2nd Week of Advent, Monday, Dec 11
Isaiah 35:1-10 / Luke 5:17-26
Our God is coming; He will save us.
In God of the Oppressed, James Cone describes what Sunday worship meant for black slaves in pre-Civil War days: “How could black slaves know they were human beings when they were treated like cattle? How could they know that they were somebody when everything in their environment said that they were nobody?” Cone answers: “Only because they knew that Christ was present with them and that presence included the divine promise to come again to take them to the 'New Jerusalem.”***
Do we truly long for Christ's final coming? When the Lord comes, “the blind will be able to see, and the deaf will hear. The lame will leap and dance, and those who cannot speak will shout for joy.” Isaiah 35:5-6
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At the time of the exile, in what is called “the little Apocalypse” (Is 34-35), a disciple of Isaiah describes the return of the Jews to Jerusalem and the Holy Land as a return to Paradise: no sin, no suffering, no fatigue even, with all sickness cured and creation sharing in the liberation of people. For God dwells among his people.
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Sewing back a button on a shirt or stitching the seams of two pieces of cloth may seem a rather simple and uncomplicated thing. But for those of us who don't usually use the thread and needle, it can be quite a challenge. Looking for the correct needle and then looking for that spool of thread might already make us think of sending whatever we are mending to those who can do it quickly and professionally.
In the ministry of Jesus, He preached the Good News and performed miracles and He also healed the sick. In today's gospel, we heard about Jesus' healing of the paralyzed man. But just as sewing back a button or sewing two pieces of cloth is not an easy thing, neither was it for Jesus healing the paralyzed man. The Pharisees and scribes accused Him of blasphemy when He forgave the man his sins. But Jesus also proved that forgiveness was granted by healing the man.
In this season of Advent, as we prepare for the celebration of the birth of Christ, we also prepare our hearts to receive Him into our lives. We need to be aware of what are our sins and to ask for forgiveness and healing. We are like a shirt missing a button or two, or we may be like a piece of cloth that has a tear and needs some sewing. Jesus will "sew" us back and make us whole. He came for this. Let us believe that He will forgive our sins and that we will be healed.
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These glowing terms begin to apply more fully when Jesus comes and forgives sin and illness, the consequences and manifestations of sin. When Jesus appears, he comes to bring life to the poor. Yes, the lame people leap for joy, for God has taken pity on them through Jesus.
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Prayer
Lord our God, you come among your people; to those who are poor and paralyzed, you bring them your forgiveness and your tender compassion through your Son Jesus Christ. God, make us deeply believe that you want to liberate us from our discouragement and powerlessness. Give us a sincere, trusting hope in your healing, compassionate love, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen
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Saint Damasus I
Feast day December 11
Damasus I was elected pope at a crisis-filled time in the Church during the fourth century. Soon after he had been chosen, a minority elected another man, Ursinus, to be pope. He and his followers carried out a plot to accuse Damasus of a serious crime.
Only by defending himself both in civil court and in front of 44 bishops at a Church synod did Damasus prove himself innocent. Damasus’s faith in the risen Jesus shines out from the epitaph he wrote for his tomb:
He who walked on the sea could calm the bitter waves, who gives life to the dying seeds of the earth; he who was able to loosen the mortal chains of death, and after three days’ darkness could bring again to the upper world the brother for sister Martha: he, I believe, will make Damasus rise again from the dust.
His projects included encouraging missionaries, getting architects to build and restore churches, and developing the papal chancery. He reformed the liturgy, making Latin its official language, commissioned Saint Jerome to translate the Bible, and fought heresy. He restored and decorated the tombs of the early martyrs in the catacombs.
