“St John the Baptist in the Prison”
by Juan Fernández de Navarrete,1565-70

 
Readings for Thursday of the Second Week of Advent [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Isaiah 41:13-20
 
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.
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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. (Cyrus the Great was the King of Persia who conquered the region around 546.) “The Lord puts the nations and their gods on trial, questioning them and challenging them to produce evidence of their ability to shape the course of history. Predictably, no such evidence is forthcoming; only the God of Israel, who manages earthly powers and rulers as instruments of his will, controls the direction of world events.” [4]

In the first part of this selection, 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 a 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. The Lord assures us that all that is and will be is created by God.
 
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Responsorial Psalm: 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.
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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.
 
CCC: Ps 145:9 295, 342
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Gospel: Matthew 11:11-15
 
Jesus said to the crowds:
“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.”
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Commentary on Mt 11:11-15
 
St. John the Baptist is in prison. His path foreshadows the Lord’s own as he awaits his fate at the hands of Herod. John's disciples have come to Jesus asking about his identity and are satisfied. Jesus now speaks of the Voice (an early Christian metaphor for St. John the Baptist).

We recall the earlier description St. Matthew gives of St. John the Baptist in Matthew 3:4 ff. His description matched that of the one given of 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 that, as great as St. John is (a greatness that comes from John’s role of proclaiming the coming of the Messiah and exhorting 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.
 
CCC: Mt 11:13-14 719; Mt 11:13 523
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Reflection:
 
We get a glimpse of something rather incredible in the Gospel today.  We are told that one of the greatest of the saints, Jesus’ cousin – St. John the Baptist – in the midst of his great mission, was of lower status than the lowliest soul in the Kingdom of God.
 
Think of it!  St. John comes as a great prophet – the Voice that announces the arrival of the Messiah – yet Jesus tells us: “the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”  That is what we look forward to, once we are purified and stand with that incredible host, eternal life in the Kingdom of God.  We hope to be part of that multitude rejoicing with the Lord – greater than St. John was on earth.
 
That should give us a serious jolt as we order our priorities.  If we needed another reminder that building up our spiritual wealth is more important than material goods, this is it.  What we prepare for in this Advent season is not just the nativity of the Lord, but the time when Jesus comes again. At that time, we will be evaluated based upon how we have lived our lives, what we have focused on in our lives here. 
 
Jesus, in this same Gospel passage, alludes to as much as he tells the people that St. John came to prepare his way as the prophecy said: Elijah returned in the person of St. John. The Messiah arrived in the person of Jesus Christ, and he will come again.
 
As we prepare for the coming celebration, let us use this exhortation as a reminder that the gifts the Lord cherishes are pure hearts, and minds directed to him in prayer and praise.  We build our spiritual treasure in this season with the great hope that one day we will join “the least in the kingdom of heaven.”
 
Pax

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[1] S.S. Commemoratio
[2] The picture is “St John the Baptist in the Prison” by Juan Fernández de Navarrete,1565-70.
[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] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, Isaiah, © 2019, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. p.72.