Saturday of Week 2 of Advent – Gospel

Commentary on Matthew 17:10-13

As mentioned in the First Reading commentary, today’s Gospel also references the prophet Elijah. The passage follows immediately after the Transfiguration, when three of Jesus’ disciples—Peter, James and John—were given a glimpse of Jesus as the glorious Son of his heavenly Father. During that experience, they saw Moses, representing the Law, and Elijah, representing the prophetic tradition, speaking with Jesus. As such, this clearly endorses the mission of Jesus as Messiah, including what he had told them about his suffering, dying, and rising again. This was a prophecy which had upset them very much.

On the way down from the mountain, the disciples ask Jesus:

Why, then, do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?

Jesus replied:

…I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but they did to him whatever they pleased.

Jesus does not really answer the question, but confirms that Elijah will come again. In fact, says Jesus, he has already come, but he was not recognised and he was mistreated, just as Jesus himself will not be recognised and be rejected. The disciples immediately realised that Jesus was speaking of John the Baptist.

The role of the returned Elijah was to pave the way for the coming of the Messiah, and that is exactly what John the Baptist did. The First Reading from the book of Sirach is a panegyric of Elijah, but much of it can be applied to John the Baptist.

Once again, let us see ourselves in the role of John, sharing with him the responsibility of preparing the way for Jesus to come into people’s lives. And, like John and as disciples of Jesus, we too can expect to have to face challenges, opposition and perhaps hardships because:

A disciple is not above the teacher… (Matt 10:24)

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Thursday of Week 5 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Mark 7:24-30

Having challenged some of the religious principles of the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus now pointedly goes into gentile territory. The next three stories take place in non-Jewish areas. Why did Jesus go to the city of Tyre on the Mediterranean coast? It may have been to give him some breathing space from the crowds which pressed in on him everywhere. Later, he will move on to Sidon, and then eastwards by way of the Sea of Galilee to the area known as Decapolis (Ten Towns). All of these places were dominated by Gentiles. Because the people there recognised his healing powers, he ministered to them also.

We are told that he entered a house in Tyre and did not want to be recognised. Why was this? Because his mission was only to his own people? Because people without faith only saw in Jesus a wonder worker? Nevertheless, he was already too well known even here to escape notice. His fame had spread even to these places.

It is then that a gentile woman came to him. She was a Greek, but Syro-Phoenician by birth. She prostrated herself before Jesus and begged him to exorcise the evil spirit in her daughter. Jesus’ answer seems somewhat strange and out of character:

Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.

Jesus’ words suggest an image where the children of the family are fed first, and then the leftovers are given to the dogs under the table. In so speaking, Jesus indicates the prior claim of the Jews to his ministry. In fact, we see this, too, in the missionary work of Paul. Whenever he arrived in a town for the first time, he always went to the Jewish synagogue first to preach the message of Christ, and only later to the Gentiles. Because of the shared tradition of Jews and Christians, they were the obvious people to hear the message first.

Jews (and also Muslims) avoided dogs as unclean animals. They were unclean because they ate all kinds of things indiscriminately. The name ‘dogs’ was sometimes applied by Jews to Gentiles, and for the same reason. It is likely that the woman would be aware of this disparaging title.

It is also important to sense the tone in which Jesus spoke, and this is indicated by the reply of the woman. It is done in a mood of friendly banter. This is clear from the immediate response of the woman:

Sir [also translated ‘Lord’], even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.

In other words, they do not wait until the children are finished eating. They eat simultaneously, even though they only get scraps. Her powerful faith is immediately rewarded and her daughter is healed.

This is a story anticipating the faith of future Gentiles who will become Christians. Let us pray that such faith may be ours also. We know that Jesus excludes absolutely no one from his mercy and healing power. Both as individuals and communities, may we too be as inclusive as possible in our relationships.

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Sunday of Week 4 of Advent (Year B) – Alternate Commentary

Commentary on 2 Samuel 7:1-5,8-11,16; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38 (more…)

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Friday of Week 1 of Advent – First Reading

Commentary on Isaiah 29:17-24

Today’s Mass is about seeing. The First Reading gives promise of a future full of hope. The prophet presents God’s plan of redemption in terms of happenings that could hardly be hoped for under normal circumstances, such as the cedars of Lebanon becoming a source of fruit and the fruitful field becoming a forest.

But more striking still is that the deaf will be able to hear, and the blind will be able to emerge from their world of darkness and see. The meek, that is those who are without power or influence, will find fresh joy in the Lord, while the neediest will rejoice in their God.

On the other hand, the tyrant, the scoffer and the doer of evil will come to a sad end. Those especially mentioned are those who corrupt the administration of justice.

Abraham is proposed as a model to be followed. Just as he answered God’s call in faith and journeyed to a promised land he had never seen, so he becomes a model for those who return to Judah and Jerusalem from their period in exile. Abraham had been called out of a land of idolatry, and so it is with Jacob, that is, the descendants of Abraham of whom Isaiah now speaks (Jacob was also known as Israel).

If they have the spirit of Abraham,

…those who err in spirit will come to understanding,
and those who grumble will accept instruction.

Their eyes and their ears will have been opened.

Today is a day for us to be aware of our own blindness and our own deafness. Like the Israelites of Isaiah’s time, we have difficulty really hearing the Word of God, and how many of us can claim that we can see Jesus as he really is?

In our preparation for the celebration of Christmas, we must learn how to listen to God’s Word with understanding and acceptance, and learn how to see deeply into the meaning of his life as it is presented to us in Jesus.

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Monday of Week 3 of Advent – Gospel

Commentary on Matthew 21:23-27

As with the First Reading, the Gospel also deals with the issue of authority. It is clear that the way Jesus used to teach was a source of disquiet among many of the Jewish religious leaders. They approach him one day in the Temple and ask him:

By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?

Jesus seldom directly answers provocative questions put to him, and in this case—as he does elsewhere—he answers with a question of his own. If they will answer his question, he will answer theirs.

His question is:

Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?

Immediately, his questioners are in a dilemma. If they answer “from heaven” (i.e. divine), they will be further asked why they did not receive John’s baptism. We know that when John was baptising, they came to observe, but they themselves clearly felt no need to be baptised themselves. To do so would have been to put themselves on the same level as the sinful and the unclean.

If they were to answer “human”, then they would run the risk of offending the people who had no doubts about the matter. They all held that “John was a prophet”. Lamely they answer, “We do not know.” So Jesus refuses to reply to their question.

Ultimately the leaders were being accused of a stubborn blindness, unable and unwilling to see the hand of God either in the mission of Jesus or of John. They could not see that the authority with which Jesus spoke clearly resided in himself. He was not just the bearer of a message—he was himself the source of the message.

Perhaps a word about “authority” may be relevant here. The word comes from the Latin auctoritas, which is itself an abstract noun from the verb augere. Augere means “to increase, make bigger”. We find the same verb in the word “author”.

A person with ‘authority’ is not just someone who wields coercive power over others. The exercise of genuine authority is not to control or keep in line. On the contrary, it is to be an agent in releasing the potential that is in people, to be an empowering agent. Jesus did not wield coercive authority. He invited people to follow him and he came to serve, not be served. He came to lead people into the full development of all they could be and were meant to be.

He did this dramatically when he got down on his knees and washed the feet of his disciples. This was an act of authority—the authority of outreaching love. It is up to each one to decide whether to follow the way of love or to go one’s own way.

Perhaps each one of us could examine how we exercise authority in our own lives—as parents, teachers, employers, or in any capacity where we have some responsibility with regard to others. Very few of us have no authority at all.

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Sunday of Week 2 of Advent (Year B Alternate Commentary)

Commentary on Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11; 2 Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8 (more…)

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Tuesday of Week 3 of Advent – Gospel

Commentary on Matthew 21:28-32

It helps to be aware that today’s Gospel reading follows immediately on yesterday’s when the authority of Jesus was called into question. Today, Jesus offers the religious leaders a parable. It is about two sons who were asked by their father to go and work in his vineyard. One refused to go, but later repented and went. The other son said he would go, but did not. The question Jesus asked was:

Which of the two did the will of his father?

The parable can be read on two levels. On a more general level, it is the common theme of the Gospel that doing is more important than mere words. Earlier, Jesus said:

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven… (Matt 7:21)

The important thing is actually to carry out the will of God in our daily lives.

On a more particular level, the parable points to the situation which Jesus was facing. The religious leaders and many of the apparently religious people, who believed they were following God’s ways, refused to believe in John the Baptist and, after him, Jesus himself. On the other hand, people who were rated as deeply sinful and violators of the Law—tax collectors and prostitutes—responded to John’s call to repentance. They were deeply moved by John’s preaching, changed their ways, and were baptised by him in the Jordan. Even after that, the religious leaders still made no move. When Jesus came, again the religious leaders refused to see God’s hand in all he was doing, while huge crowds gathered round him.

The religious leaders are like the son who said ‘Yes’ to his father’s word, but did not follow it out in his life. They were experts in the wording and interpretation of the Law. The sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes, who had constantly violated the Law of God, repented and changed their ways. It is clear which group is finding its way into the Kingdom.

Of course, we are not reflecting on these readings just to know how proud and arrogant the chief priests and elders were. They are for us to reflect on our own lives. Do we think that because we are practising Christians, we are in a privileged and untouchable position? Do we spend a lot of time praying in church, but not doing much loving outside of it? Do we find ourselves speaking in a critical or condescending way of less devout Christians, or of people who do not seem to be very moral by our standards? We have said yes to God by our baptism and membership in the Church, but can we say that we always carry out what God is asking us to do?

Probably, after some honest reflection, we would have to admit that we are not really in a position to sit in judgment on others. Given the gifts and graces we have received as Christians, we may not be doing very well compared with those who have never enjoyed the support of a Christian faith and a Christian environment. As Christmas approaches, let us be followers of the Lord in deeds as well as words.

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Tuesday of Week 2 of Advent – First Reading

Commentary on Isaiah 40:1-11

Today we begin a series of readings from what is known as ‘The Book of Consolation’. It consists of chapters 40 to 55 of Isaiah, and its unknown author is referred to as ‘Second Isaiah’. He is writing much later, at the end of the Jews’ exile in Babylon, and speaks with confidence of their returning to Jerusalem. The name ‘Consolation’ comes from the first words of today’s reading:

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.

Comfort (“console” in some translations) is the prevailing theme of this section compared to the more threatening prophecies of the first 40 chapters.

The opening part is actually a cantata for several voices. The time of suffering in exile is coming to an end:

…she has served her term…

The return to Jerusalem is seen as a new Exodus. The exile was seen as a punishment for Israel’s sin and infidelity. There is now to be an end of punishment and suffering:

…her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.

The Jewish people were punished both by exile and by being treated as slaves and mercenaries of the conquering power. Next is written:

A voice cries…

The identity of the voice obeying the order to “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her” is left unknown, but during this Advent season, it will be applied to John the Baptist who announces the coming of the Saviour:

…prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

It was the custom in Babylonia, where the Jews were exiled, for triumphal “ways” to be made ready for the coming of a god or a victorious king. People would go ahead to prepare this way. John the Baptist will fulfil that role, but it is for each one of us as well to prepare the way for Christ to come into the lives of those who do not yet know or accept him. During Advent we will reflect on just how each one of us can do that most effectively.

As we approach Christmas, we can ask ourselves what are the obstacles in our lives preventing the coming of Jesus into our hearts? In the reading, the “way” is the road by which God’s people will make their new exodus back to their home country. It is a road with all obstacles removed, and an occasion when:

…the glory of the Lord will be revealed.

It will be revealed by the return of God’s people to their own land, but as we read this passage in Advent, ultimately, the glory of the redeeming God will be seen in Jesus Christ and in all those who live by his Spirit. This is what we are preparing for during this time.

The voice commands again: “Cry out” and the prophet asks, “What shall I cry?” The answer comes:

All flesh is grass;
their constancy [beauty] is like the flower of the field.

The greatness and beauty of the Babylonian empire—like all empires—is coming to an end. It is going to be replaced by that of Persia, which itself will in time disappear, as has every empire since. Only:

…the word of our God will stand forever.

This is the God in whom the Israelites have put their trust, and he will not disappoint them. It is a message that Jerusalem is to proclaim to all the people. God’s message is never to be kept to oneself. This is a time to shout from the mountain tops. Shout without fear:

Here is your God!

That is what it is all about. Jesus, our God, is coming. It is for us to remind people as to why we have all those lights and celebrations…all those preparations we are now making for Christmas…all those gifts we are buying or hoping to get…all that food and drink we will put away. What will be left in the days and months that follow? What will we take from Christmas that will still be around in March, in June, in September?

Jesus comes as a God of power, subduing all things before him. But it is a very special kind of power.

He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms
and carry them in his bosom
and gently lead the mother sheep.

What a beautiful image of our all-powerful God! What tenderness is expressed here! It is one that Jesus will develop and he, too, will call himself the “Good Shepherd” (see Matt 18:12-14; John 10:11-18). And it will not be a coincidence that the first people to pay homage at the stable in Bethlehem will be shepherds.

Christmas is a time when many people come back to church, if only for one day. Is not this the time for them to be reminded that this is the God we believe in—the God that we all need to know?

We all need to hear the words of today’s Gospel, spoken by that gentle Shepherd:

…it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost. (Matt 18:14)

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Wednesday of Week 2 of Advent – First Reading

Commentary on Isaiah 40:25-31

We continue our reading from the ‘Book of Consolation’ or ‘Second Isaiah’. Does God seem far away at times? Today’s reading invites us to go outside some clear night and look at the skies. Thousands of stars, each one a mighty sun, can be seen and they are only a tiny fraction of the uncountable number of stars in our universe. Imagine the greatness of the God who is creator and master of all these and who calls each single one by name!

However, far away from home and living in bitter exile, God’s people wonder if their God has forgotten about them. They seem to be comparing their God with the gods of their captors; their God is letting them down.

The people cry out in pain, asking why:

My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God?

Yet God is fully aware of his people’s situation and he will soon show his love and power as they return to their homeland:

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint
and strengthens the powerless.

Even young people, with all their energy, can run out of steam:

…and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted…

But not those who wait for the Lord:

…for the Lord shall renew their strength [and]
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

The reading is a message for all those who feel that life is working against them. Some can sympathise with the words of the song:

“Into each life some rain must fall but too much is falling in mine…”

It must certainly have been the feeling of the Israelites as they languished far from home in a hostile and cruel land. And yet, their deliverance is very close.

The coming of Jesus for which we are now preparing makes the same promise and offers the same invitation in today’s Gospel:

Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. (Matt 11:28)

Jesus reaffirms what Isaiah says, that we have a caring and tireless God who takes care of his own when he says:

I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
(Matt 11:29)

Jesus does not promise painlessness, nor does he promise to take away every yoke, but he will share the burden with us. What Jesus does is to help us go through the pain, because he knows what we go through. He experienced a level of pain in his own life which we are not likely ever to have to face.

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Thursday of Week 2 of Advent – First Reading

Commentary on Isaiah 41:13-20

Again today, we continue reading from ‘The Book of Consolation’. The Jews are coming to the end of their period of exile in Babylon, and today we have a message of encouragement. God is coming to help—to redeem his people. For us during Advent, the message points clearly to Jesus, our Redeemer and Saviour. The theme of today’s reading is that God will protect Israel against its enemies and meet its needs in the desert wilderness. Israel’s enemies will vanish, the empire of Babylon will be no more, but God’s people will continue under his loving protection.

Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
you maggot Israel!

Israel seems so insignificant when seen in comparison with its powerful conquerors. But it is a deceptive weakness, as there is a Strength on their side.

The prophet tells the people that God, “the Holy One of Israel” is their “Redeemer”. The word in Hebrew originally refers to the nearest male relative who will avenge the blood of someone who has been murdered. He is also the one who pays off a debt, and frees the debtor from prison; his duty is to protect the defenceless.

Leviticus (25:47-55) also speaks of a situation where a person has to sell himself to a foreigner. He can be ‘redeemed’, that is, bought back by a brother or uncle or cousin or any other relative (note that the word ‘redeemer’ comes from the Latin redemptor, meaning ‘someone who buys back’).

‘Redeemer’ then comes to refer to God as one who protects the oppressed and who liberates his people. The word is used frequently in this sense in Second Isaiah. The word then was applied to Jesus, who is the Redeemer and Liberator of us all.

Far from being weak, God tells his people:

I will make of you a threshing sledge…

Just as the emperor Cyrus reduced his enemies (including the Babylonians) to dust (Isa 41:2), so too Israel will deal with its enemies:

…you shall thresh the mountains [i.e. their powerful enemies] and crush them…

For the Israelites, good times are coming as they leave their place of exile and return to their homeland. This is symbolised in the provision of an abundance of water—the formation of rivers and lakes. It is reminiscent of Moses, who produced water from the rock for Israelites during the Exodus. The desert is thus transformed by all kinds of magnificent trees. Some of these trees are named later in connection with the adornment of God’s sanctuary. Acacia wood was used for the tabernacle. In Isaiah chapter 55, we are told that pine and myrtle replace thorns and briers.

In fact, King Cyrus, who crushed the Babylonians and allowed the Jews to return to their homeland, is seen as an instrument doing God’s work. Through all these manifestations, the writer foresees the coming of the Messianic age:

…so that all may see and know,
all may consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Commenting on this text, the Christian Community Bible rightly describes that the Israelites, depressed by their exile experience, are being reminded to stop looking back at the ‘good old days’ of their glorious past and to look forward to a promising future:

“For centuries the Jews had looked upon their past, always expanding the memory of the wonders worked by God in their departure from Egypt. Now, they must look to the future. This time, a new departure is being prepared from Babylon, and it will be accompanied by wonders greater than those of the first Exodus.”

We, too, as we prepare to celebrate Christmas, need to remember that our celebration is not just a nostalgic look at the past, but a renewal of hope and energy in working for the building of the Kingdom in the year ahead.

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