Saint Damasus I, Pope
Biographical Information about St. Damasus
Readings for Thursday of the Second Week of Advent[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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. 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 the 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 and assures us that all that is and will be is created by God.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm:[4] 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 11:11-15
We recall the description St. Matthew gives of St. John the Baptist in Matthew 3:4 ff. His description matched that of the one given to 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, 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homily:
The Candle of Love now joins the Candle of Hope giving light to the darkness!
Setting this Gospel in context, John the Baptist has just written to Jesus from prison asking if he is the one “who is to come” or should we look for another. In response Jesus sent back the message by John’s disciples to tell him what they have seen of the miracles Jesus has worked; the blind see, the lame walk. Using the descriptive words of the prophets he is confirming John’s belief that Jesus is the Messiah.
That is where our Gospel passage begins – and Jesus says; among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist. We must ask ourselves what makes John so special? He is a mystic; he wears funny cloths and eats funny stuff. He cries out to the people to repent and return to right paths. It is John’s acceptance of his role as predecessor of the Lord that makes him great.
We see in the role of John the Baptist our own call. We are to carve a path for the Lord, like roots shooting out from a seedling, our effort to express the love of Christ burrows through the soil and rock of an unloving world, transforming it. The Lord makes it clear for us that even though St. John was great for being the outspoken herald of the Messiah, those of us who take up that call, will find a reward in the kingdom of heaven.
Today the love of God is expressed first by Isaiah and then by Jesus calls out to us to have hope in the God who will not fail and have the sacred heart of Christ which never ceases to give mercy. We accept these gifts of the season and pray that we have strength and courage to show them to others in the spirit of St. John the Baptist, whom Jesus loved so much.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used today is “John the Baptist in the Wilderness” by tot Sint Jans Geertgen, 1490-95
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[4] Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved
Biographical Information about St. Damasus
Readings for Thursday of the Second Week of Advent[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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. 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 the 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 and assures us that all that is and will be is created by God.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm:[4] 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 11:11-15
We recall the description St. Matthew gives of St. John the Baptist in Matthew 3:4 ff. His description matched that of the one given to 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, 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homily:
The Candle of Love now joins the Candle of Hope giving light to the darkness!
Setting this Gospel in context, John the Baptist has just written to Jesus from prison asking if he is the one “who is to come” or should we look for another. In response Jesus sent back the message by John’s disciples to tell him what they have seen of the miracles Jesus has worked; the blind see, the lame walk. Using the descriptive words of the prophets he is confirming John’s belief that Jesus is the Messiah.
That is where our Gospel passage begins – and Jesus says; among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist. We must ask ourselves what makes John so special? He is a mystic; he wears funny cloths and eats funny stuff. He cries out to the people to repent and return to right paths. It is John’s acceptance of his role as predecessor of the Lord that makes him great.
We see in the role of John the Baptist our own call. We are to carve a path for the Lord, like roots shooting out from a seedling, our effort to express the love of Christ burrows through the soil and rock of an unloving world, transforming it. The Lord makes it clear for us that even though St. John was great for being the outspoken herald of the Messiah, those of us who take up that call, will find a reward in the kingdom of heaven.
Today the love of God is expressed first by Isaiah and then by Jesus calls out to us to have hope in the God who will not fail and have the sacred heart of Christ which never ceases to give mercy. We accept these gifts of the season and pray that we have strength and courage to show them to others in the spirit of St. John the Baptist, whom Jesus loved so much.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used today is “John the Baptist in the Wilderness” by tot Sint Jans Geertgen, 1490-95
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[4] Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved
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