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…)
Read more
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.
Read more
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.
Read more
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…)
Read more
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.
Read more
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)
Read more
Monday of Week 4 of Easter – First Reading
Commentary on Acts 11:1-18
We have now entered a momentous part of Acts which describes the inauguration of the mission to the Gentiles. It may not seem a big deal to us, but it involved a radical change in thinking for the first Christians who were all Jews, still felt like Jews and maintained many of the religious customs of the Jews. It changed the whole complexion of the Christian ‘movement’ inaugurated by Jesus.
It opens with the conversion and baptism of Cornelius, a gentile centurion in the Roman army. But it also involves a conversion on the part of Peter, who becomes aware that God’s calling in Jesus is extended to people of all races and religions. All of this is contained in chapter 10, which we will not be reading (the story of Cornelius is read on the 6th Sunday of Easter in Year B).
What we see in today’s reading is the reaction of the Christian leaders in Jerusalem to the news of a Gentile’s baptism. It involves a major breakthrough in the development of the Church’s awareness of its identity.
The Apostles and their fellow Christians in Jerusalem had heard that the pagans were accepting the word of God. We will see here and elsewhere in Acts that in matters of importance, the Apostles did not act alone. Guidance came from the Spirit. The Apostles interpreted and exhorted, but the consent of the whole church was then sought (“the whole community”, Acts 6:5; “apostles and the brothers and sisters”, Acts 11:1; “the church”, Acts 11:22; “the church and the apostles and elders”, Acts 15:4 and 15:22).
The Christians in Jerusalem seem to have received this news with mixed feelings because, when Peter went up to Jerusalem the “circumcised believers”, that is, the Jewish Christians, criticised him for visiting the homes of the “uncircumcised” and even eating with them. This recalls how Jesus too was criticised for consorting with the ‘unclean’ and eating with them, which led to his speaking the three beautiful parables in chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel about the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Son.
The “uncircumcised” were those Gentiles who did not observe the laws of clean and unclean food and hence were in violation of Jewish regulations concerning food preparation. At this stage, it is clear that the Jewish Christians still saw themselves, even in a religious sense, as Jews. We know that they continued to go to the Temple to pray, and in this reading they have not yet changed their attitude to non-Jews—still seeing them as a source of contamination.
Peter then shares with them the dream he had. In this dream there appeared every kind of living thing that could walk, crawl or fly. He was told to kill and eat them, and he recoiled in horror. As a devout Jew he had never touched food that was regarded as ‘unclean’. He was made to realise in no uncertain terms that:
What God has made clean, you must not call profane.
And just in case Peter did not get this message, the vision was repeated three times!
Just then, he also got an invitation to join three men in going to a house in Caesarea. This house, as we were told in the previous chapter, belonged to Cornelius, a centurion in the Roman army. It seems that he was an out and out Gentile, with no connections whatever to Judaism. Peter went, together with six “brothers”, under the guidance and the approval of the Spirit.
When they got there, Cornelius said he had been told by an angel to summon Peter to his house. Peter had a special message for him to hear. Peter had barely begun to explain the message of Jesus when the Holy Spirit came down on all of the household, just as the Apostles themselves had experienced it at Pentecost. The “household” (Latin, familia) included not only those related by blood (parents, children, other relatives), but also slaves and all who were under Cornelius’ authority.
It was perfectly clear to Peter that there was no way he could deny baptism and membership in the community to this Gentile, who up to this he had regarded as unclean and a person not to be mixed with. He told the Christians in Jerusalem:
If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?
Peter could not deny the Gentiles the invitation to be baptised and to enjoy full fellowship in Christ with all believers. The Jewish believers were compelled to recognise that God was going to save Gentiles on equal terms with Jews. By divine action rather than by human choice, the door was being opened to Gentiles.
Peter explains why he allowed a pagan to be baptised. However, he does not answer the objection that he had lodged with the uncircumcised. According to Luke, Peter was considered to have been the first to receive pagans into the Church, in spite of the episode of the Ethiopian eunuch (with the deacon Philip), about which we read on Thursday of last week, and the date of the evangelisation of Antioch, to which Luke does not refer till later (in fact, immediately after this incident). Against this background, the council of Jerusalem (which we will hear about in the middle of next week) appears as a kind of sequel to, or repetition of, the discussion in today’s passage. It is clear that Peter’s leadership is being emphasised.
The people in Jerusalem accepted what Peter told them and gave thanks to God that even the Gentiles could experience “the repentance [Greek, metanoia—i.e. radical conversion] that leads to life”. They were not just repenting the past, but undertaking a complete turn-around in their lives involving a total commitment to the Way of Christ.
This story is just one example to be repeated again and again in the life of the Church of how change does not come from the centre, which in fact is often resistant to change, but from the outer limits.
The same is true of our Church today. There is always tension between the central institution of the Church and the more charismatic and prophetic elements which are often more in touch with the grass roots and with the changes taking place in society. These effect a call for change in the thinking and behaviour of the Church. In recent times, the Second Vatican Council and more recently, the Synod on Synodality, are excellent examples of this process. It is important to recognize that this tension is a good thing, and it is necessary both for progress and continuity.
Read more