Wednesday, First Week in Advent

Wednesday, December 4, 2024 

First Week of Advent  

Saint John Damascene, Priest and Doctor of the Church 

Is 25:6-10a/Mt 15:29-37 (Lectionary #177) 

---

The Responsorial Psalm tells us where to look for fulfillment: “I shall live in the house of the Lord all my life” (Psalm 23).  

We grow to fulfillment by being with Jesus. And this is only possible because he came to be with us: “The Word became flesh and lived among us [literally, “pitched his tent among us”], and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). 

Isaiah 25: 6-10 tells us: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food…. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain.” 

In Matthew 15: 29-37 Jesus does what Isaiah promised: He “went up the mountain…. Great crowds came to him… the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others…. and he cured them… Then Jesus said, ‘I have compassion for the crowd…. I do not want to send them away hungry….’ “So the disciples canvassed the crowd and came up with seven loaves of bread “and a few small fish,” which Jesus “took… and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all were filled.” 

Any Christian would recognize this formula as the words of consecration repeated in every Mass: Jesus “took bread, gave thanks, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying….” The bread Jesus gives is his own flesh and blood, the living bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.  

Jesus’ promise is: “Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. The bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world” (see John 6:33-51). 

Where Jesus is, the table is set. If we eat the Bread of life we will be filled. The Church is the “mountain on which the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food.” Jesus is the feast. He is our fulfillment and our joy. With him “we shall live in the house of the Lord all our life” both now and forever. 

When you receive Communion (try for daily!), be aware of the mystery of the “Word made flesh” given to you in the mystery of the “flesh under the appearances of bread.” Be conscious that in Communion your body is the “house of the Lord.” Inside you is all you need for “life to the full,” eternal joy. With Jesus you “shall live in the house of the Lord all your life.” This is total fulfillment. 

Initiative: If you seek success, seek it where it can be found. Receive Jesus.

Tuesday, First Week in Advent

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest

Is 11:1-10/Lk 10:21-24 (Lectionary #176)

---

The Responsorial gives us the assurance and source of fulfillment: “Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever” (Psalm 72).

Justice shall flourish because Isaiah 11:1-10 tells us, “A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse [Jesus’ ancestor] …. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him…. He shall judge the poor with justice and decide aright for the land’s afflicted…. There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord as water covers the sea.”

The root and beginning of all justice and peace, all renewal of Church, government and society, is the knowledge of Jesus: our intimate knowledge of him as a person, our acceptance of the knowledge he shares with us as Light of the world. If we want our lives to have meaning and value on earth, we have to begin by getting to know Jesus, understanding his mind and heart.

This gives fulfillment, “life to the full.” Jesus said, “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

Luke 10: 21-24 tells us that only through Jesus can we know the Father as he is, and only through the Holy Spirit can we truly know Jesus: “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son.” But he adds — “and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” Because we have become “sons and daughters in the Son” by Baptism, true children of God, we can know the Father as the Son does: “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (Galatians 4:6). Through the Spirit poured out in our hearts, through the Word of God made flesh, and through the words of God in Scripture we can know God. In this knowledge, if we act on it, is our fulfillment and the renewal of the world.

We don’t have to be super-smart or super-educated to know God. What is “hidden from the wise and the intelligent” God reveals even to little children — and to all who come to him with the openness of children. We just have to come to him.

So set aside a daily time to get to know Jesus. Choose a place where you can be quiet. Read his words; ask what they tell you about God’s mind and heart, what meaning they have for your life, how you can live them out in practice. Let yourself be “filled with knowledge of the Lord as water covers the sea.”

Advent is an invitation to do this so that “Justice will flourish in our time, and fullness of peace forever.” This is the path to fulfillment.

Initiative: If you seek success, seek it where it can be found: in Christ.

Monday, First Week of Advent

Monday, December 2, 2024

First Week of Advent

Is 2:1-5/Mt 8:5-11 (Lectionary #175)

---

The Responsorial Psalm is a key to the readings: "Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord” (Psalm 122).

Isaiah 2: 1-5 tells us how Jesus is going to save the world through his Church in fulfillment of his promises to Israel: “All nations shall stream toward it…. that [God] may instruct us in his ways.” If people listen and do what God teaches, “one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.”

The violent history of nominally Christian Europe and the Americas proves that we have not listened, learned or lived the teaching of Jesus as we should. Few Christians, Catholic or Protestant, read the Bible deeply. Even fewer spend significant time reflecting on it or discussing its meaning. Nevertheless, whether we are looking at it or not, the light is in the Church, and Advent invites us to seek it: “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord….  Let us walk in the light of the Lord!”

But we have to “go.” In Matthew 8:5-11 the centurion had to approach Jesus, who healed his servant only after the centurion interacted with him. We must not only ask for Jesus’ help but also accept it by interacting thoughtfully with his mind, cultivating his desires, doing his will.

Like the centurion’s servant, we may feel that something in us is “lying paralyzed.” Certainly our country is “in terrible distress” in many ways. And distressing others. But still there is complacency, and a widespread paralysis of social action. Problems go unaddressed.

If we have not been looking at reality with eyes of faith, Advent calls us into the light. If we don’t feel hope, Advent presents God’s promise. If we are not sufficiently motivated by love, Advent invites us to look at God’s love.

The Scripture invites us to believe in Jesus as the “Son of David” who brings all of God’s promises to fulfillment. We do not have to lie paralyzed in the presence of evil, or live lives of mediocre joy. If we give Jesus an active part in all we do, we can bring healing hope and joyful love to everything we are involved in, regardless of what others do. And we will be able to bring others with us to a higher level of life and love if we just let Jesus act with us, act in us, act through us as the Savior that he is. This is something to believe in and to strive for during Advent. “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.”

Initiative: Decide to believe in Jesus as Savior. Say the “WIT prayer” before every action, “Lord, do this with me, do this in me, do this through me.”