Dec 1, 2009
Reading 1 Is 11:1-10
On that day,
A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:
a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A Spirit of counsel and of strength,
a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.
Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide aright for the landís afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobraís den,
and the child lay his hand on the adderís lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,
as water covers the sea.
On that day,
The root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the nations,
The Gentiles shall seek out,
for his dwelling shall be glorious.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 72: 1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17
R.~ Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the kingís son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R.~~~~~~~ Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
R.~~~~~~~ Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
He shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
R.~~~~~~~ Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
May his name be blessed forever;
as long as the sun his name shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed;
all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.
R.~~~~~~~ Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
Gospel Lk 10:21-24
Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,
ìI give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.î
Turning to the disciples in private he said,
ìBlessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.î
......................
In the beautiful prophecy of Isaiah we hear of the coming of the Messiah, and of his being filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
This prophecy has been fulfilled. It of course requires faith for us to see the fulfillment of this prophecy in Jesus Christ, born from the house of Jesse and David, a man perfectly just and faithful, who does not judge by appearances.
Just as Advent is the preparation time for Christmas, we now are living in the preparation time for the complete fulfillment of Isaiahís prophecyÖhow many times have we seen pictures of this on Christmas cardsÖfor that time when the calf and the young lion shall browse together, rest and eat hay together, with a little child to guide them.
We are living in the time given to conform our lives, our society and world ñ as much as we can to the full messianic ideal.
And it is an ideal, a prophetic ideal. We followers of Jesus Christ, we members of the Church, are supposed to be idealistic.
I can hear those words grate on you, as they grate in my ears too. Our world is so far from Isaiahís vision that ì idealist/idealisticî are negative words, words with pejorative connotations. To be idealistic is to be impractical, unrealistic. To really have ideals today is to be foolish.
We live in a jaded, cynical, adult world, a world whose ideals of the enlightenment
have just about burned out, a world which is too blind to see the true light of the world.
We live in a world where people are offensive, defensive or both. But if God is for us, who can prevail against us ?
In Jesusí prayer of thanksgiving in todayís Gospel, He tells us that God has revealed his light, his ideal, to the childlike. Hopefully that is us. Hopefully we are childlike enough to have Jesusí ideals, to be peacemakers, meek, poor in spirit, merciful, pure of heart, hungry for Godís justice. Hopefully we are childlike enough to live idealistically in his kingdom here and now.
Only that way will anyone else take Jesus, his kingdom and his ideals seriously. Only that way Shall The nations see Jesus set up as a signal and so seek Him. Only that way will the earth come to be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea.
This Advent is a time for us to rediscover the child in us and to recommit ourselves to the way of the Lord. May his name, his way, his kingdom, his ideals be ours and be blessed forever.
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