Catechism Links [1]
CCC 668-677, 769: The final tribulation and Christ’s return in glory
CCC 451, 671, 1130, 1403, 2817: “Come, Lord Jesus!”
CCC 35: God gives humanity
grace to accept Revelation, welcome the Messiah
CCC 827, 1431, 2677, 2839: Acknowledging that we are sinners
 |
“Polyptych of the Apocalypse” (central panel)
by Jacobello Alberegno 1360-90 |
Readings
for the First Sunday of Advent [2]
Readings
from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
Readings and Commentary: [4]
Reading 1: Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7
You, LORD, are our father,
our redeemer you are named
forever.
Why do you let us wander, O
LORD, from your ways,
and harden our hearts so that
we fear you not?
Return for the sake of your
servants,
the tribes of your heritage.
Oh, that you would rend the
heavens and come down,
with the mountains quaking
before you,
while you wrought awesome
deeds we could not hope for,
such as they had not heard of
from of old.
No ear has ever heard, no eye
ever seen, any God but you
doing such deeds for those
who wait for him.
Would that you might meet us
doing right,
that we were mindful of you
in our ways!
Behold, you are angry, and we
are sinful;
all of us have become like
unclean people,
all our good deeds are like
polluted rags;
we have all withered like
leaves,
and our guilt carries us away
like the wind.
There is none who calls upon
your name,
who rouses himself to cling
to you;
for you have hidden your face
from us
and have delivered us up to
our guilt.
Yet, O LORD, you are our
father;
we are the clay and you the
potter:
we are all the work of your
hands.
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Commentary on Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7
This
reading is part of what is called the “Psalm of Entreaty.” The Jewish people
have returned from exile and find Jerusalem in ruins. Completely without
resources, their only hope is in the Lord.
“Now
at last the Lord comes as a conqueror and a Judge to dispense rewards and
punishments. There are a number of oracles here to do with this theme, and they
combine to create a long and beautiful apocalyptic poem. There are three
stanzas in it: the first (63:1-6) describes the Lord's victory over the
Edomites, the epitome of a nation hostile to Israel; the second (63:7-14)
celebrates the mercy of God and all he has done for his people; the third
(63:15-64:12) is an entreaty full of confidence in the Lord, our Father.” [5]
We
hear the psalmist in these verses identify himself with a sinful and fallen
people who see the Lord’s redemptive acts in the distant past (“such as they
had not heard of from of old “). Pleading their unworthiness, he calls
upon God to come to them in their need, return to them, his creation (“we
are the clay and you the potter”).
-------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19
R. (4) Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and
we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
from your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Rouse your power,
and come to save us.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
Once again, O LORD of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see;
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.
R. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19
The call to the “Shepherd of Israel” is
David’s plea for God to hear. This same “Good Shepherd” image is later applied
to God’s Only Begotten Son. While this psalm is a lament, or plea for God’s
help in time of distress for King David’s armies, we see in the language an
indication of the Messiah to come: “May your help be with the man of your
right hand, with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.” The
psalmist prays for God’s intervention and help, and in return promises
faithfulness. He implores the Lord to send the Messiah: “Rouse your power,
and come to save us.” This will be the gift that fulfills all hopes: “Then
we will no more withdraw from you; give us new life, and we will call upon your
name.”
-------------------------------------------
Reading II: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Brothers and
sisters:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always on your account
for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
that in him you were enriched in every way,
with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you firm to the end,
irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful,
and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on 1 Cor 1:3-9
This
is the salutation portion of Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth. In
typical letter format, he gives thanks to God for the gift of faith given to
this community and continues his fervent wish that they (and we) be steadfast
in the faith: “He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day
of our Lord Jesus (Christ).“ The reference to "the day of the our
Lord" is a reference to the day of judgment when Christ will return
again in glory (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:2). The apostle
emphasizes a recurring exhortation to Christians to remain faithful because the
hour of the Lord's coming is not known.
CCC: 1 Cor 1:1-6 401
-------------------------------------------
Gospel: Mark 13:33-37
Jesus said to his
disciples:
“Be watchful! Be alert!
You do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man traveling abroad.
He leaves home and places his servants in charge,
each with his own work,
and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.
Watch, therefore;
you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming,
whether in the evening, or at midnight,
or at cockcrow, or in the morning.
May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mk 13:33-37
Jesus,
in the verses just prior to this selection, has just concluded his
eschatological prediction about the destruction of the temple (his body). He
now renews and expands his exhortation to his disciples to remain vigilant.
This commandment becomes the watchword of all Christians, in that vigilance
means love. Through love all the commandments are kept, and the hope of
Christ’s coming is strengthened. The final verse: “What I say to you, I say
to all: ‘Watch!’” expands this injunction to all the faithful.
CCC: Mk 13:33-37 672, 2849
-------------------------------------------
Reflection:
Our
Advent season holds a complex set of emotions for us. At once we recall the upcoming celebration of
Christmas with great anticipation and joy, while at the same time we look to
the future when the Lord’s second coming will bring to fulfillment the promise
of the angels who first heralded his birth.
As
we look forward to the Christmas season, the feast of the Nativity of the Lord,
we are filled with wonder at the great love God demonstrated, sending his only
Son to us as a revelation. He showed us
in the great efficacious act (he who came bringing hope was hope, he who came
bringing love, was love!) that God’s love knows no bounds. In this anticipatory
sense we feel the joy of the young child who has just learned they have won a
great prize. Even though the prize has
not yet been given, the simple knowledge of winning brings even greater hope
and joy than the gift of the prize itself.
Even
as we look forward to Christmas, now just a few short weeks away, we look
beyond that date to the time when our Savior promised he would come again. As much as we must prepare for the Lord’s
Nativity, we must be more diligent, more persistent in our preparation for the
“big event.” The really good news is
that if we prepare for the Lord’s birthday as we should, we are also preparing
for his second coming as well.
,
This
is the message implicit in the Gospel.
Let’s review what we know of God’s commandments to us. If we are anxious to please him and thereby
give him what he wants, we should look to what he has asked of us. His first and greatest commandment was to
love God and, the second was like it: to “Love one another.” If we can get much better at doing this, our
exterior actions in preparation for the Lord’s birthday will reflect our
interior preparation for the day when we will stand before the judgment seat of
Christ.
In
our love for God, we come before him with Isaiah’s great hymn of entreaty: “Would that you might meet us doing right,
that we were mindful of you in our ways!”
In our hearts God sees that love, a love most perfectly represented by
his Son. In our own entreaty we call to
him as generations of the faithful have done before “Come, Lord Jesus!” In that call we express our love for him and
our expectation of his coming.
Our
Advent season is one of complex emotions.
Let us pray this season that the dominating emotion is love – love for
God and love for one another. In love is
hope, and in hope we experience the peace Christ brings.
Pax
On
December 3rd in other years: Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest
[1]
Catechism links are taken from the
Homiletic Directory, Published by the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2]
The picture used today is “Polyptych of the Apocalypse” (central panel) by
Jacobello Alberegno 1360-90.
[3]
Begins Cycle B, Year II,
S.S. Commemoratio[4]
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.
[5]
The Navarre Bible: “Major Prophets,” Scepter
Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, pp. 269-70.
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