Pray! : December 2, 2013

Sunday, December 1, 2013

December 2, 2013

Monday of the First Week of Advent
Lectionary: 175
Reading 1 IS 4:2-6

On that day,
The branch of the LORD will be luster and glory,

The branch of the Lord is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ Is the branch of Jesse, who has been glorified by the Father when he was raised from death to life and now sits at the right hand of God.

and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor
for the survivors of Israel.

The survivors of Israel are those who by faith in Jesus Christ received the hope of salvation.

He who remains in Zion
and he who is left in Jerusalem
Will be called holy:
every one marked down for life in Jerusalem.

The Catholic Church is the new Jerusalem. And everyone who remains in her will be called holy.

When the LORD washes away
the filth of the daughters of Zion,

The Lord washes away our sins in baptism.

And purges Jerusalem’s blood from her midst
with a blast of searing judgment,
Then will the LORD create,
over the whole site of Mount Zion
and over her place of assembly,
A smoking cloud by day
and a light of flaming fire by night.

The old Jerusalem was razed to the ground by Roman soldiers in 70 A.D. On that site God raised up his church.

For over all, the LORD’s glory will be shelter and protection:
shade from the parching heat of day,
refuge and cover from storm and rain.

The Lord's glory is the Holy Spirit, the Shekinah cloud, who protects us from the heat of the sun and from storm and rain. And all who remain in his church are under His protection.

Responsorial Psalm PS 122:1-2, 3-4B, 4CD-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD."
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
May those who love you prosper!
May peace be within your walls,
prosperity in your buildings.

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Because of my relatives and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you!"
Because of the house of the LORD, our God,
I will pray for your good.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Come to the house of God with rejoicing! Enter the house of the Lord singing praise! The church is house of the Lord. It is in the church that we receive the sanctifying grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gospel MT 8:5-11

When Jesus entered Capernaum,
a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,
“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.”
He said to him, “I will come and cure him.”
The centurion said in reply,
“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.

I hope that you recognize these words. These are the words that we paraphrase before we receive communion. "Lord I am not worthy to enter under your roof but only say the word and my SOUL will be healed."

For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes;
and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes;
and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
“Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,
and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.”

The righteous centurion was a man of great faith. Jesus announced that he had found no faith like his in anyone in Israel. He also signifies that the prophecies of the Old Testament are coming true in Jesus Christ: