Thursday December 16, 2021. Week Three in Advent

Thursday, December 16 2021
Week Three in Advent

Thursday of the 3rd week of Advent

FIRST READING

A reading from the prophet Isaiah       54:1-10
Theme: Like a forsaken wife, distressed in spirit, the Lord calls you back.

Shout for joy, you barren women who bore no children!
Break into cries of joy and gladness, you who were never in labour!
For the sons of the forsaken one are more in number
than the sons of the wedded wife, says the Lord.

Widen the space of your tent,
stretch out your hangings freely,
lengthen your ropes,
make your pegs firm;
for you will burst out to right and to left.
Your race will take possession of the nations,
and people the abandoned cities.
Do not be afraid, you will not be put to shame,
do not be dismayed, you will not be disgraced;
for you will forget the shame of your youth
and no longer remember the curse of your widowhood.
For now your creator will be your husband,
his name, the Lord of hosts;
your redeemer will be the Holy One of Israel,
he is called the God of the whole earth.
Yes, like a forsaken wife,
distressed in spirit, the Lord calls you back.
Does a man cast off the wife of his youth?
says your God.

I did forsake you for a brief moment,
but with great love will I take you back.
In excess of anger, for a moment
I hid my face from you.
But with everlasting love I have taken pity on you,
says the Lord, your redeemer.

I am now as I was in the days of Noah
when I swore that Noah’s waters
should never flood the world again.
So now I swear concerning my anger with you
and the threats I made against you;

for the mountains may depart,
the hills be shaken,
but my love for you will never leave you
and my covenant of peace with you will never be shaken,
says the Lord who takes pity on you.

The Word of the Lord          Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm       Ps 29
Response                             I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.

1. I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me
and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead,
restored me to life from those who sink into the grave.       Response

2. Sing psalms to the Lord, you who love him,
give thanks to his holy name,
His anger lasts but a moment; his favour through life.
At night there are tears, but joy comes with dawn.               Response

3. The Lord listened and had pity.
The Lord came to my help.
For me you have changed my mourning into dancing,
O Lord my God, I will thank you forever.                              Response

Gospel  Acclamation 
Alleluia, alleluia!
The day of the Lord is near; Look he comes to save us.
Alleluia!

or                               C/f Lk 3:4.6
Alleluia, alleluia!
Prepare a way for the Lord. make his paths straight.
And all mankind shall see the salvation of God
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you.                        And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke      7:24-30           Glory to you, O Lord.

When John’s messengers had gone Jesus began to talk to the people about John,

‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the breeze?
No? Then what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes?
Oh no, those who go in for fine clothes and live luxuriously are to be found at court!
Then what did you go out to see? A prophet?
Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet:
he is the one of whom scripture says: See, I am going to send my messenger before you; he will prepare the way before you.
‘I tell you, of all the children born of women, there is no one greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he is’.

All the people who heard him, and the tax collectors too, acknowledged God’s plan by accepting baptism from John; but by refusing baptism from him the Pharisees and the lawyers had thwarted what God had in mind for them.

The Gospel of the Lord.     Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

John’s austere message

What monumental efforts God sets in motion in order to come to us and to attract us to himself. At times, as in Isaiah, God’s word is heard in tones of intimate love. At other times as in the reading from Luke, God speaks through a stern and uncompromising prophet like John the Baptist. If we are to find God, we must allow ourselves to be found by him. By faith we recognize that God speaks in a way corresponding to our needs and personality: at times with severity, at other times with tenderness. We must guard against the disposition of many of the Pharisees and lawyers who could not tolerate the swift, clean way by which John the Baptist cut through religious formality to basic human needs and expectations. We need to meditate on these various ways of God, so that our own response will be quick, obedient and effective.

God can come to us in tender, affectionate ways. The selection from Isaiah consists of a long poem whose each new stanza ends with a crescendo of divine love: says the Lord, says your God, says the Lord your Redeemer, says the Lord who has mercy on you. The simple yet majestic title of Yahweh or Lord, Israel’s specially revealed name for God, becomes all the more a part of Israel’s life in the phrase, your God. The author of this poem, usually called Second Isaiah (see the meditation for Tuesday, Second Week of Advent) seldom uses the generic word “God,” but almost always draws God into the circle of Israel’s family. The next title, Lord your Redeemer, unites Yahweh within Israel’s blood relationship; the Hebrew word for Redeemer means kin or relative and the consequent obligations, as in Lev 25:24,30,36,41. United by blood, the Lord is one who has mercy on you, as we read in the final line of the poem, yet in a most intimate way. “Mercy” here is drawn from a word in the Hebrew language, meaning “womb. ” God’s love surrounds us as a child in its mother’s womb.

God, on the contrary, at times will not treat us delicately as an unborn infant but sternly as a responsible adult. Such was certainly the case when he spoke through his prophet John the Baptist. John was a no-person. He lived in the desert wilderness of Judah, was clothed in camel’s hair and leather belt, ate grasshoppers and wild honey (Mark 1:6) and cried out: “You brood of vipers! Who told you to flee from the wrath to come? Give some evidence that you mean to reform. . . . Every tree that is not fruitful will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:7-9).

John cut through rank, privilege and wealth and proposed a common sense morality of basic right and wrong, uncompromised by moral casuistry or religious sophistication.

In a few quick strokes, Jesus drew John’s portrait: “What did you go out to see in the desert? – a reed swayed by the wind? . . . someone dressed luxuriously eating in splendor? . . . a prophet? He is that, I assure you, and something more. ”

According to the blunt talk of John the Baptist, we accept God on God’s terms. From today’s biblical readings we realize that God can speak tenderly . . . or harshly! It is a fearful and scary moment when we allow God the liberty of approaching us in any way that God judges best for us. He may reach out to us tenderly or severely. His “Advent” may involve a long preparation, the way that Second Isaiah drew upon centuries’ old traditions and carefully composed an elaborate, doctrinal poem. Or God may burst upon us like those prophets who come into our lives without even a conventional how-do-you-do? In this latter case we think of the sudden appearance of Elijah in 1 Kings 17 or of John the Baptist particularly in Mark 1:1-4,

Here begins the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In Isaiah the prophet it is written, “I send my messenger before you . . . ” Thus it was that John the Baptist appeared. God may act “democratically” or “philosophically” and permit us a stretch of time to think it over. Or God may demand an immediate “Yes!” In the latter case we cannot protest, “But God, did you not give us a mind for thinking it over?” In the former case, however, we are obliged to meditate through many hours of silence.