
your redeemer is the Holy One of
I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, and double-edged,
To thresh the mountains and crush them,
to make the hills like chaff.
When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off
and the storm shall scatter them.
But you shall rejoice in the LORD,
and glory in the Holy One of
The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God ofIsrael
I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the desert into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
I will plant in the desert the cedar,
acacia, myrtle, and olive;
I will set in the wasteland the cypress,
together with the plane tree and the pine,
That all may see and know,
observe and understand,
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of
I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the desert into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
I will plant in the desert the cedar,
acacia, myrtle, and olive;
I will set in the wasteland the cypress,
together with the plane tree and the pine,
That all may see and know,
observe and understand,
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Though Israel was nothing in itself, God had great plans for Israel
Responsorial Psalm
R. (8) The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
Gospel
Jesus said to the crowds:
“Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force.
All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John.
And if you are willing to accept it,
he is Elijah, the one who is to come.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
“Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force.
All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John.
And if you are willing to accept it,
he is Elijah, the one who is to come.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
The Kingdom suffers violence and the violent are taking it by storm. Entry into the Kingdom should be the work of our life. Those who put all their efforts into loving God, doing his will and thereby enter the Kingdom are the ‘violent’ ones. John was one such one but he belonged to the old Covenant. He had not been graced with the New Covenant of the Holy Spirit. Born of the Spirit we are children of God, sharing his divine life even now. Even the least of the children of God has a right to live with their Father and the Kingdom is their true home. We are a royal priesthood, a chosen race, a people set apart to sing the glories of God who is our Father. Do you rejoice that God has chosen you for his glory? Is reaching Home the goal of your life?
December 10, 2010
Friday of the Second Week of Advent
Friday of the Second Week of Advent
Thus says the LORD, your redeemer,
the Holy One ofIsrael
I, the LORD, your God,
teach you what is for your good,
and lead you on the way you should go.
If you would hearken to my commandments,
your prosperity would be like a river,
and your vindication like the waves of the sea;
Your descendants would be like the sand,
and those born of your stock like its grains,
Their name never cut off
or blotted out from my presence.
the Holy One of
I, the LORD, your God,
teach you what is for your good,
and lead you on the way you should go.
If you would hearken to my commandments,
your prosperity would be like a river,
and your vindication like the waves of the sea;
Your descendants would be like the sand,
and those born of your stock like its grains,
Their name never cut off
or blotted out from my presence.
A golden string that goes through the whole Bible is that those who trust in the goodness of God and follow his commandments will flourish in this life and in the next. His Word is given for our welfare and blessed are those who have the wisdom to follow it. They will succeed in all they do. “Whatever he does, prospers” (Resp. Psalm). Those who think they know better and ‘do their own thing’ will end up regretting even that they lived. To prepare to welcome Jesus at Christmas let pray that God will give us wisdom to listen to his Word.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see John 8:12) Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
Gospel
Jesus said to the crowds:
“To what shall I compare this generation?
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said,
‘He is possessed by a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”
“To what shall I compare this generation?
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said,
‘He is possessed by a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”
What is Jesus offering? It is no less than ‘to become God’. He offers us the opportunity to become for all eternity God as he became man. We will always be who we are, as Jesus always remained who he was, the Son of God. But he humbled himself and took the nature of man so that though always God the Son he was a man in every respect. Likewise we will always remain the human being we are but God raises us by his grace to become like him. What is our response? The amazing thing is that most people are not interested. Many even reject it all together. The important question: what is your response? Have you the wisdom to understand? Are you sincere and wholehearted? Do you allow Jesus to work on you and make you ready? Or is it, your business as usual?
December 11, 2010
Saturday of the Second Week of Advent
Saturday of the Second Week of Advent
In those days,
like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah
whose words were as a flaming furnace.
Their staff of bread he shattered,
in his zeal he reduced them to straits;
By the Lord’s word he shut up the heavens
and three times brought down fire.
How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
Whose glory is equal to yours?
You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with fiery horses.
You were destined, it is written, in time to come
to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD,
To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,
and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.
Blessed is he who shall have seen you
and who falls asleep in your friendship.
like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah
whose words were as a flaming furnace.
Their staff of bread he shattered,
in his zeal he reduced them to straits;
By the Lord’s word he shut up the heavens
and three times brought down fire.
How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
Whose glory is equal to yours?
You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with fiery horses.
You were destined, it is written, in time to come
to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD,
To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,
and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.
Blessed is he who shall have seen you
and who falls asleep in your friendship.
The letter to the Hebrews says ‘In previous times God spoke to men through prophets and in various ways, but now he speaks through Christ his Son’. Elijah was chosen to champion God’s cause even in the face of a wicked queen Jezebel. She determined to kill him but failed. John was the last of the prophets through whom God spoke. Another wicked queen in Israel
Responsorial Psalm
R. (4) Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
O shepherd ofIsrael
From your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Rouse your power.
O shepherd of
From your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Rouse your power.
Gospel
As they were coming down from the mountain,
the disciples asked Jesus,
“Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things;
but I tell you that Elijah has already come,
and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased.
So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.”
Then the disciples understood
that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
the disciples asked Jesus,
“Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
He said in reply, “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things;
but I tell you that Elijah has already come,
and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased.
So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.”
Then the disciples understood
that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
Jesus is born to give his life as a ransom for many. From birth to death his life is an act of reconciliation. By his love and obedience he reconciles God and man so that we can be born of the Spirit as the children of God. His suffering and death dominate his life for it is then that his whole life is taken up into his one great act of reconciliation. Jesus is the suffering Servant. The world is alien to the spirit of Jesus. His precursor John and all those who follow him will find suffering in this world. John was a faithful witness and like the Lamb he proclaimed, suffered at the hands of evil people. We are to join Jesus by being his witness whatever the cost. Do you see Christmas as joining Jesus in his life of sacrifice for the salvation of the world?
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