Sunday, December 10, 2006
Monday 2nd Week of Advent
December 11, 2006
Monday 2nd Week of Advent - C
ISAIAH 35:1-10
The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and
bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful
song. The glory of Lebanon will be given to them, the splendor of
Carmel and Sharon; They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of
our God. 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
recompense he comes to save you. 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 lurk will be a marsh for the reed and papyrus. A highway will
be there, called the holy way; 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. It is for those with a journey to make, and on it
the redeemed will walk. 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.
LUKE 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." Then the scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves,
"Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who but God alone can 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." 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."
REFLECTION
In today's reading, Isaiah describes the joyous return of God's
people from exile in a heathen country to freedom in their God-given
homeland. The beauty and the bounty of their land Isaiah describes in
Messianic terms: the desert will run with streams of life-giving water,
the parched land will blossom with an abundance of flowers. The blind,
the deaf, the lame and the mute, all will be cured. Those who are
frightened will cast off their fears, for God will come to them and be
with them; he will save them. The age of the Messiah will be an age of
abundance, of health and wholeness for all, of security rooted in
God's loving protection.
In the Gospel, Jesus, by forgiving the paralytic's sins and curing
him, indicates that he is inaugurating the Messianic age promised by
Isaiah in the first reading. But Jesus is only inaugurating the
Kingdom, he is not establishing it in its fullness. Sin still mingles
with good in this world, the selfish lust for wealth and power lives
side by side with and contradicts the Messianic values: widespread
abundance equally shared by all, health of body and spirit, wholeness.
The chosen people's journey back to Jerusalem required first of all a
conversion: sorrow for sins, a determination to live a new and
committed life, forgiveness by God. In the Gospel you'll find the
same reality: the paralytic is cured of his affliction only after his
sins had been forgiven.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- for the speedy recovery of Ricky Sioson.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- for world peace and reconciliation.
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our
prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
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