Friday of the Second Week of Advent
Readings for Friday of the 2nd Week of Advent
Commentary:
Reading 1 Is 48:17-19
Isaiah proposes the words of a holy covenant – If you follow the commandments of God, he will give you prosperity, justification or forgiveness, and your line of decedents will be many and always have God’s help.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
This psalm fits with the Isaiah reading above like an overlapped formula of covenant. Blessed is the man who “delights in the Law day and night” but; “the way of the wicked vanishes.”
Gospel Mt 11:16-19
The Gospel from St. Matthew plays in parallel to the first reading from Isaiah and Psalm 1. Jesus turns it around comparing those he has uncounted with the wicked in the psalm because they do not follow the prophet – John the Baptist (“…John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.”) Nor do he hear the words of the Messiah (“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.’) Then he implies the truth will come out based upon what follows from John the Baptist and Jesus; (“But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”)
Reflection:
If we jump up to the twenty thousand foot level and look at our scripture for today in the context of our season, we hear a single voice calling out to us saying; “Live by God’s Commandments and your faith will earn you salvation.” We hear it from the Prophet Isaiah, we hear it again in the Psalm, and finally in the Gospel we hear the Lord bemoaning the fact that people of his day do not understand that John the Baptist is a prophet as well as a herald and that he, himself, is the Messiah.
When we hear that kind of general instruction, let’s face it, we are not given a specific action in this guidance, how do we respond? Do we take this broad statement like we do with general instructions we would get from our parents; “Be good today.” That is basically what was being said, wasn’t it?
As children getting the instruction “Be good today”, we would almost always answer, “I will.” There was intent in those words at the time they were spoken, but how often did our response to the instruction die almost as quickly as the echo of our answer?
We are now hearing this same call as children of God. We were adopted by him in Christ, and called to do our Father’s will. Today he says to us – be good, follow my commandments to you and I will be with you. The trick here is to know what those commandments are just like as children we knew what kind of behavior our parents expected when they told us to be good.
For us, we start with the Ten Commandments; (Ex 20; 2-17)
"I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
You shall not have other gods besides me.
You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their fathers' wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation, on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.
"You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. For the Lord will not leave unpunished him who takes his name in vain.
"Remember to keep holy the sabbath day. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord, your God. No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your beast, or by the alien who lives with you. In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
"Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you.
"You shall not kill.
"You shall not commit adultery.
"You shall not steal.
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass, nor anything else that belongs to him."
Then we apply the Lord’s Great Commandment; (MK 12; 29-31)
"The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'
The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
Once we have put these two together we are in pretty good shape with the Lord. They are the big poster we should decorate the place we are preparing for the Lord this Advent Season. Living by them will be the hooks that hold them in place.
Pax
Readings for Friday of the 2nd Week of Advent
Commentary:
Reading 1 Is 48:17-19
Isaiah proposes the words of a holy covenant – If you follow the commandments of God, he will give you prosperity, justification or forgiveness, and your line of decedents will be many and always have God’s help.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
This psalm fits with the Isaiah reading above like an overlapped formula of covenant. Blessed is the man who “delights in the Law day and night” but; “the way of the wicked vanishes.”
Gospel Mt 11:16-19
The Gospel from St. Matthew plays in parallel to the first reading from Isaiah and Psalm 1. Jesus turns it around comparing those he has uncounted with the wicked in the psalm because they do not follow the prophet – John the Baptist (“…John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.”) Nor do he hear the words of the Messiah (“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.’) Then he implies the truth will come out based upon what follows from John the Baptist and Jesus; (“But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”)
Reflection:
If we jump up to the twenty thousand foot level and look at our scripture for today in the context of our season, we hear a single voice calling out to us saying; “Live by God’s Commandments and your faith will earn you salvation.” We hear it from the Prophet Isaiah, we hear it again in the Psalm, and finally in the Gospel we hear the Lord bemoaning the fact that people of his day do not understand that John the Baptist is a prophet as well as a herald and that he, himself, is the Messiah.
When we hear that kind of general instruction, let’s face it, we are not given a specific action in this guidance, how do we respond? Do we take this broad statement like we do with general instructions we would get from our parents; “Be good today.” That is basically what was being said, wasn’t it?
As children getting the instruction “Be good today”, we would almost always answer, “I will.” There was intent in those words at the time they were spoken, but how often did our response to the instruction die almost as quickly as the echo of our answer?
We are now hearing this same call as children of God. We were adopted by him in Christ, and called to do our Father’s will. Today he says to us – be good, follow my commandments to you and I will be with you. The trick here is to know what those commandments are just like as children we knew what kind of behavior our parents expected when they told us to be good.
For us, we start with the Ten Commandments; (Ex 20; 2-17)
"I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.
You shall not have other gods besides me.
You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their fathers' wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation, on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.
"You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. For the Lord will not leave unpunished him who takes his name in vain.
"Remember to keep holy the sabbath day. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord, your God. No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your beast, or by the alien who lives with you. In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
"Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you.
"You shall not kill.
"You shall not commit adultery.
"You shall not steal.
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass, nor anything else that belongs to him."
Then we apply the Lord’s Great Commandment; (MK 12; 29-31)
"The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'
The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
Once we have put these two together we are in pretty good shape with the Lord. They are the big poster we should decorate the place we are preparing for the Lord this Advent Season. Living by them will be the hooks that hold them in place.
Pax
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