Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin
Biographical Information about St. Juan Diego[1]
Readings for Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Is 40:1-11
The Prophet Isaiah describes two real 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 Kingdom of God will be the cry of the Messiah, who will announce it’s coming to all peoples.
This 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. These verses tie nicely to the passage from St. Matthew’s Gospel below.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm:[4] 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 18:12-14
“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.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The Candle of Love now joins the Candle of Hope giving light to the darkness!
The Jerusalem Bible presents the last line of the Gospel message with a slightly different emphasis “…it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.” If we listen to the Lord as his disciples must have listened to him we see a few things very clearly. First, knowing the prophecy of Isaiah, we know that he came to fulfill what had been spoken of by not just Isaiah but all of the prophecies handed down to us. Jesus is the shoot from the stump of Jesse. He is from the line of King David, Jesse’s son. He is the good shepherd who, as Isaiah said, “…feeds his flock;” (with his own body) “in his arms he gathers the lambs, Carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.”
We also hear his concern for those the Father has handed to him, the flock he shepherds. We are co-heirs of that apostolic mission, to make sure “…that not one of these little ones be lost.” In this, our season of Advent, when the whole world looks forward to the Feast of the Nativity of Jesus, Christmas, we feel the pull to reach out to those who have stayed, especially those closest to us. This is a time, ironically, when families are under a great deal of stress. Everyone knows that the Nativity of the Lord is a time when families should be together, basking in the glow of the love of God who “so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” Yet, because of our humanness some of us pull away – walk down dark paths – become lost in the morass of hedonism and greed. It is for this reason that the weeks leading up the Christmas see an upswing in suicides and domestic violent crimes.
Now it is handed to us that we, the disciples of Christ today, are asked to participate in seeking the lost, inviting the strayed back to the love of Jesus, back to the place were “…he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom”. This can be difficult or easy. The closer the one who needs to hear that invitation is to our hearts the more difficult it becomes. Never the less, our Lord reminds us that if we are to follow him, we must seek the lost with love and compassion.
Our prayer today is that we have the strength to do what is difficult, the courage to stand in the place of Christ the Shepherd and reach out to those who do not want to be found, inviting them home.
Pax
Biographical Information about St. Juan Diego[1]
Readings for Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Is 40:1-11
The Prophet Isaiah describes two real 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 Kingdom of God will be the cry of the Messiah, who will announce it’s coming to all peoples.
This 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. These verses tie nicely to the passage from St. Matthew’s Gospel below.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm:[4] 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 18:12-14
“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.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The Candle of Love now joins the Candle of Hope giving light to the darkness!
The Jerusalem Bible presents the last line of the Gospel message with a slightly different emphasis “…it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.” If we listen to the Lord as his disciples must have listened to him we see a few things very clearly. First, knowing the prophecy of Isaiah, we know that he came to fulfill what had been spoken of by not just Isaiah but all of the prophecies handed down to us. Jesus is the shoot from the stump of Jesse. He is from the line of King David, Jesse’s son. He is the good shepherd who, as Isaiah said, “…feeds his flock;” (with his own body) “in his arms he gathers the lambs, Carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.”
We also hear his concern for those the Father has handed to him, the flock he shepherds. We are co-heirs of that apostolic mission, to make sure “…that not one of these little ones be lost.” In this, our season of Advent, when the whole world looks forward to the Feast of the Nativity of Jesus, Christmas, we feel the pull to reach out to those who have stayed, especially those closest to us. This is a time, ironically, when families are under a great deal of stress. Everyone knows that the Nativity of the Lord is a time when families should be together, basking in the glow of the love of God who “so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” Yet, because of our humanness some of us pull away – walk down dark paths – become lost in the morass of hedonism and greed. It is for this reason that the weeks leading up the Christmas see an upswing in suicides and domestic violent crimes.
Now it is handed to us that we, the disciples of Christ today, are asked to participate in seeking the lost, inviting the strayed back to the love of Jesus, back to the place were “…he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom”. This can be difficult or easy. The closer the one who needs to hear that invitation is to our hearts the more difficult it becomes. Never the less, our Lord reminds us that if we are to follow him, we must seek the lost with love and compassion.
Our prayer today is that we have the strength to do what is difficult, the courage to stand in the place of Christ the Shepherd and reach out to those who do not want to be found, inviting them home.
Pax
[1] The picture used today is “St. Juan Diego” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN
[2] ALTRE
[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
No comments:
Post a Comment