Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Proper for the Memorial of St. Ambrose 
 
Biographical information about St. Ambrose

"St. Ambrose Polyptych" (detail) 
by Bartolomeo Vivarini, 1477.

 
Readings for Tuesday of the Second Week in Advent [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Isaiah 40:1-11
 
Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
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.
 
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 is 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, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
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.
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Commentary on Is 40:1-11
 
The Prophet Isaiah describes two prophetic events with his oracle in this section. Most familiar to us is the description of John the Baptist since this passage is quoted in Matthew 3:3. It is also a description of the exiles returning from Babylon to Jerusalem.
 
This description is followed by a vision of the messianic kingdom to come and the rule of God who creates all things and has authority over all things. The coming of the Kingdom of God will be the cry of the Messiah, who will announce its’ coming to all peoples.
 
The selection concludes with the analogy between the benevolent leadership of the Messiah to come with that of the good shepherd who feeds and guides his flock.
 
CCC: Is 40:1-3 719; Is 40:6 990; Is 40:11 754
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 96:1-2, 3 and 10ac, 11-12, 13
 
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.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
 
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
 
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
 
They shall exult before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
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Commentary on Ps 96:1-2, 3 and 10ac, 11-12, 13
 
Psalm 96 is a hymn of praise. These strophes direct us back to the glorious rule of the Messiah to come. Looking forward, the singer rejoices in the rule of justice, mercy, and peace. The reason for this exhortation is that God will come to rule the earth with his justice. In this passage we see the forerunner of the understanding of the New Jerusalem – the Heavenly Kingdom.
 
CCC: Ps 96:2 2143
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Gospel: Matthew 18:12-14
 
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.”
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Commentary on Mt 18:12-14
 
This passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew is part of a larger discourse about how to correct those who have gone astray, but are still within the Christian community. In this short passage the image of the Good Shepherd is used to demonstrate the Father’s love for all those given to his son: “it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”
 
"All of this reminds us that one of the major purposes of this 'Sermon on the Church' is to instill in the disciples a sense of their responsibilities as future shepherds of the Church.  As they see Jesus teach and act now, so must they teach and act later, for the simple reason that they and Jesus have one and the same Father." [4]
 
CCC: Mt 18:14 605, 2822
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Reflection:
 
The Gospel authors record that Jesus was fond of using analogy as a teaching tool.  He gave the people a principle they could relate to their personal lives.  That is why he often speaks of shepherds, as he does today.  In other places there are frequent references to agriculture, sowing and reaping and the process of separating the grain from the chaff.  The attitudes of the people he addressed were shaped by the importance of these events.  They meant survival or starvation in many instances.
 
These stories and analogies have different impacts on peoples around the world.  In many developing countries, the agrarian values strike a deeper chord than in the urban centers of the developed world.  Many children in the U.S. have never been to a working farm, let alone worked on one.  To individuals who are products of a modern world, the story of the lost sheep may not be as impactful as it was to the original audience.
 
We believe, given the attitudes about material goods many have in this country, that it may seem that the shepherd of the lost sheep overreacted to the finding of the one.  It goes to a sense of value.  When the system of secular morality celebrates only self, when there is no effort to teach responsibility for the well-being of others, what relevance does the story of the shepherd, and the lost sheep have?  It is, in all actuality, countercultural.
 
We use this observation to highlight the importance of passing on our faith in the New Evangelization.  When we think about this effort, we are reminded of emperor penguins.  To survive in the harsh Antarctic climate, they have developed a social behavior.  When conditions become especially harsh and temperatures plunge, they gather closely together in a large circle.  Those at the interior of the circle are completely protected and are warmed by all their fellow penguins.  Those at the outer edges are chilled and move inward gently working their way to the center.  As they move in others move out in rotation.
 
We use this image as an analogy to the Church. We can see that those most in need of the warmth of the Gospel message are those out on the fringes.  Those already strengthened by the flame of faith move outward passing on that warmth, encouraging those on the fringes to come closer to the warmth.
 
The bottom line is that we must be diligent in passing on what we have been given, because increasingly most of those we encounter don’t care about the lost sheep, even though they themselves may be lost.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture is "St. Ambrose Polyptych" (detail) by Bartolomeo Vivarini, 1477.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[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 republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume II, Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, © 2003 p. 623.