December 10, 2012

Monday of the Second Week of Advent
Lectionary: 181

Reading 1 of the Holy Book of Isaiah
Is 35:1-10

Isaiah is speaking a prophecy.

The desert and the parched land will exult;
the steppe will rejoice and bloom.

The steppe is a dry land, almost as dry as a desert.  So that verse is intentionally redundant stressing that God will bless the dry land.

In my opinion, the dry land here represents the soul which does not have the grace of God.

They will bloom with abundant flowers,
and rejoice with joyful song.

These dry souls will repent and turn to God and be forgiven and they will rejoice and tell others the good news.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to them,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;

The glory of Lebanon-Lebanon is known for its great forests.
The splendor of Carmel and Sharon-Carmel and Sharon are known for beautiful landscapes.

God will bless these souls with great growth.

They will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.

And in the end, they will be saved and abide with God in heaven.

Strengthen the hands that are feeble,make firm the knees that are weak,Say to those whose hearts are frightened:Be strong, fear not!Here is your God,he comes with vindication;With divine recompensehe comes to save you.

Then Isaiah explains his prophecy and encourages the Jews, telling them that they should rejoice because God will save them.
 

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,the ears of the deaf be cleared;Then will the lame leap like a stag,then the tongue of the mute will sing.
Streams will burst forth in the desert,and rivers in the steppe.The burning sands will become pools,and the thirsty ground, springs of water;The abode where jackals lurkwill be a marsh for the reed and papyrus.A highway will be there,called the holy way;

Isaiah then switches, I believe, to a prophecy of Our Lord Jesus and the signs He produced when He walked the earth.  The holy way, is a reference to the Church.

No one unclean may pass over it,
nor fools go astray on it.
No lion will be there,
nor beast of prey go up to be met upon it.

This reminds me of the description of heaven:

Revelation 21:27
And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

It is for those with a journey to make,and on it the redeemed will walk.

This equates the Church with heaven.  Those on the journey, the redeemed, are in the Church.

Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return
and enter Zion singing,
crowned with everlasting joy;
They will meet with joy and gladness,
sorrow and mourning will flee.

Zion is a symbol of heaven.  And those whom the Lord has ransomed or redeemed by His death on the Cross, will enter heaven rejoicing.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 85:9ab And 10, 11-12, 13-14

R. (Isaiah 35:4f) Our God will come to save us!

I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD --for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.

R. Our God will come to save us!

Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.

R. Our God will come to save us!

The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.

R. Our God will come to save us!

This Psalm was written before Jesus Christ and is a reference to Jesus Christ.  Our God has come to save us.  Jesus Christ died on the Cross in order that we might be saved.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke
Lk 5:17-26

One day as Jesus was teaching,
Pharisees and teachers of the law,
who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem,
were sitting there,
and the power of the Lord was with him for healing.
And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed;
they were trying to bring him in and set him in his presence.
But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd,
they went up on the roof
and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles
into the middle in front of Jesus.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said,
"As for you, your sins are forgiven."

This is a beautiful story about loving, faithful people who bring someone they love before Christ in order to ask for healing.  This is a sign of the Sacraments.  This is the attitude we should have in the Sacraments.  Whether we ask for our own healing or for our children's sins to be washed away.  We must come before Christ in faith.  Knowing that He can accomplish what He promised.

Then the scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves,
"Who is this who speaks blasphemies?
Who but God alone can forgive sins?"

The Pharisees had not recognized the Divinity of Jesus Christ.  Therefore they doubted that He could forgive sins.

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them in reply,
"What are you thinking in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,'
or to say, 'Rise and walk?'
But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins?"
he said to the one who was paralyzed,
"I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home."

But Jesus showed them that the healings which He produced were mere signs of the healing that He could produce in their souls.

He stood up immediately before them,
picked up what he had been lying on,
and went home, glorifying God.
Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God,
and, struck with awe, they said,
"We have seen incredible things today."

The simple understood.  But the Pharisees and the Scribes.  The wise of that age, could not.

Matthew 11:25
King James Version (KJV)
25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

Sincerely,

De Maria