(Optional Memorial for Our Lady of Loreto)
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| “St John the Baptist in the Prison” by Juan Fernández de Navarrete,1565-70 |
Reading 1: Isaiah
41:13-20
For 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 maggot Israel
I will help you, says the
LORD;
your redeemer is the Holy One
of Israel.
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
Israel.
The afflicted and the needy
seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched
with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer
them;
I, the God of Israel, will
not forsake them.
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.
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Commentary on Is 41:13-20
In this selection from the Book of Isaiah (now in the section called
Deutero-Isaiah), we find part of the Hymn of Cyrus, Champion of Justice. (Cyrus
was the Great, King of Persia who conquered the region around 546.)
In the first part of the passage, the oracle speaks in metaphor of God’s
tenderness and love for his people, calling himself the redeemer of Israel. He
will make the nation strong (conquerors will break upon them like the harvest
against the threshing sledge). In the second section, God sings his hopes and
plans for Israel. He will answer their call at need and will not forsake them.
Isaiah uses the harvest image to proclaim a victory of the Lord over those
who oppose him. He once again reminds us that the Lord cares for the poor and
those without hope. The Lord assures us that all that is and will be is created
by God.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
145:1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab
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.
R. The Lord is gracious
and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
Let all your works give you
thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless
you.
Let them discourse of the
glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. The Lord is gracious
and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
Let them make known to men
your might
and the glorious splendor of
your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for
all ages,
and your dominion endures
through all generations.
R. The Lord is gracious
and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
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Commentary on: Ps 145:1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab
Psalm 145 is a hymn of praise. These strophes (because it is in the
acrostic form – each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew
alphabet) are loosely assembled, giving praise to God for his mercy and
compassion, and giving thanks for His creation and redemption. It looks forward
to the coming of the kingdom of God. God, says the psalmist, rules all things
for all time.
CCC: Ps 145:9 295, 342
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Gospel: Matthew
11:11-15
“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.”
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Commentary on Mt 11:11-15
St. John the Baptist is in
prison. His path foreshadows the Lord’s own as he awaits his fate at the hands
of Herod. John's disciples have come to Jesus asking about his identity and are
satisfied. Jesus now speaks of the Voice (an early Christian metaphor for St.
John the Baptist).
We recall the earlier description St. Matthew gives of St. John
the Baptist in Matthew 3:4 ff. His description
matched that of the one given of Elijah, who was anticipated to return at the
time when the Messiah was to come. That image is used again in this passage as
Jesus tells the people that, as great as St. John is (a greatness that comes
from John’s role of proclaiming the coming of the Messiah and extolling the
people to repentance and acceptance of God’s rule in their lives), those who
hear and accept the message of the Kingdom of God will be exalted in heaven, a
greater heavenly reward.
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Homily:
We get a glimpse of something
rather incredible in the Gospel today.
We are told that one of the greatest of the saints, Jesus’ cousin – St.
John the Baptist – in the midst of his great mission, was of lower status than
the lowliest soul in the Kingdom of God.
Think of it! St. John, who comes as a great prophet – the
Voice that announces the arrival of the Messiah – yet Jesus tells us: “the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” That is what
we look forward to, eternal life in the Kingdom of God St.
John
That should give us a serious
jolt as we order our priorities. If we
needed another reminder that building up our spiritual wealth is more important
than material goods, this is it. What we
prepare for in this Advent season is not just the nativity of the Lord, but the
time when the Jesus comes again. At that time, we will be evaluated based upon
how we have lived our lives, what we have focused on in our lives here.
Jesus, in this same Gospel
passage, alludes to as much as he tells the people that St. John came to prepare
his way as the prophecy said: Elijah returned in the person of St. John. The
Messiah arrived in the person of Jesus Christ and he will come again.
As we prepare for the coming
celebration, let us use this exhortation as a reminder that the gifts the Lord
cherishes are pure hearts and minds directed to him in prayer and praise. We build our spiritual treasure in this
season with the great hope that one day we will join “the least in the kingdom of heaven.”
Pax
[2]
The picture is “St John the Baptist in the Prison” by Juan Fernández de
Navarrete,1565-70
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English
in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication
is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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