Tuesday - December 05, 2017
"If this is the way you
treat your friends,
No wonder
you have so few!"
~~ St. Teresa of avila
TODAY'S READINGS
December 5, 2017
Tuesday of the First Week of Advent
Lectionary: 176
Reading 1IS 11:1-10
On that day,
A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:
a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A Spirit of counsel and of strength,
a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.
Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide aright for the land's afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra's den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder's lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,
as water covers the sea.
On that day,
The root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the nations,
The Gentiles shall seek out,
for his dwelling shall be glorious.
A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:
a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A Spirit of counsel and of strength,
a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.
Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide aright for the land's afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra's den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder's lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,
as water covers the sea.
On that day,
The root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the nations,
The Gentiles shall seek out,
for his dwelling shall be glorious.
Responsorial PsalmPS 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17
R. (see 7) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
He shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
May his name be blessed forever;
as long as the sun his name shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed;
all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
He shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
May his name be blessed forever;
as long as the sun his name shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed;
all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Behold, our Lord shall come with power;
he will enlighten the eyes of his servants.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
"I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."
Turning to the disciples in private he said,
"Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."
Behold, our Lord shall come with power;
he will enlighten the eyes of his servants.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 10:21-24
Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,"I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."
Turning to the disciples in private he said,
"Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."
******************************
Blessed are the Eyes that See
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus tells his disciples: "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see." It would seem that today we are not so blessed, because we were born two thousand years too late to see Jesus in the flesh, face to face. But let's consider what we have seen with our own eyes.
Every day, if we're able to celebrate Mass, we see Jesus in the Eucharist. Well, no, we don't see him with our physical vision. It requires faith -- and belief in the supernatural power of God -- to recognize that the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus during the consecration prayers. The eyes of our souls see him.
Every day, we see Jesus in others if we look past the garbage of sinfulness and unhealthy behaviors that they carry around like prized possessions. Jesus is not plainly visible; true vision requires faith. True faith opens the eyes of our souls to find the presence of Christ within each person.
Every day, if we prayerfully observe what God is doing in our lives, we see the hands of Christ reaching out to us, embracing us, helping us, feeding us, taking our burdens upon himself, and healing us -- through the people around us. The eyes of our souls see his love coming to us through others, and we realize that we are being blessed.
What good is seeing Jesus, however, if not for the purpose of following Jesus and partnering with him in the continuation of his earthly ministry?
We're blessed because we're united to Christ. His light has penetrated the darkness of the world in which we live, and this is reason for great joy. His light has overcome the darkness of our selfishness and the blindness that can cause us to stumble and wander off onto wrong paths.
Because of his light, we can see! We can see that God truly loves us; we can see that he is helping us, we can see what he is calling us to do next on our journey toward heaven, and we can see that he wants to change the world through us.
In our private prayer times, Jesus visits us directly. But this is too quiet. There's no physical touch. It's only mystical. Sometimes we experience supernatural joy in these moments, but we need more than that. We are flesh and blood creatures who need a flesh and blood God in order to feel his hugs.
So Jesus also comes to us through others. When we have difficulty seeing how the Lord is answering our prayers or what he is instructing us to do, we need to go to Christian companions and he will minister to us through them.
However, to benefit from his visits and see his presence and feel his hugs and hear his voice, we have to actively place ourselves in Christian community. The Church is, after all, the Body of Christ on earth.
What do you need to see Jesus doing for you today? God has blessed your vision, but if you still can't see him, watch for him to shine his light through someone else -- I guarantee that he is trying to reveal himself to you!
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God Bless You.....
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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