Tuesday, December 1, 2015



Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

(Isaiah 11:1-10; Luke 10:21-24)

Count on the holy seasons of Advent and Lent to get to the heart of Divine Revelation.  For the most part during the rest of the year the Scripture readings at daily mass follow episodic sequences.  The gospels recount the story of Jesus in first in Mark, then in Matthew, and finally in Luke.  John is reserved for Eastertime.  Meanwhile the first reading is taken from an Old Testament or New Testament work, read in daily installments which summarize the work as a whole.  In Lent and Easter, however, the link between the first reading and the gospel is manifest.

Today’s gospel, for example, hints at how Jesus fulfills the heart-felt prophecies of early Isaiah.  The people of the prophet’s time longed for a strong leader who would rule justly.  They wanted to see the poor prosper without be pampered.  They hoped that the natural enmities among classes, nationalities, and races would cease.  Jesus recognizes in himself such potential being realized.  He will bestow manifold blessings upon those who obey his commands. The poor especially are positioned to follow him.

We hear while shopping in Wal-Mart how this is “the most wonderful time of the year.”  It is but not because of mistletoe or tree lights.  It becomes wonderful when we contemplate how the yearnings of the human heart are fulfilled in Jesus.