{"id":968,"date":"2019-12-03T14:58:35","date_gmt":"2019-12-03T14:58:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=968"},"modified":"2019-12-03T14:58:35","modified_gmt":"2019-12-03T14:58:35","slug":"8-december-2019-a-second-sunday-of-advent-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=968","title":{"rendered":"8 December 2019 (A) Second Sunday of Advent (A)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A. The bible<\/em> as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue: <\/em><\/strong>Advent: A call for\nTransformation in the Church<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Reading <\/em>(Isaiah 11:1-10). He judges the wretched with integrity.<\/em>\nThe eighth-century BC prophet Isaiah had free access to the royal house of\nDavid. He advised king Ahaz on a critical occasion and criticized him severely\nfor not rejecting God\u2019s word to him. This was the occasion of the famous\nEmmanuel prophecy on the birth of a birth of a saviour to the royal house. He\nalso predicted severe punishment on Jerusalem,\nthe royal house and the people for their neglect of the covenant with God. But\nhe also stressed God\u2019s fidelity to the covenant with David and the book has\nsome well-known prophecies of glorious days to come with the birth of an ideal\nheir to the Davidic throne. One, on the birth of this heir, will be read on the\nChristmas night mass. The present reading links this birth with a larger vision\non the advent of a reign of justice and integrity, and the restoration of the\nconditions of the Garden of Eden, all due to a knowledge of the Lord and a life\nin accordance with this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Jesse was the father of David, the\nstock from which the Davidic tree, or Davidic dynasty, came. The prophet\nenvisages this tree as returning to its original root (stock), or perhaps as\ndestroyed, only the stump (or stock) being left. From this root a new branch\n(scion), a son of Jesse, will emerge. He will be graced for his mission by a\nsix-fold gift of the Spirit. The Spirit of God was an important element in\nGod\u2019s action through chosen individuals. It gave empowerment for a task. The\nson David, the Messiah, will be richly endowed to introduce the new age. To the\nsix spiritual gifts of this Hebrew text, the Greek and Latin translations add a\nseventh: piety, and this seven have been regarded by the Christian Church as\nthe seven gifts of the Holy Spirit given to Christians to continue on earth the\nmission of continuing the redemptive work of Christ. Thus richly endowed for\nhis new age mission, this Son of David will act as expected, with emphasis on\nhis concern for the wretched and the poor. His reign will be characterised by\nhis integrity and faithfulness. The new age will effect the animal world and\nall creation, with a return of creation to the condition originally intended by\nGod, with peace between animals and humans \u2013 all coming from human awareness of\nGod\u2019s will and the desire to fulfil it. The reading ends with the first lines\nof a poem on the return of Israel\u2019s\nexile. The restored and purified \u201croot of Jesse\u201d, the future Davidic king would\nact as a unifying signal beyond Judah\nand Jerusalem to bring Israel\u2019s exiles\nhome. Christians will see in it a signal to unite all God\u2019s children, Jew and\nGentile, worldwide, and this in keeping with the Greek rendering of the ending\n\u201cHe will be sought out by the nations\u201d as \u201cAnd in him the nations will put\ntheir hope\u201d, cited by Paul in the continuation of today\u2019s second reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial Psalm <\/em>(Psalm 71[72]). In his days justice will flourish and peace\ntill the moon fails.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Reading <\/em>(Romans 15:4-9). Christ is the saviour of all. <\/em>Paul ends\nhis letter to the Romans with a pastoral exhortation on the new life n Christ\nto which Christians are called. He begins this exhortation as follows (Romans\n12:1-2): \u201cI appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of\nGod, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,\nwhich is your spiritual worship. Do not be transformed to this world, but be\ntransformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the\nwill of God \u2013 what is good and acceptable and perfect\u201d. Patience and\nforbearance are central requirements for living this, a point Paul returns to\nin today\u2019s reading, immediately before which Paul recalls the example of\nChrist: \u201cChrist did not please himself, but as it is written: \u2018The insults of\nthose who insult you have fallen on me\u2019\u201d (Psalm 69:9). What exactly Paul has in\nmind may become clearer from the following. Christ became a circumcised servant\nof the Jews to fulfil the promises to the Patriarchs. But his understanding of\nthese promises and his way of life went beyond certain Jewish expectations and\ntheir insults for this fell on Jesus. The same would soon hold for the\nChristian concerts from paganism, who for Christ\u2019s sake would be persecuted.\nToday\u2019s reading follows on this introduction by Paul. He recalls the faith and\nhope of Jewish generations, to be taken as written for his readers to give them\nhope, that is perseverance in their faith and to accept one another as all\ncalled by God into the Church, Jew and gentile, all after the example of\nChrist. This accepting of one another, living in harmony despite diversity, gives\ngreat glory to God, being proof of the success of Christ\u2019s mission on earth and\nof his saving death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel<\/em> (Matthew\n3:1-12).  Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. <\/em>John the\nBaptist, as precursor of the coming, the advent, of Christ has a prominent\nplace in the Advent liturgy. The Gospel readings for this second Sunday, and\nthe third Sunday, are about him, and it is informative to contrast the two.\nToday\u2019s reading begins: \u201cin due course\u201d, literally \u201cin those days\u201d, which is\nmerely a phrase of transition from the Infancy Narratives of the two preceding\nchapters. The gospel narratives of public life, death and resurrection of\nJesus, really began with the preaching of John the Baptist. It was with this\nthat the early preaching of the Church began. Mark\u2019s Gospel has no Infancy\nNarrative. A new era of prophecy began with the Baptist, and his clothes and\nfood reflected this. He came in the spirit of Elijah, the first great prophet\nof Israel,\nand dresses like him. Elijah is described in the Bible (2 Kings 1:8) as \u201ca\nhairy man with a leather belt around his waist\u201d. The Baptist is presented as\nthe fulfilment of the great prophecy of a new age in the book of Isaiah. He is\naccepted as prophet and gathers great crowds from Jerusalem\nand Judea. He must have made a great impact,\nas his preaching and it success is also recorded by the Jewish historian\nJosephus. His central message was a call for repentance, since \u201cthe kingdom of\nheaven (Matthew\u2019s phrase for \u201cthe kingdom\n of God\u201d) is close at\nhand\u201d. Among those coming to him were some of the best known Jewish religious\ngroups, the Pharisees with their own strict oral tradition and the Sadducees\n(mainly connected with the priestly class) who rejected this. John addresses\nplain demanding language to both: genuine repentance to be shown in good works.\nTheir Jewishness and descent from Abraham will not save them.  John\u2019s baptism was for repentance, in\npreparation for the Coming One (the Messiah, the Christ), who he believes will\npunish evildoing severely. In this John would be mistaken, as Jesus would do\nthe very opposite, being friendly with sinners. \nIn prison John has his doubts as to whether Jesus is the one whose\ncoming he foretold and prepared the way for \u2013 as we shall see in next Sunday\u2019s\nreading.Jesus replies that his own\ngentle ways were also predicted in prophecy. This was part of the mystery of\nJesus of which John had to learn. A message of this for us today, in keeping\nwith the emphasis of our present Holy Father, is to live and present an image\nof the Church that will reflect the tenderness of Christ. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection &\nDialogue<\/em><\/strong>: Advent: A call for Transformation in the Church<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s\nreadings are in keeping with Pope Francis\u2019s call for transformation in the\nChurch. The first and gospel reading go far beyond their own day in their\nvision of a better future. This is clear for the first reading. John the\nBaptist called for readiness, for repentance, because the kingdom of heaven was\nnear in the One who was to come after him. Jesus\u2019 teaching and way of life went\nfar beyond the Baptist\u2019s expectations. Paul\u2019s message is that Christianity is\nitself a transformation, and any true transformation must be in line with what\nPaul has in mind: not being conformed to this world (in Paul\u2019s day or in ours),\nbut being transformed by the renewing of our minds, through grace, union with\nChrist, with the Church and its sacraments, and by personal prayer. It is\nthrough this union with Christ and the Church that we can discern what is the\nwill of God \u2013 fully aware of course of the age in which we live and the need to\npray and work for a renewed Church that can bring Christian joy and a desire to\nshow forth Christ\u2019s redeeming love to the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue<\/em><\/strong>: Advent Joy,\nAdvent Vision<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For \u201cReflection and Dialogue\u201d see Martin McNamara, MSC, Sunday Readings with Matthew: Interpretation\nand  Reflections <\/em> (Veritas, 2016).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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