God's Beloved Servants: Jesus and Us

In today's first reading, Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7, the prophet speaks of the coming Messiah, a person of whom God says:  "Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my  spirit...A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall  not quench."  The  Incarnate God, Isaiah prophesies is called "for the victory of justice,....[will be] set as a covenant of the people, a light for the  nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness."

Fast forward to the New Testament and meet Jesus, who sets prisoners free, gives sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, the ability to walk to those who are crippled; He raises the dead to life, freeing them from confinement, the dungeon and the darkness of death and cures every kind of disease with which He is confronted.  And, yes, He casts out evil spirits who have taken possession of individuals.

In baptism, we became one with Jesus in his death and resurrection.  We were made servants of the Lord and entrusted with the same mission that Jesus modeled for us in the Scriptures.  We, too, are called to be a light in the world of darkness around us, to bring sight to the blind, deaf to the hearing and wellness to those who are sick.   We are also asked to respect all persons, especially the poor  and marginalized of our societies, as Jesus Himself reached out to those ostracized in His culture.  As with Jesus, we, too, are to be persons who do not break "a bruised reed" or stamp out "a smoldering wick".

As important is that we realize that God is a compassionate God toward us as well. When we are bruised, Jesus does "not break" us but pours His healing "oils" into our bruises and make us whole again.  When our wicks are going out, He does not stomp them into oblivion but reignites them and  makes them bright and strong so, once again, we are able to penetrate the darkness within ourselves   and around us. 

The Lord our Justice

Today we begin the season of Advent, a time of waiting for the coming of the Lord.  On Christmas day we will be celebrating the incarnation, the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, as one of us. God stoops down to us to lift us up to God.

In today's first reading, Jeremiah 33: 14-16, the Lord says to us:  "The days are coming...when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah. In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land." How badly we need this Savior as individuals, as a nation, as church, as family, as municipalities, as countries, as a society--worldwide and otherwise!  When the Savior comes, there Lord tells us, "Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure; this is what they shall call her: 'The Lord our justice.'" We shall be safe and feel secure in Christ Jesus, our justice, our salvation, no other way and by no other means! You and I cannot save ourselves. Humankind cannot save itself. Our disobedience to our God needs one equal to God to reconcile us to God. Jesus, by being obedient to God the Father into death is our justice!  And for that reason, with the psalmist in today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 25,we beg the Lord as follows:

Your ways, O Lord, make know to me;
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me, 
for you are God my Savior,
and for you I wait all the day. 

Good and upright is the Lord;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the Lord are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the Lord is with those who fear [reverence] him,
and his covenant, for their instruction.

May you and I be among humble, allowing the Lord to lead us to justice and teach us His way.  Only then will we be secure!

Being Instruments of God's Will

n today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 132, we affirm the covenant God made with David: The Lord swore to David a firm promise from which he will not withdraw: 'Your own offspring I will set upon your throne. If your sons keep my covenant and the decrees which I shall teach them, their sons, too, forever shall sit upon your throne. For the Lord has chosen Zion; he prefers her for his dwelling...In her will I make a horn to sprout forth for David; I will place a lamp for my anointed. His enemies I will clothe with shame but upon him my crown shall shine.'"

In today's first reading, 2 Kings 11; 1-4, 9-18, 20, we again encounter how enemies to Israel attempted to put their own kin on the throne or to usurp the throne themselves.  Athaliah did just that when her son lost his life. In retaliation, she killed the entire royal family. She did not realize, however, that Joash, the future  king, was rescued from her slaughter and hidden away in the Temple! At the appropriate time, Jehoiada, a priest of the Temple, brought him forth and had him rightfully crowned king.   Athaliah, the usurper of the throne and worshipper of Baal, a false god, was put to death! This priest of God also had all the altars to Baal destroyed and had the people recommit themselves to the covenant God had made with them.  And, as with Athaliah, "all who worship graven things are put to shame, who glory in the things of nought.... (Psalm 97).

You and I, when we choose false gods, when we put our faith in things or humans in place of relying on the Lord, our God and Savior,  also experience shame.  We do not lose our physical life, as did Athaliah, but, in abandoning God's Covenant with us, we suffer a diminishment of our trust and faith in the Lord. How is it restored? By our turning back to the Lord, our God, or by the intervention of another who calls us back to the Truth. 

 

Heeding God's Prophets of Old and of Today

In today's first reading, Isaiah 1: 10, 16-20, the prophet is speaking to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, begging them to "cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim," Isaiah says to them: "redress the wronged, hear the orphan's plea, defend the widow. Come now, let us set things right, says the Lord.  Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool."

Those same words are addressed to us, the citizens of today's world: Cease doing the evil of human trafficking. Make justice toward the poor and the oppressed our aim.  Hear the plea of orphans, refugees, and undocumented immigrants brought here to the United States as children. Defend our children. Listen to the outcry of our young people for reasonable laws that ban the use of automatic weapons.  Isaiah invites us to "set things right" with one another and with our God!  Now is the time to turn from evil and do good as individuals, as a nation, as a people whom God is waiting to save for all eternity. Will we heed God's voice expressed above?  Isaiah issues the following warning to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah: "If you refuse and resist,  the sword will consume you: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

In today's responsorial psalm God poses the following questions: Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth, though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you? When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it? Or do you think that I am like yourself? I will correct you by drawing them up[the sacrifice of goats] before my eyes. He [She] that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me; and to  him [or her] that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God."

Help us, Lord, heed the voice of the prophets of old and of our day, as well, lest we, too, perish by the sword, by famine and war, by the onslaught of natural disasters!

A Covenant from God, our Creator, our Savior, our Sanctifier

In today's first reading, Gen. 9: 8-15, God tells Noah that he is establishing his covenant with humankind. The sign of that covenant--never to again destroy the earth and all that is in it by a flood--is the rainbow.  In the New Testament, the sign of God's covenant is Jesus dying on the cross once and for all: "the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead [us] to God," St. Peter  says to us in the second reading of today's liturgy (1 Peter 3: 18-22).  "Put to death in the flesh," Peter goes on to remind us, "he was brought to life in the spirit. In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water."In Christ Jesus all are saved.

Jesus took on sin, nailed it to the cross--all sin--so that, through Christ Jesus we may know our holiness in God! When God looks at us He sees the righteous persons we are in Christ Jesus.  He delights in us, as He knows us in Christ Jesus, His Son, who redeemed us in His blood!  Do I know myself--do you know yourself--in that way?  Are we so focused on sin and weakness that we forget who we truly are in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior?  Or do we see both our holiness in Christ Jesus and our sinfulness apart from God?   Do we seek God above all?  Do we cling to God, the
Rock of our salvation?

God Sends His Messenger

In today’s first reading the Lord shares the following promise with us through the prophet Malachi: “Lo,” the Lord says, “I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; and suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming,…but who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s lye….He…will purify the sons Levi….”

That messenger is Jesus!  Suddenly, without fanfare, quietly, the Lord will appear in each of our lives.  God may visit us in the beauty of creation, in the sun and moon and stars; in the warmth of spring or the heat of summer and fall, in the smile of a child or the unconditional love of a pet.  God may also appear in the call from a friend or a family member, in a letter or an email that brings good news.  God may also come, Malachi tells us, “like the refiner’s fires, or like the fuller’s lye…He will purify” us.  That kinds of visitation may be in the form of an earthquake or in another violent way. God then comes to us hidden in the storm that could easily shatter our confidence, weaken our knees, bring a tremble to our voices.  God’s visitation may be in news of a serious illness, our own or that of a loved one.  Those kinds of visitations reinforce our dependence upon God, our need of God.  Acknowledging such, we are purified of pride and arrogance. 

Am I looking for God, as God searches for me?  In those situations that frighten me, God is there as anchor, as rock, as Savior, Comforter, and Confidante.  “Come to Me,” Jesus says to us in Matthew 11: 28, “all you who labor and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

God Governs All Things

In the collect of today's liturgy, we address God as the "Almighty ever-living God, who govern all things both in heaven and on earth."  As I reflected upon that prayer, thoughts came to me that God is God, not so any of our politicians nor our president-elect.  God is stronger than any human being, than the persons our president-elect has chosen for his cabinet.  I also voiced the fact that all of the boasting that has been part of the campaigning is just boasting, not action. The Lord, then, reminded me: "I am God; there is not other" and, as St. Paul says to us in today's first reading, Hebrews 7: 25-8:6: "Jesus is always able to save those who approach God through him, since He lives forever to make intercession for them."  Hear Jesus saying to you:

(Your name), I sit at the right hand of the Father, interceding for you and all humankind. I intercede for all those for whom you and others pray.

I know how tragic it is that the people of the U.S. may have been deceived by Satan at work in this election on both sides of the aisle.  I am aware.  I am ready to save all those who come to me.  All need salvation.  

As St. Paul says: I am "mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises" of eternal life where moth does not consume, sin is no more and weapons are melted down into instruments of peace, where those who choose to follow the Father of Lies will be separated from those who follow the Lamb of God. Each will go to the destiny they so choose.

Cling to me and be saved.  

Remember that I govern all things and all peoples.  Anything else is an illusion and a deception. What you see is not what you get anymore than what onlookers who stared at my dead body on the cross is what they got!

God as King

Yesterday we celebrated the feast of Christ, our King.  This morning in prayer I imagined the following conversation with the Lord. It went like this:

 

I am King.

You are a King’s daughter.

You are royalty!

You are the recipient of my inheritance,

eternal  life in my Kingdom.

I secured that inheritance for you

by my obedience as Son of Man to My Father’s will

—your salvation and the salvation of the whole world.

When I was nailed to a cross,

when I crushed the head of Satan,

all nations, all kingdoms of the earth, all languages (cf. Daniel 7: 13-14)

were brought under My rule and reconciled to My Father.

As Daniel prophesied, “all peoples, all nations and languages

serve [God].

[M]y dominion is an everlasting dominion

that shall not be taken away.” 

[M]y kingdom shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7: 13-14)

Look, Lord, at the world!

The world as you know it is passing away!

God shall reign forever. 

God reigns now and has reigned before this world ever came into existence

and will reign eternally.

God never abandons us

As we read today’s first reading, Is 10: 5-7, 13b-16, we might want to imagine how Jesus would say this to us. I came up with the following imaginative conversation parallel to Isaiah’s message to those who brought harm to Israel:

             Dorothy Ann, nations rose up against my people Israel. They boasted of their of

             crimes against my people: raping women, killing those left as orphans following

             a hostile, bloody takeover. They destroyed sacred vessels and confiscated treasures.

They boasted of their military prowess, their domination and destruction of all

that survived the massacre. These same abominations persist throughout the

world of today and have been a reality of one nation putting down another, one

ruler putting down his people, one violent individual putting down another.

 My inheritance you inflict:

 Widow and stranger you have slain in your wars,

the fatherless you have murdered with violent weapons

 or with violent words of gossip;

women you have raped; young girls and boys you have sold into the sex slave;

young men and women you have killed for drug money

or by the fleeting pleasure of gossip;

unborn infants you have slaughtered in the womb.

 And you have the audacity to say, as Assyria said:

 “By my own power I have done it,

And by my wisdom, for I am shrewd…

(L)ike a giant I have put down the enthroned….”  (cf. Is 10: 5-7, 13b-16)

 God’s response to us is contained in today’s psalm (Ps. 94: 7-8, 9-10, 14-15)

                 “Understand, you senseless ones

                of my people;

                and, you fools, when will you be wise?

                 “Shall he who shaped the ear not hear?

                Or he who formed the eye not see?

                Shall he who instructs nations

                not chastise,

                he who teaches [human beings] knowledge?

                 “For the Lord will not cast off his people

                nor abandon his inheritance;

                but judgment shall again be with justice,

                and all the upright of heart shall

                follow it.”

My response: O God, have mercy.