December 5, 2020
Saturday of the First
Week of Advent
Lectionary: 180
Thus says the Lord GOD,
the Holy One of Israel:
O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem,
no more will you weep;
He will be gracious to you when you cry out,
as soon as he hears he will answer you.
The Lord will give you the bread you need
and the water for which you thirst.
No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:
“This is the way; walk in it,”
when you would turn to the right or to the left.
He will give rain for the seed
that you sow in the ground,
And the wheat that the soil produces
will be rich and abundant.
On that day your flock will be given pasture
and the lamb will graze in spacious meadows;
The oxen and the asses that till the ground
will eat silage tossed to them
with shovel and pitchfork.
Upon every high mountain and lofty hill
there will be streams of running water.
On the day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall,
The light of the moon will be like that of the sun
and the light of the sun will be seven times greater
like the light of seven days.
On the day the LORD binds up the wounds of his people,
he will heal the bruises left by his blows.
Responsorial Psalm
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Praise the LORD, for he is good;
sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;
it is fitting to praise him.
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem;
the dispersed of Israel he gathers.
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
he calls each by name.
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Great is our LORD and mighty in power:
to his wisdom there is no limit.
The LORD sustains the lowly;
the wicked he casts to the ground.
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The LORD is our
Judge, our Lawgiver, our King;
he is who will
save us.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Then he summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.
Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,
“Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
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Fight Fear Because Holy Boldness is Needed Now
What sign from God are you waiting for before you take action on something that you think possibly he has called you to do? No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you shall see him, while from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears, saying: "This is the way; walk in it," so you know when to turn to the right or to the left. (See Saturday's first reading.)
Jesus reminds us all, this Saturday, that when we have eyes that can see him (in our calling to ministry, in his activities in society and politics, in what he's doing to expose evil and corruption, or anything else that you're concerned about), we will also have ears that hear him give us directions in our daily decisions.
Often we stand still because we're waiting for signs or answered prayer before taking action on something that we think Jesus might have called us to do. To be holy followers of Christ, we need to ask more fervently for the Holy Spirit to give us eyes to see Jesus leading us and hear Jesus guiding us.
And while we're at it, we also need to ask for holy boldness. This has been my own prayer over these past few months. It's not easy and it's certainly not pleasant to be misjudged and disbelieved, especially when so much is at stake and the Lord is calling everyone to join the battle.
We are called to resist evil, protest evil, and stand up firmly against evil, with determination (this is found in scriptures and in the teachings of the Church) but this does not mean with violence. Yes, we do violence to the spirits of darkness, but not to the human victims of darkness, though they might do violence to us. The first Christians and countless others since then were persecuted and martyred because they stood up firmly and spoke up clearly against evil. We must be willing to do the same.
Take courage! Jesus says:
"The world is not as powerful as it seems to be; its strength is strictly limited. Know, My daughter, that if your soul is filled with the fire of My pure love, then all difficulties dissipate like fog before the sun's rays and dare not touch the soul. All adversaries are afraid to start a quarrel with such a soul, because they sense that it is stronger than the whole world.” (Saint Faustina, Divine Mercy in my soul #1643)
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God Bless You.....
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