Monday of the Second Week of Advent

(Optional Memorial for Saint Nicholas, Bishop) 

Proper readings for the Memorial of St. Nicholas
 
Biographical information about St. Nicholas

“Healing of the Lame Man” (detail)
by Raffaello Sanzio, 1515-16

Readings for Monday of the Second Week of Advent [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Isaiah 35:1-10
 
The desert and the parched land will exult;
the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with abundant flowers,
and rejoice with joyful song.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to them,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
They will see the glory of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
With divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
Then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
Streams will burst forth in the desert,
and rivers in the steppe.
The burning sands will become pools,
and the thirsty ground, springs of water;
The abode where jackals lurk
will be a marsh for the reed and papyrus.
A highway will be there,
called the holy way;
No one unclean may pass over it,
nor fools go astray on it.
No lion will be there,
nor beast of prey go up to be met upon it.
It is for those with a journey to make,
and on it the redeemed will walk.
Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return
and enter Zion singing,
crowned with everlasting joy;
They will meet with joy and gladness,
sorrow and mourning will flee.
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Commentary on Is 35:1-10
 
This selection is a prophetic vision of the restoration of Israel following the Babylonian exile. It is also seen by the Hebrew people as a vision of the land redeemed by the coming Messiah. Those who are most afflicted, the blind, the deaf, the lame, and the mute, will be the first to experience the saving grace of God. Christians see it as the prophecy fulfilled by Jesus.

"v. 5. eyes of the blind be opened: The most unfortunate among the exiled will be among the first to share these blessings (see Matthew 11:5 for a sign that the Messianic age has arrived). v. 8. The ‘way’ is holy because it leads to Zion, the holy city. v. 9. The "redeemed" are those who are being brought out of exile. They have been ransomed from bondage as had their forefathers at the time of the Exodus. The NT (John 6:48-51; 1 Corinthians 10:1-4; Hebrews 12:18-24) understands the coming of Christ in terms of a new and definitive Exodus. Note that the Exodus from Egypt is a type both for the return from Exile (OT) and for salvation through Christ (NT)." [4]
 
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 85:9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14
 
R. (Isaiah 35:4f) Our God will come to save us!

I will hear what God proclaims;
the Lord –for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. Our God will come to save us!

Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Our God will come to save us!

The Lord himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. Our God will come to save us!
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Commentary on Ps 85:9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14
 
Psalm 85 is a communal lament that focuses on the woes of the nation. These strophes reflect the joy of salvation at the restoration of the land following the destruction of the temple and the Diaspora. Those faithful to God see the reward: a land restored, justice returned, and the salvation of God. When used in the context of the Advent season, the theme of preparation for a time of peace is announced. It is a clear tie to the herald of the Messiah, echoing Isaiah’s oracle (Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11).
 
CCC: Ps 85:11 214; Ps 85:12 2795
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Gospel: Luke 5:17-26
 
One day as Jesus was teaching,
Pharisees and teachers of the law,
who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem,
were sitting there,
and the power of the Lord was with him for healing.
And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed;
they were trying to bring him in and set him in his presence.
But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd,
they went up on the roof
and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles
into the middle in front of Jesus.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said,
“As for you, your sins are forgiven.”
Then the scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves,
“Who is this who speaks blasphemies?
Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them in reply,
“What are you thinking in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”–
he said to the one who was paralyzed,
“I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”
He stood up immediately before them,
picked up what he had been lying on,
and went home, glorifying God.
Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God,
and, struck with awe, they said,
“We have seen incredible things today.”
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Commentary on Lk 5:17-26

Here, St. Luke’s Gospel begins describing a series of controversies between Jesus and the Pharisees. In this story, also captured in Mark 2:1-12 and Matthew 9:1-8, the paralytic is lowered through the roof to be near Jesus. (Interestingly, the roof material varies according to the audience of the particular Gospel.) The Lord’s first comments to the paralytic are, “Your sins are forgiven.” This starts the Pharisees talking since, in the Hebrew tradition, only God may forgive sins.

The Lord, in response, demonstrates his authority over sin. In the eyes of the early Hebrew people, physical afflictions were believed to be a punishment visited upon them by God for the sins of the person or their ancestors. By healing the paralytic, Jesus demonstrates his compassion for the poor, his authority to forgive sins, and fulfills the prophetic vision of the Hebrew Prophets (e.g. "Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared. Then the lame shall leap like a stag, and the mute tongue sing for joy," Isaiah 35:5-6).
 
CCC: Lk 5:17 1116
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Reflection:
 
The Scripture today has two messages for us. The Gospel message affirms that interior sin can manifest itself externally in damage to the health of the physical body. We have previously defined sin as “a conscious failure to love” for purposes of a pragmatic approach to this understanding.
 
Here is an example of sin in this context. Let’s say a person has a serious problem with something a member of their family has done. Even though that family member may have been wrong, perhaps even grievously wrong in what they did, our sin is in not forgiving them. It is lack of forgiveness that does the greater harm. If we latch onto the hurt that person caused us, and continue to react in bitterness, not trying to put away our feelings of anger or even hatred, we have created in our soul a canker, a festering wound. It will, like a cancer, take on a life of its own, and we are almost powerless to stop it.
 
This kind of sin can lead to all kinds of emotional and physical problems. It is the acceptance of Christ’s love and peace which causes a conversion of the heart that cures this kind of deep injury. That is the true message of the story of the paralytic.
 
The second message relates to the conversion (Mετανοεῖτε [metanoia]) experience that comes with forgiveness. The passage from Isaiah describes the path to healing itself. He describes the kingdom of God on earth, ruled by a loving Christ who calls us to forgive as he forgave. How light our burdens become when we hand them to Christ, who came so that we would be able to lay those burdens at his feet. The passage very much leads us on our Advent journey, following St. John the Baptist’s call to repentance, conversion, and faith that sets our feet upon this path.
 
Today our Advent prayer is one that asks us to hold up our spirit for inspection and see if there are blemishes of sin that need to be handed to the Lord. In doing so, we might find our path to Christ’s peace more clearly and walk without that burden he so generously offers to carry.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture is “Healing of the Lame Man” (detail) by Raffaello Sanzio, 1515-16.
[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] Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 16:60, p. 280.