The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to celebrate the times of restoration to fullness that is inspired by the Spirit and the action we are moved to take as Jesus' disciples.
Restoration and Harvest
The reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah celebrates Restoration of the People by God.
* [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 offers 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.)
In the Gospel of Matthew, we learn the Harvest Is Great but the Labourers are few and in response, Twelve Apostles are named for the Mission.
* [9:35] See notes on Mt 4:23–25; Mt 8:1–9:38.
* [9:36] See Mk 6:34; Nm 27:17; 1 Kgs 22:17.
* [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.)
* [10:1–11:1] After an introductory narrative (Mt 10:1–4), the second of the discourses of the gospel. It deals with the mission now to be undertaken by the disciples (Mt 10:5–15), but the perspective broadens and includes the missionary activity of the church between the time of the resurrection and the parousia.
* [10:1] His twelve disciples: although, unlike Mark (Mk 3:13–14) and Luke (Lk 6:12–16), Matthew has no story of Jesus’ choosing the Twelve, he assumes that the group is known to the reader. The earliest New Testament text to speak of it is 1 Cor 15:5. The number probably is meant to recall the twelve tribes of Israel and implies Jesus’ authority to call all Israel into the kingdom. While Luke (Lk 6:13) and probably Mark (Mk 4:10, 34) distinguish between the Twelve and a larger group also termed disciples, Matthew tends to identify the disciples and the Twelve. Authority…every illness: activities the same as those of Jesus; see Mt 4:23; Mt 9:35; 10:8. The Twelve also share in his proclamation of the kingdom (Mt 10:7). But although he teaches (Mt 4:23; 7:28; 9:35), they do not. Their commission to teach comes only after Jesus’ resurrection, after they have been fully instructed by him (Mt 28:20).
* [10:2–4] Here, for the only time in Matthew, the Twelve are designated apostles. The word “apostle” means “one who is sent,” and therefore fits the situation here described. In the Pauline letters, the place where the term occurs most frequently in the New Testament, it means primarily one who has seen the risen Lord and has been commissioned to proclaim the resurrection. With slight variants in Luke and Acts, the names of those who belong to this group are the same in the four lists given in the New Testament (see note on Mt 9:9). Cananean: this represents an Aramaic word meaning “zealot.” The meaning of that designation is unclear (see note on Lk 6:15).
* [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.
* [10:8–11] The Twelve have received their own call and mission through God’s gift, and the benefits they confer are likewise to be given freely. They are not to take with them money, provisions, or unnecessary clothing; their lodging and food will be provided by those who receive them. (Matthew CHAPTER 10 | USCCB, n.d.)
Kent Beausoleil, S.J. comments that we all have our own personal stories of triumph and tragedy, celebration and sorrow, contentment and despair. Yet, our reading calls us to return back to God’s, and not the world’s reality is the power to be in where our faith should rest.
So, as we pray and reflect on the readings for the day today we can feel assured once again that the Divine Promise of God’s dream for the world and for us is to have faith that love will always triumph over hate. Hope is a more powerful force than despair. There is much to celebrate and for which to be grateful than not. In God’s promise for us, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and that forever lives on in the Holy Spirit of Divine love that surrounds us will never ever die, is always resurrected, always healing us, always calling us home, always the light that supplants the world’s darkness, gracing us with all hope and possibility. And isn’t that a great and wonderfully awesome truth! (Beausoleil, 2024)
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, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 9:35–10:1, 5-8 comments that Ambrose certainly didn’t expect to be chosen as bishop of Milan in 374! But he took his ordination seriously and devoted himself to a life of prayer and service to God’s people.
That openness enabled Ambrose to respond when a bright but wayward man named Augustine found his way to him. He took Augustine under his wing and patiently offered the academic guidance Augustine was seeking, as well as the spiritual guidance Ambrose knew he needed. Thanks to Ambrose’s witness, Augustine experienced a dramatic conversion and went on to become one of the Church’s greatest saints and theologians.
It may not be immediately obvious, but God wants to advance his plan through you as well. Is there someone who needs your encouragement or your prayer or your companionship right now? Reach out, and see how the Lord blesses your efforts.
“Jesus, show me the work you have for me in your abundant harvest.” (Meditation on Matthew 9:35–10:1, 5-8, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the restoration of Israel when God blesses the people and heals their wounds. The theme of Advent is also a time of restoration. Physical and spiritual healing are signs of God’s love. Friar Jude reminds us that we receive the most loving response from God to our prayers.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Ilia Delio, who, inspired by her study of Carl Jung and Teilhard de Chardin, wrote this poem-prayer:
The Christic
I am looking at a tree, but I see such astounding beauty and
graciousness, the tree must be You, O God,
I look at the wild weeds playing across the fields, and their
wild joyful freedom speaks to me of You, O God.
Yesterday, I saw a child crying alone on a busy corner, and
the tears were real, and I thought, you must be crying, O God.
God, you are the mystery within every leaf and grain of sand,
in every face, young and old, you are the light and beauty
of every person.
You are Love itself.
Will we ever learn our true meaning, our true identity?
Will we ever really know that we humans are created for
love?
For it is love alone that moves the sun and stars
and everything in between.
We are trying too hard to find You, but You are already here,
We are seeking life without You, but You are already within,
Our heads are in the sand, our eyes are blinded by darkness,
our minds are disoriented in our desperate search
for meaning.
Because You are not what we think You are:
You are mystery.
You are here and You are not,
You are me and You are not,
You are now and You are not,
You are what we will become.
You are the in-between mystery
The infinite potential of infinite love,
And it is not yet clear what You shall be,
For we shall become something new together. (Rohr, n.d.)
We contemplate the restorative action of God in our lives and seek guidance of the Spirit to be agents of Divine healing.
References
Beausoleil, K. (2024, December 7). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Retrieved December 7, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/120724.html
Isaiah, CHAPTER 30 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 7, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/30?19
Matthew CHAPTER 9 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/9
Matthew CHAPTER 10 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/10
Meditation on Matthew 9:35–10:1, 5-8. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved December 7, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/12/07/1146852/
Psalms, PSALM 147 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved December 7, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/147?1
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 7, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/contemplation-and-science-weekly-summary/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). The Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 7, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=dec7
