Good News to the Poor

December 15, Wednesday

THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT

 

People and events are agents of salvation: heaven and earth cooperate, but ultimately it is God who saves through people. In the first reading, through the prophet, God addresses Cyrus the Great, who let the Jews return from exile. He was an instrument of God to bring liberation to the Jews. Also pagans are called to salvation.

When he is asked by the disciples of John whether he was the expected Messiah or whether they had to wait for someone else, Jesus reminds them of what the prophets had foretold about the Messiah and to look at what Jesus was doing. He restored the sight of the blind, made the deaf hear, cured lepers and proclaimed the good news of the kingdom to those poor in any way. Was that not a sufficient answer?

 

First Reading: Isaiah 45:6c-8, 18, 21c-25

God’s Message to his anointed,
    to Cyrus, whom he took by the hand
To give the task of taming the nations,
    of terrifying their kings—
He gave him free rein,
    no restrictions:
“I’ll go ahead of you,
    clearing and paving the road.
I’ll break down bronze city gates,
    smash padlocks, kick down barred entrances.
I’ll lead you to buried treasures,
    secret caches of valuables—
Confirmations that it is, in fact, I, God,
    the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
It’s because of my dear servant Jacob,
    Israel my chosen,
That I’ve singled you out, called you by name,
    and given you this privileged work.
    And you don’t even know me!
I am God, the only God there is.
    Besides me there are no real gods.
I’m the one who armed you for this work,
    though you don’t even know me,
So that everyone, from east to west, will know
    that I have no god-rivals.
    I am God, the only God there is.
I form light and create darkness,
    I make harmonies and create discords.
    I, God, do all these things.

 “Open up, heavens, and rain.
    Clouds, pour out buckets of my goodness!
Loosen up, earth, and bloom salvation;
    sprout right living.
    I, God, generate all this.
But doom to you who fight your Maker—
    you’re a pot at odds with the potter!
Does clay talk back to the potter:
    ‘What are you doing? What clumsy fingers!’
Would a sperm say to a father,
    ‘Who gave you permission to use me to make a baby?’
Or a fetus to a mother,
    ‘Why have you cooped me up in this belly?’”

God, Creator of the heavens—
    he is, remember, God.
Maker of earth—
    he put it on its foundations, built it from scratch.
He didn’t go to all that trouble
    to just leave it empty, nothing in it.
    He made it to be lived in.
    This God says:

“I am God,
    the one and only.
I don’t just talk to myself
    or mumble under my breath.
I never told Jacob,
    ‘Seek me in emptiness, in dark nothingness.’
I am God. I work out in the open,
    saying what’s right, setting things right.
So gather around, come on in,
    all you refugees and castoffs.
They don’t seem to know much, do they—
    those who carry around their no-god blocks of wood,
    praying for help to a dead stick?
So tell me what you think. Look at the evidence.
    Put your heads together. Make your case.
Who told you, and a long time ago, what’s going on here?
    Who made sense of things for you?
Wasn’t I the one? God?
    It had to be me. I’m the only God there is—
The only God who does things right
    and knows how to help.
So turn to me and be helped—saved!—
    everyone, whoever and wherever you are.
I am God,
    the only God there is, the one and only.
I promise in my own name:
    Every word out of my mouth does what it says.
    I never take back what I say.
Everyone is going to end up kneeling before me.
    Everyone is going to end up saying of me,
    ‘Yes! Salvation and strength are in God!’”

All who have raged against him
    will be brought before him,
    disgraced by their unbelief.
And all who are connected with Israel
    will have a robust, praising, good life in God!

 

Gospel: Luke 7:18b-23

John’s disciples reported back to him the news of all these events taking place. He sent two of them to the Master to ask the question, “Are you the One we’ve been expecting, or are we still waiting?”

The men showed up before Jesus and said, “John the Baptizer sent us to ask you, ‘Are you the One we’ve been expecting, or are we still waiting?’”

In the next two or three hours Jesus healed many from diseases, distress, and evil spirits. To many of the blind he gave the gift of sight. Then he gave his answer: “Go back and tell John what you have just seen and heard:

The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth
    have God’s salvation hospitality extended to them.

“Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves fortunate!”

 

Prayer

Lord our God,
in your concern for people
you want all to be saved.
We pray you today
that we may be ready to receive you,
your justice and your peace,
and that in your hands
we may be eager instruments
to share your integrity and love
with all willing to listen.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

How do we tell the world we believe in the true God?

John is confused about the identity of the Messiah. While preaching in the desert and baptising the people, he had spoken about a different Messiah. But now, when he is in prison, he gets some contradicting reports – that Jesus was moving with tax collectors and prostitutes – that was not something the Messiah was supposed to do. Wasn’t the Messiah supposed to throw off Roman rule and give Israel her liberty?

But, now where were the armies? Where was the winnowing fan, the axe laid at the foot of the tree, and the fire from heaven as John expected? Maybe, he begins to wonder that Jesus is not the messiah. There had been false Messiah’s before.

Jesus answers his doubts with six new realities that manifest his mission: the healing of the blind, the deaf, the lepers, the crippled, the resurrection of the dead and the proclamation the gospel to the poor – and this is precisely the mission of the Messiah. These are the signs of God’s presence in the world. There might be occasions when people around us question us about our faith. Are you believing in a true God?

Today, it remains the responsibility of the Church, – the responsibility of each of us – to make the presence of the Messiah felt in the world. The Mission of Jesus to liberate the lame, the deaf, the blind, the poor, the ostracized – in every sense of those words – still needs to be done. Christmas is a reminder to tell us of our responsibility to bring healing and liberty to our homes, our neighbourhood, to our Church.

Jesus invites us to heal the sick: That our life example may inspire those who are crippled and are unable to move a step towards the Lord and towards their brothers and sisters, that they may walk quickly. That those who are deaf to the word of God may listen and receive the joy of the Good News through every word that we speak, and be guided by it. Whoever is ashamed of himself of the leprosy of sin that keeps him away from God and from the people, may feel cleansed and confident. Whoever is involved in acts of violence and killing may turn to be promoters of life and love. Whoever regards oneself miserable and hopeless may begin to listen to the good news.

John doubts just like we doubt. What do we do when we doubt? When we doubt, we stop reading our Bibles. We stop praying. But, Not John. When he begins to doubt, when his faith begins to waver, he reaches out to Jesus for answers. So, when in doubt, go where the light is. Do not neglect time with God and with the Bible.

  

Video available on Youtube: How do we tell the world we believe in the true God?