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“The Triumph Of Christianity Over Paganism”
by Gustave Doré, c. 1868 |
Readings for the First Sunday of Advent [2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
Readings and Commentary: [4]
Reading 1: Jeremiah 33:14-16
The days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will fulfill the promise
I made to the house of Israel and Judah.
In those days, in that time,
I will raise up for David a just shoot ;
he shall do what is right and just in the land.
In those days Judah shall be safe
and Jerusalem shall dwell secure;
this is what they shall call her:
“The LORD our justice.”
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Commentary on Jer 33:14-16
Jeremiah predicts the continuation of the dynasty of King David (“I will raise up for David a just shoot”) in fulfillment of the prophecy made to Nathan in 2 Samuel 7:11-16 (see also Psalm 89:35ff). "The reference to the true [just] branch [shoot] of David's line draws on Isaiah 11:1-16 which portrays the righteous Davidic monarch as a branch ('tsemah') from the root of Jesse, language which is at home in the agriculturally centered world of ancient Israel." [5] To contemporaries of the period, this would have announced the restoration of Judah and Jerusalem. This selection is the second time the prophet has predicted the coming of the Messiah, the first being in Jeremiah 23:5-6. This prediction, fulfilled in Jesus, is one reason so much stress is laid on Jesus’ genealogy.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14
R. (1b) To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior,
and for you I wait all the day.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him,
and his covenant, for their instruction.
R. To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.
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Commentary on Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14
In this hymn of thanksgiving, we hear the petition we have all made many times. In paraphrase, it is “God tell me what you want me to do. Tell me how to follow you.” It goes on to say how blessed are those who have found that path. This selection gives a clear sense of the Lord’s path announced by angelic messengers, prophets, and the very Law of Moses: the culmination and completion of God’s covenants in the tradition of the Hebrews.
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Reading II: 1 Thessalonians 3:12—4:2
Brothers and sisters:
May the Lord make you increase and abound in love
for one another and for all,
just as we have for you,
so as to strengthen your hearts,
to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father
at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen.
Finally, brothers and sisters,
we earnestly ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that,
as you received from us
how you should conduct yourselves to please God
and as you are conducting yourselves
you do so even more.
For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
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Commentary on 1 Thes 3:12—4:2
St. Paul speaks to the Thessalonians about encouraging their already fervent love for one another and the Lord. This selection (4:1ff) begins the apostle’s exhortation on holiness and chastity. He has warned them earlier that they will be facing resistance, and that it is now necessary to strengthen themselves for what is to come. The reference to "instructions" refers to Christian morality. "Christian morality is not viewed as natural law, but as the will of God (Matthew 6:10). sanctification: This connotes a progress toward holiness, a likeness to God (3:13). [6]
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Gospel: Luke 21:25-28, 34-36
Jesus said to his disciples:
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
and on earth nations will be in dismay,
perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will die of fright
in anticipation of what is coming upon the world,
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then they will see the Son of Man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these signs begin to happen,
stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.
“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy
from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of daily life,
and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.
For that day will assault everyone
who lives on the face of the earth.
Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength
to escape the tribulations that are imminent
and to stand before the Son of Man.”
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Commentary on Lk 21:25-28, 34-36
Jesus finds it necessary to remind his disciples not to become complacent in their practice of the faith. It is one of his sternest warnings that the end will come without notice and judgment will be immediate. The final verses of this same Gospel reading concluded the Liturgical Year, having been used the previous day (Saturday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time) and is repeated to begin the Advent season. This dual use emphasizes that we celebrate not only the coming of Christ in his nativity but look forward to his second coming in glory.
"It is clear from this short section that Luke (different from 1 Thessalonians) eliminated the idea of an immediate Parousia. Sudden trials will strike everyone, and so there is need of continual vigilance. Everyone, however, will eventually take part in the Parousia. How a person lives now determines how he will 'stand before the Son of Man.'" [7]
CCC: Lk 21:27 671, 697; Lk 21:34-36 2612
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Reflection:
Happy new year! It is indeed the beginning of the new church or liturgical year. We start fresh, as we do at the beginning of the new calendar year, seeking to improve ourselves through resolutions and promises. The main differences are, in the year of our faith journey, we seek to draw closer to our Lord Jesus’ example of love for others and love of God. We start our efforts to become more Christ-like by recalling that Jesus has come and is coming – our Advent season.
The Advent season is intended to be analogous to a child’s gleeful anticipation on Christmas Eve. From a spiritual perspective, our Advent season is intended to rekindle our anticipation for Christ’s ultimate victory, coming in glory, robed in light, by reminding us of his enigmatic first coming for our salvation.
I have marveled before that for all of our reflection and prayer, for all of our questioning and study, we find, in the millennia since Christ walked the earth as man, that others, graciously endowed with the gift of faith, have reflected more deeply and expressed more clearly the ideals the Lord saw fit to impart. In this case I offer the words of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor of the Church who served us until his death in 386 AD as an example:
We do not preach only one coming of Christ, but a second as well, much more glorious than the first. The first coming was marked by patience; the second will bring the crown of a divine kingdom.
In general, what relates to our Lord Jesus Christ has two aspects. There is a birth from God before the ages, and a birth from a virgin at the fullness of time. There is a hidden coming, like that of rain on fleece, and a coming before all eyes, still in the future.
At the first coming he was wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. At his second coming he will be clothed in light as in a garment. In the first coming he endured the cross, despising the shame; in the second coming he will be in glory, escorted by an army of angels.
We look then beyond the first coming and await the second. At the first coming we said: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. At the second we shall say it again; we shall go out with the angels to meet the Lord and cry out in adoration: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. (From the Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril of Jerusalem)
St. Cyril reminds us, as does the Gospel from St. Luke, that the kingdom of God has not yet been fulfilled. While we most commonly use this Advent season to anticipate the triumph of the manger, we need also to be vigilant in our faith as the Lord’s second coming needs to find us diligent in our faith.
What then will our Advent celebration look like this year? Will there be enough thought and prayer over the Lord’s arrivals to offset the secular flavor that has taken over the public notion of this season? Will we be able to remain focused on the sense of impending liberation from the bonds of sin in order to avoid the sins this secular season seems to bring out in many – greed, avarice, gluttony, and indifference?
This season, perhaps more than any in modern history will be the “Holiday Season,” not the Christmas season, and Advent will be seen as an anachronism. The majority of our fellow citizens prefer that we not emphasize the “reason for the season” as the old saying goes. They prefer that it be a time of fun and good cheer, a time for excesses of all sorts, not the least of which is spending on meaningless gifts for the sake of spending.
How are we to avoid being sucked into this sense of self-service? Well, first we remind ourselves daily of what we look forward to. There are some excellent aids developed especially for this and they have traditionally been available to anyone who wants one. This year we are also given a special prayer to start us off from none other than St. Paul. He writes to the Thessalonians a prayer that could have been directed at each of us:
Brothers and sisters:
May the Lord make you increase and abound in love
for one another and for all,
just as we have for you,
so as to strengthen your hearts,
to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father
at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen.
At the heart of this prayer is the one key command that will keep us focused on what is important: “Love one another.” It was the Lord’s commandment to us and the one he exemplified as he came to the humble manger, born of our Blessed Mother. If we can keep the memory of that command alive, and how it came to us, we will triumph over all attempts to pervert the season of joyous anticipation into something it was never intended to be.
Our Scripture for this first week of our Advent season expresses this very thought. So, in this new year, we ask that you pledge yourselves to that ancient axiom: “As we Worship [Pray], So we Believe, So we Live.”
Pax
[1] Catechism links are taken from the
Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2] The picture is “The Triumph Of Christianity Over Paganism” by Gustave Doré, c. 1868.
[3] S.S. Commemoratio[4]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.
[5] The Jewish Study Bible, © 2004 Oxford University Press, New York, NY, p. 996.
[6] Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 48:23 p. 231.
[7] Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 44:149, p. 155.
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