The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the events of our journey where we were delivered from negative situations and apply that experience to our work as disciples of Christ.
The reading from the Prophet Isaiah declares Zion’s future deliverance.
* [30:20] Teacher: God, who in the past made the people blind and deaf through the prophetic message (6:9–10) and who in his anger hid his face from the house of Jacob (8:17), shall in the future help them to understand his teaching clearly (cf. Jer 31:34). (Isaiah, CHAPTER 30 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 147 is praise for God’s Care for Jerusalem.
* [Psalm 147] The hymn is divided into three sections by the calls to praise in Ps 147:1, 7, 12. The first section praises the powerful creator who restores exiled Judah (Ps 147:1–6); the second section, the creator who provides food to animals and human beings; the third and climactic section exhorts the holy city to recognize it has been re-created and made the place of disclosure for God’s word, a word as life-giving as water. (Psalms, PSALM 147 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Gospel of Matthew proclaims the harvest Is great but the labourers few as the Mission of the Twelve is described by Jesus.
* [9:37–38] This Q saying (see Lk 10:2) is only imperfectly related to this context. It presupposes that only God (the master of the harvest) can take the initiative in sending out preachers of the gospel, whereas in Matthew’s setting it leads into Mt 10 where Jesus does so. (Matthew, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB, n.d.)
* [10:5–6] Like Jesus (Mt 15:24), the Twelve are sent only to Israel. This saying may reflect an original Jewish Christian refusal of the mission to the Gentiles, but for Matthew it expresses rather the limitation that Jesus himself observed during his ministry. (Matthew, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB, n.d.)
George Butterfield has never been fond of or good at waiting.
The readings for today tell of a God who is gracious and answers our needs. He gives us food and drink. He binds up our wounds and heals our bruises. He sustains the lowly. Holidays can be tough on some folks. Jesus’ heart is moved with pity for the troubled and abandoned. He is a good shepherd. He calls us to be like him. May this Advent be a time of lifting up those who are troubled. Never fear – our Lord will come. Blessed are all those who wait for the Lord. (Butterfield, 2023)
Don Schwager quotes “In remembrance of heavenly life,” by Bede the Venerable, 672-735 A.D.
"Why should the lunar reckoning be calculated from the noontide hours, seeing that the moon had not yet been placed in the heavens or gone forth over the earth? On the contrary, none of the feast days of the law began and ended at noon or in the afternoon, but all did so in the evening. Or else perchance it is because sinful Adam was reproached by the Lord 'in the cool of the afternoon' (Genesis 3:8) and thrust out from the joys of Paradise. In remembrance of that heavenly life which we changed for the tribulation of this world, the change of the moon, which imitates our toil by its everlasting waxing and waning, ought specifically to be observed at the hour in which we began our exile. In this way every day we may be reminded by the hour of the moon's changing of that verse, 'a fool changes as the moon' (Sirach 27:11) while the wise man 'shall live as long as the sun' (Psalm 72:5), and that we may sigh more ardently for that life, supremely blessed in eternal peace, when 'the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days.' Indeed, because (as it is written) 'from the moon is the sign of the feast day' (Sirach 43:7), and just as the first light of the moon was shed upon the world at eventide, so in the law it is compulsory that every feast day begin in the evening and end in the evening (see Exodus 12:18). (excerpt from THE RECKONING OF TIME 3.43) (Schwager, 2019)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26 comments that God our Father knows that if we have his Spirit, we have access to all the grace and strength we need to face every hardship, difficulty, and challenge life could ever throw at us. If we have the Spirit, we have a never-ending flow of divine love and wisdom to lift us up and guide us in bad times as well as good times. Everything else pales in comparison!
Today—right here and now—the Holy Spirit is ready to “be gracious to you” (Isaiah 30:19). He’s ready to fill you with his love, to ease any fears you have, and to support you on your journey toward heaven. How could we not rejoice in his love?
“Lord, I praise you for the generous gift of your Spirit!” (Meditation on Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler notes how God teaches Zion how to walk in the way of the Lord as God responds to our deepest hunger. In Matthew, Jesus is moved by sheep without a shepherd. Friar Jude notes that Matthew tells the proclamation of God’s Law and Love to the Jews initially, and through the Magi to indicate the Gospel is for all people.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Rabbi Hara Person who shares a practice that helped rekindle her connection to beauty, gratitude, and the Divine.
In teaching that we are to say one hundred blessings a day, the Talmud encourages us to take notice and not simply lurch unseeingly through our days…. Bringing photography back into my life was a visual version of this urging to truly perceive and experience the beauty of the world and not take any of it for granted…. Making these small photos on my phone … helped me find my way back to gratitude and a connection to God….
These photos have become part of a spiritual practice that grounds me and reminds me that not all is difficult, not all is complicated—that joy and amazement exist—if I take a moment to look. (Rohr, 2023)
We implore the Spirit to increase our awareness of the fullness of life in Jesus Way as we accept our call to labour in the field of the Lord.
References
Butterfield, G. (2023, December 9). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved December 9, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/120923.html
Isaiah, CHAPTER 30 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 9, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/30?19
Matthew, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 9, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/10
Matthew, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 9, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/9?35
Meditation on Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved December 9, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/12/09/844402/
Psalms, PSALM 147 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 9, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/147?1
Rohr, R. (2023, December 9). Awe and Amazement: Weekly Summary — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 9, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/awe-and-amazement-weekly-summary/
Schwager, D. (2019, June 24). The Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand. Daily Scripture net. Retrieved December 9, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=dec9
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