Daily Liturgy
Saturday December 4
FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT
A Compassionate God
Introduction
God is compassionate. He cannot let his people suffer. This compassion of God has become visible in the person of Christ.
The Old Testament text, perhaps an elaboration on Isaiah’s thoughts by a later author, promises restoration to God’s people after their conversion. God will take pity on his people. He promises freedom from evil, sickness, famine, violence, and injustice, provided that people will realize their own poverty and inability to live as they should by their own powers. God will work these things in people and with people.
In the New Testament, Jesus will go out to encounter us and to help us out. He sends out his Church, even today, to encounter people in their miseries and to alleviate all suffering.
Opening Prayer
God of mercy and compassion,
in your Son, Jesus Christ,
you have revealed yourself
as a God of people.
Turn our empty hearts to you,
give us eyes to see the depth of our poverty
and our inability to build a better world
with our own resources,
and then come and build it with us
through your Son and our Savior,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Reading 1: IS 30:19-21, 23-26
Thus says the Lord GOD,
the Holy One of Israel:
O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem,
no more will you weep;
He will be gracious to you when you cry out,
as soon as he hears he will answer you.
The Lord will give you the bread you need
and the water for which you thirst.
No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:
“This is the way; walk in it,”
when you would turn to the right or to the left.
He will give rain for the seed
that you sow in the ground,
And the wheat that the soil produces
will be rich and abundant.
On that day your flock will be given pasture
and the lamb will graze in spacious meadows;
The oxen and the asses that till the ground
will eat silage tossed to them
with shovel and pitchfork.
Upon every high mountain and lofty hill
there will be streams of running water.
On the day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall,
The light of the moon will be like that of the sun
and the light of the sun will be seven times greater
like the light of seven days.
On the day the LORD binds up the wounds of his people,
he will heal the bruises left by his blows.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
(see Isaiah 30:18d) Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Praise the LORD, for he is good;
sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;
it is fitting to praise him.
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem;
the dispersed of Israel he gathers.
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
He heals the broken hearted
and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
he calls each by name.
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Great is our LORD and mighty in power:
to his wisdom there is no limit.
The LORD sustains the lowly;
the wicked he casts to the ground.
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Alleluia: IS 33:22
Alleluia, alleluia.
The LORD is our Judge, our Lawgiver, our King;
he it is who will save us.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: MT 9:35–10:1, 5A, 6-8
Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Then he summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.
Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,
“Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
Intercessions
Let us pray to the Lord that he may call many to become shepherds willing to continue his work in our Christian communities with zeal and patience.
– That leaders in our communities may be people with a heart, compassionate and patient, we pray:
– That they may proclaim the Gospel as Good News of joy, justice and love, we pray:
– That they may be living examples of what they preach and teach, so that the message may become credible through them, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord, merciful and loyal God,
at the table of your Son,
you dress the wounds of your people
and you fill those who are poor of heart
with the strength of Jesus Christ.
Keep us going, in the certain hope,
that with him, we can rebuild
what our hands have destroyed
and that he can turn our miseries
into lasting happiness.
This is our prayer
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
God of tenderness and love,
you let your Son encounter us
in the inadequacy of our love.
Through him, present among us,
open our hearts and hands
to all ills and all needs,
to forgive, to bless, to uplift
and to be together with the people
who live in your love
and who glory in the name
of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
Jesus had compassion on the leaderless crowd. May God give us compassionate hearts that care for people with patience and in the spirit of service. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary
The Matthean Jesus had an earthly mission to the Jewish people. The disciples today are sent exclusively to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It is only after his resurrection in Matthew that Jesus commissions his disciples to the world at large.
The Jews are closer to Christians than any other believers. While we lack agreement on certain basic issues, we share a common scriptural heritage and other shared beliefs. Unfortunately, our parallel histories carry many scars. Christian attitudes toward the Jews historically made a contribution to anti-Semitism, even though, as Pius XI stated, we are spiritually Semites. Advent is a time for some honest soul searching. What strains of and-Jewish feelings are present in our lives?
The lament of today’s Gospel that the harvest is ripe but the harvesters few has a sobering ring in our time. In fact, it is a wake- up call. Certainly, we must beg the master for more workers but also draw on our own resources to work toward a solution. In this country, the number of Catholics increases each year by the thousands, while the number of priests continually decreases. “Priestless Sunday” has become an all-too-common expression in parts of the country where this was never the case before. It is very likely that some important adjustments will have to be made in the future if we are to remain eucharistic communities.
But there is a bright sign to the “harvest question” as well. The word ministry was long applied only to clerics, but today its meaning has expanded extensively. Ministers of varied descriptions people our parishes today. With ever-greater clarity we see ourselves as “one body with many members,” all making their contribution to the whole.
Surely, the needs of the harvest are not being completely met, but new laborers, now performing various functions, are rising to the challenge.
Points to Ponder
Christian-Jewish relations
The ministerial priesthood today
The priesthood of the faithful.