Daily Liturgy
Thursday December 9
SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT
God Saves the Poor
Introduction
It is heartening to hear these days a strong and repeated message of encouragement. This is what we believe in if we trust in the nearness of God in his Son Jesus Christ. When people are poor and afflicted, God is near as their Savior, that is, one who is bound to them with close bonds and who is bound to come to their assistance. The poor are those who trust in him. He promises them a new paradise. Even the least in his kingdom are greater than the greatest and last of the prophets, John the Baptist.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
you do not abandon those who rely on you.
Take us by the hand when we are afraid,
help us when we call out to you,
for we experience that we are powerless
to establish your kingdom of justice and love.
Send your Son again among us today
to be our Lord and Savior
now and for ever.
Reading 1: IS 41:13-20
I am the LORD, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I will help you.”
Fear not, O worm Jacob,
O maggot Israel;
I will help you, says the LORD;
your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, and double-edged,
To thresh the mountains and crush them,
to make the hills like chaff.
When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off
and the storm shall scatter them.
But you shall rejoice in the LORD,
and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the desert into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
I will plant in the desert the cedar,
acacia, myrtle, and olive;
I will set in the wasteland the cypress,
together with the plane tree and the pine,
That all may see and know,
observe and understand,
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Responsorial Psalm: PS 145:1 AND 9, 10-11, 12-13AB
(8) The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
Let them make known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
Alleluia: IS 45:8
Alleluia, alleluia.
Let the clouds rain down the Just One,
and the earth bring forth a Savior.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: MT 11:11-15
Jesus said to the crowds:
“Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force.
All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John.
And if you are willing to accept it,
he is Elijah, the one who is to come.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
Intercessions
– For the fainthearted who think they are too small for God to care for them, that they may become aware that God, like a good father and mother, cares very much for them, we pray:
– For the powerful and the rich, that they may be sensitive to the rights and the needs of the poor, we pray:
– For prophets among us, that they may remind us that we have to speak out and stand up for the voiceless and the oppressed, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord God, we bring before you
these humble gifts of bread and wine.
In these signs of sharing,
may your Son become present among us
and may he give us the courage
to take your kingdom by storm,
that we who are powerless and easily discouraged
may commit ourselves with him
to bring hope to the poor.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord, our God and Father,
we are the new people of your promises.
May we be humble enough
not to seek our selfish, obstinate ways
but to be open to you and to trust in you.
Remember that we are yours
and that we are entitled to your help.
For you love us in Jesus Christ, your Son,
who is our Lord now and for ever.
Blessing
To us too God speaks today: “I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand and I say to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’” May you be aware of God’s care and may he bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary
John the Baptist was unquestionably a remarkable figure. With his ascetical spirit. And few if any “creature comforts,” he heralded the approach of the final era and gave his fife in defense of the truth by pointing out the moral failure of the king. Although he is primarily an Old Testament figure, the church did not hesitate to single him out for saintly honors as the forerunner of Jesus. As today’s Gospel makes clear, he was not part of the kingdom of God in the sense that the apostles and other sainted figures were. In that regard, we citizens of the kingdom are more blessed than he.
The Old Testament figure, Elijah, was an early prophet who was taken to God without undergoing death. Jewish belief held that
Elijah was destined to return to die before the end of time. As the prophet Malachi states, Elijah was to appear before the final days (cf. Mai 4.5). The Gospel today sees John the Baptist as the Elijah figure.
Are we convinced that our life in God, as baptized citizens of God’s reign, is an unparalleled gift? In the history of God’s activity in the world, Christ stands as the pinnacle. In fact, history is divided into the era before Christ (BC) and after (AD). But more than that, he gives us new life, life in the Spirit, which is the door to eternity. It is precisely that which distinguished the baptism of John from that of Jesus. No honor, or award, or recognition in life surpasses that of Christ. Of course, all is not yet perfect. The church still suffers violence—the violence of infidelity, clerical misconduct, persecution, apostasy. But the forces of evil will not prevail. Christianity is an imperishable gift.
Isaiah today speaks of Israel’s God as the redeemer. Bondage to freedom. Water not desert. Springs of water for dry ground. Trees and plants for wasteland. Yet it is all but a shadow of the great event, something beyond even the vision of John the Baptist. Christ for us, the source of our salvation.
Points to Ponder
The figure of John the Baptist
Prophetic courage
The grace of the Christian life
Joy in the midst of suffering