Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 11-28-05

November 28, 2005
Monday of the First Week of Advent

Psalm: Monday 51

Reading I
Is 2:1-5

This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz,
saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

In days to come,
The mountain of the LORD’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain
and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it;
many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
That he may instruct us in his ways,
and we may walk in his paths.”
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and impose terms on many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.

O house of Jacob, come,
let us walk in the light of the LORD!

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 122:1-2, 3-4b, 4cd-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD."
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
May those who love you prosper!
May peace be within your walls,
prosperity in your buildings.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Because of my relatives and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you!"
Because of the house of the LORD, our God,
I will pray for your good.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Gospel
Mt 8:5-11

When Jesus entered Capernaum,
a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,
“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.”
He said to him, “I will come and cure him.”
The centurion said in reply,
“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes;
and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes;
and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
“Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,
and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.”

From: Isaiah 2:1-5

The Glory of Zion and Peace Among the Nations

[1] The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and
Jerusalem.

[2] It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the
house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the
mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations
shall flow to it, [3] and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let
us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of
Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his
paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the
Lord from Jerusalem. [4] He shall judge between the nations, and shall
decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into
ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
[5] O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Commentary:

2:1-4:6. This section opens with a new “dispute” ("rib") in which we
find echoes of the teaching about the “day of the Lord” (2:12; cf.
Amos 5:18—20). Previously, the people were accused of forsaking God
(cf. 1:2-3); now we are told why God has forsaken them (cf. 2:6): it
was on account of their arrogance and their idolatry (cf. 2:6-4:1).
However, it is not really the case that God has forsaken his people; his
“forsaking” them is a way of describing the punishment he inflicts on
them on account of their sins. When the Lord’s sentence is revealed,
human arrogance will be brought low, and the Lord will be exalted (cf.
2:9, 11, 17).

Oracles about the splendor that will be Zion’s on that day introduce
(cf. 2:1-5) and round off (4:2-6) this “dispute”.

2:1-5. Despite the sins of the people and the disastrous situation in
Judah that is described in this first part of the book, from the very
start a glimmer of hope is provided in this vision of messianic and
eschatological restoration which shows that the salvation of the world
centers on Zion, “the mountain of the Lord”, that is, Jerusalem.

All the nations will converge on the holy city, but not to despoil it
of its wealth: they will come in peace to hearken to the word of the
Lord and receive instruction in his law. This note of hope, struck,
strategically, at the very start of the book, and at its end
(66:18-24), constitutes one of its most important messages.

The poem in vv. 2-5 (found also, with slight variations, in Micah
4:1-3) links the Law with the temple, the spiritual center of
Jerusalem after the national reconstruction that took place when the
exiles returned from Babylon.

In contrast with the strife and desolation that sin brings in its wake
(cf. 1:2-9), peace is the outcome of reverence for God and readiness to
obey his precepts, of the practice of virtue and of love of neighbor.
The weapons of war become tools for development and agriculture:
“Insofar as men are sinful, the threat of war hangs over them, and
hang over them it will until the return of Christ. But insofar as men
vanquish sin by a union of love, they will vanquish violence as well
and make these words come true: ‘They shall turn their swords into
plough-shares, and their spears into sickles. Nation shall not lift up
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more’ (Is 2:4)”
("Gaudium Et Spes", 78).

These words of Isaiah announcing God’s salvific intervention in the
fullness of time will come true with the birth of Christ, who will
open up an era of perfect peace and reconciliation. The Church uses
this text in the liturgy of the first Sunday in Advent, encouraging us
to look forward to the second coming of Christ as we prepare to recall
his first coming at Christmas.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: Matthew 8:5-11

The Centurion's Faith

[5] As He (Jesus) entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to Him,
beseeching Him [6] and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at
home, in terrible distress." [7] And He said to him, "I will come and
heal him." [8] But the centurion answered Him, "Lord, I am not worthy
to have You come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant
will be healed. [9] For I am a man under authority, with soldiers
under me; and I say to one, `Go,' and he goes, and to another, `Come,'
and he comes, and to my slave, `Do this,' and he does it." [10] When
Jesus heard him, He marvelled, and said to those who followed Him,
"Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.
[11] I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven."

Commentary:

5-11. "Centurion": an officer of the Roman army in control of one
hundred men. This man's faith is still an example to us. At the
solemn moment when a Christian is about to receive Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament, the Church's liturgy places on his lips and in his heart
these words of the centurion, to enliven his faith: Lord, I am not
worthy...".

The Jews of this time regarded any Jew who entered a Gentile's house as
contracting legal impurity (cf. John 19:28; Acts 11:2-3). This
centurion has the deference not to place Jesus in an embarrassing
position in the eyes of His fellow Israelites. He shows that he is
convinced that Jesus has the power over disease and illness; he
suggests that if Jesus just says the word, He will do what is needed
without having actually to visit the house; he is reasoning, in a
simple, logical way, on the basis of his own professional experience.
Jesus avails of this meeting with a Gentile believer to make a solemn
prophecy to the effect that His Gospel is addressed to the world at
large; all men, of every nation and race, of every age and condition,
are called to follow Christ.

Catholic Culture

Collect:
All-powerful God, increase our strength of will for doing good that Christ may find an eager welcome at his coming and call us to his side in the kingdom of heaven where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Recipes:

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Activities:

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Prayers:

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November 28, 2005

Monday of the First Week of Advent

"That day, the branch of the Lord shall be beauty and glory, and the fruit of the earth shall be the pride and adornment of Israel's survivors (Isaiah 4:2)."

God might have created Adam and Eve into a purely natural order in which their reward in afterlife, and ours too, would be eternal happiness in such perfect knowledge and love of Himself, as is required and sufficient to satisfy to the full, every claim and craving of human reason and will. Yet, that natural perfection and happiness in eternity would be immeasurably lower than the supernatural reward God actually designed for the parents of our race and for all their children.

Jesse Tree ~ Adam and Eve

The excellence of Adam and Eve's natural endowments.

It is a deplorable error to extol as supernatural, perfections and powers that are entirely natural for us, even essential or integral to every human being. This includes our reason which is essential to our human nature, that without it no being can be really human. So also our spiritual will, with its power of loving things immaterial and purely spiritual, and its desire for the infinite and eternal, even with a longing that cannot find its perfect satisfaction except in the knowledge and love of Him who is for us our first Beginning and our last End. All this is so entirely natural for man, that a human soul is inconceivable without such spirituality and immortality.

The preciousness of Adam and Eve's preternatural gifts.

God not only gave Adam and Eve dominion over the whole world, but He actually brought human nature in them to an extraordinary degree of perfection, such as would assure both to themselves and to their offspring, for all the time of their life in paradise, freedom from every fear of sickness and death, and from all sorrow and all worrying care and every annoying disorder. And without passing through the gateway of death, they would in God's own time be assumed by Him into their eternal home, the true paradise of their destiny.

The wonders of Adam and Eve's supernatural destiny and state.

God created our first parents into an inexpressibly high and strictly supernatural and divine, order. He created them for the final perfection and eternal happiness of living in close association with Himself as His very children, in the face-to-face vision of Himself as He is in Himself, and in a most intimate communing with Him and a filial sharing in the wealth and sweetness of the bliss of the Most Holy Trinity. In the first moment of their existence, by the infusion of His sanctifying grace, God adopted them as His very children.

Things to Do:

Don't forget to pray "Hail and Blessed be the hour..., the Christmas Anticipatory Prayer every day until Christmas.
St. Nicholas Day is coming soon. Take time today to plan some activities, foods and little surprises for the shoes or stockings left out on St. Nicholas Eve (December 5). See the activities and recipes on St. Nicholas Day for ideas.
Think of others who aren't as privileged who will be suffering from loneliness, depression, sickness, povery, etc. during these Advent and Christmas seasons. Make sure your Advent preparations includes some Corporal Works of Mercy for others. Perhaps makes an extra batch of St. Nicholas cookies and distribute them to the homeless or the nursing home.

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	No Strangers, Only Brothers and Sisters
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Monday, November 28, 2005

Isaiah 2:1-5 / Mt 8:5-11

With each passing year, we find ourselves confronted with abundant new evidence of our human inclination to fragment into in-groups and out-groups. Whether on the international scale or in our own neighborhoods, schools, and parishes, we see it happening over and over, one group declaring another to be outsiders, strangers, inferiors, not one of 'us'. The division is always arbitrary and usually quite superficial in origin, but that doesn't lessen the intensity with which it is felt and enforced, sometimes even with threats of death.

Nothing could be further from the big family, the communion, which our hearts yearn for. Isaiah tells us in today's Old Testament reading that God has a very different vision of our future. "The mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest mountain and ... all nations shall stream toward it." In God's vision, there is no they, only we, no strangers, only brothers and sisters.

So how are we doing at making God's plan come true? Are we leaving anyone or any group outside the circle of our love and concern? Isn't it time to bring everyone inside?

A Voice in the Desert

Monday November 28, 2005 First Week of Advent

Reading (Isaiah 2:1-5) Gospel (St. Matthew 8:5-11)

Our Lord in the Gospel reading today tells us there are going to be many who are going to be in the kingdom of heaven, from the east and the west and the north and the south. The point He is making here is that the Jewish people at that time thought they could be the only ones saved, and the Lord is pointing out that here this pagan centurion had more faith than anyone He had ever come across in Israel. We have to then look at what it was this man did that Our Lord would say such a thing.

It was the faith that God’s word had power. Now this is something that all of us, of course, are going to acknowledge. If we were to take a poll of everyone here and say, “Does anyone here believe that God can do anything He wants,” we would all say “yes.” Do we believe that God is going to do anything for us personally? Are you kidding! There is no way we are going to believe that for a minute. Why? There is our problem. This centurion had faith. All he had to do was say to Jesus, Just say the word and my servant will be healed. We have probably all gone to prayer and said something similar: “Lord, all You need to do is say the word.” The fact is we really do not believe He is going to; consequently, nothing is going to happen because the faith is lacking. It is not a lack in the objective faith, that is, we know He has the power to do it. We will all readily acknowledge that He has that power, but it is the subjective faith that is lacking. We really do not believe it–for ourselves, that is–so that is where our trouble comes.

Then we need to look beyond and say, “Well, if we have to be able to do this, what does the prophet tell us in the first reading?” He tells us that all of the nations are going to stream toward this mountain of the Lord, Who is Jesus Christ, because from there, he says, we are going to receive instruction and we will be able to walk in His paths. That is what we have to do. We have to come to Jesus to be able to receive the instruction for our souls. We have to walk in His path. What is His instruction, but truth? What is the path, but the way? So who is the way and the truth, as well as the life? It is Jesus Himself. We see this laid out for us, exactly what is going to be happening. If we want to be able to have salvation, if we want to be able to have that kind of faith that the centurion had, it means we have to come to Christ, to have that kind of faith to be able to walk in His path, to have the faith to hear His instruction and put it into practice.

The practical part is the difficulty, as we have mentioned already. We all believe in His instruction, but we do not put it into practice. We need to get it out of theory and we need to get very practical about the instruction. We are told that we are to learn from His instruction and walk in His path to climb the mountain of the Lord, not just to sit silently and soak it up, but we have to do something with it. The Lord is asking us if we are willing to put forth the effort; the effort, number one, to learn the faith, the objective elements of it (these are the things the Church teaches, and so on); but then if we are willing to walk it, to put it into practice, to be like this centurion who made the effort to come to Our Lord but was also absolutely confident in what the Lord could and would do for him. He received what he was asking for because of his faith. That faith, as we are told, was greater than anyone in Israel and it assured this man a seat in heaven.

If we look at our own selves, we can say, “Look at all the people out in the world. How many call themselves Christian? How many call themselves Catholic? How many really live the faith that they profess to live?” As Our Lord told the people long ago: Prostitutes and tax collectors are entering the kingdom of heaven before you. That is something all of us need to think about. If the pagans, in this case, have more faith than those who believe, than those to whom the truth has been revealed (the Jewish people, in this case), that pattern has not changed. If there is somebody with faith, true faith–not just this gushy feeling: “You know, I believe in Jesus,” that is not going to get anyone anywhere; but it is to believe absolutely in everything that Jesus is and teaches and to put it into practice–it is that which is going to save them. So it is not that any one of us has the market cornered and can think that because we have some knowledge of the truth we are going to have an automatic “in” to heaven. The more we know, the more we are going to be responsible for.

We have an obligation to come to the Lord, to learn from Him, to learn what the Church teaches, but then we have an obligation to take it to the next step, to get it out of our heads and put it into practice so that we are living what we profess, so that the theory becomes very practical and the truth becomes a lived reality. That is what Jesus is looking for in each one of us. And if He finds that truth being lived in us, if He finds the faith being put into practice, then we are going to be guaranteed a place in heaven. Anything short of that, there is not a guarantee. So that is what we have to be about: learning the truth, walking in the way, and bringing that to the fullness of life.

* This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.

Mt 8:5-11
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
5	And when he had entered into Capharnaum, there came to him a centurion, beseeching him,	cum autem introisset Capharnaum accessit ad eum centurio rogans eum
6	And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously tormented.	et dicens Domine puer meus iacet in domo paralyticus et male torquetur
7	And Jesus saith to him: I will come and heal him.	et ait illi Iesus ego veniam et curabo eum
8	And the centurion, making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.	et respondens centurio ait Domine non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meum sed tantum dic verbo et sanabitur puer meus
9	For I also am a man subject to authority, having under me soldiers; and I say to this, Go, and he goeth, and to another Come, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.	nam et ego homo sum sub potestate habens sub me milites et dico huic vade et vadit et alio veni et venit et servo meo fac hoc et facit
10	And Jesus hearing this, marvelled; and said to them that followed him. Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel.	audiens autem Iesus miratus est et sequentibus se dixit amen dico vobis non inveni tantam fidem in Israhel
11	And I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven:	dico autem vobis quod multi ab oriente et occidente venient et recumbent cum Abraham et Isaac et Iacob in regno caelorum

The Word Among Us

Monday, November 28, 2005

Meditation
Matthew 8:5-11

The centurion in today’s gospel showed great courage in asking Jesus to heal his servant. For a powerful officer in the Roman army to seek out a Jewish rabbi from a small town in Galilee would not have been a politically expedient thing to do. Yet he did not hesitate to approach Jesus. Where did his courage come from? From the same source that allows us to be spiritually courageous: a sense of need and a great trust that Jesus is able to meet those needs.

Did you notice the urgency and desperation that marked the centurion’s words? “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress” (Matthew 8:6). Evidently, this man cared a great deal for his servant and didn’t want to see him suffering. So without regard for the possible consequences of associating with Jesus, he sought him out and made his request with boldness and humility.

Obviously, this centurion had a great sense of need, but that alone was probably not enough to move him to Jesus. He must have also believed that Jesus had some special power that enabled him to reverse the course of a serious illness. He must have sensed that Jesus could fill his need.

Notice, too, that the centurion didn’t take his servant to Jesus to be healed, as so many others had done. He didn’t even think it was necessary for Jesus to touch his servant. All he needed was for Jesus to say the word, and the healing would occur. No wonder Jesus marveled at his faith—and he was a pagan, no less!

As the season of Advent unfolds, Jesus wants to give each of us the same kind of courageous faith that this centurion displayed. We know that faith is a free gift from God. But we also know that we must cooperate with God if we want to see this faith bear fruit. It’s up to us to let go of our overly sophisticated complexity, as well as our fears, and come to Jesus humble, needy, and trusting. The next time you are at Mass, think about this centurion and his faith as you join him in confessing: “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word, and I shall be healed.”

“Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”

Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122:1-9

One Bread, One Body

<< Monday, November 28, 2005 >>

Isaiah 2:1-5

Psalm 122

Matthew 8:5-11

View Readings

UP, UP, AND AWAY

"Come, let us climb the Lord's mountain." —Isaiah 2:3

Advent is like climbing a mountain. It takes time, preparation, and perseverance to reach the mountaintop. Likewise, to receive all that Jesus has for us this Christmas, we need the discipline and discipling of Advent.

Often in mountain climbing, you can't see the mountaintop. You're surrounded by tall trees; your view is blocked by a mountain spur; you dip down to a low point in the trail. When the trail opens up and you can finally glimpse the mountaintop, it often looks no closer than it did a few miles ago.

Likewise, during our Advent journey, we might come to feel we are getting nowhere. We might feel no extra inspiration or see no spiritual progress despite our Advent prayers, Masses, and Confession. Nonetheless, keep moving forward. Don't "give in to discouragement" and stop moving (2 Cor 4:1). Even if you see no progress, "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor 5:7).

A renowned mountaineer was once asked why he wanted to climb a high mountain. He answered, "Because it's there." That's why we want to climb the Lord's mountain: because Jesus is there. Jesus is Emmanuel, God-with-us (Mt 1:23), and He will make sure we reach the mountaintop of Christmas. With Jesus, we can move miles in a very short time (see Jn 6:21). He can make our spiritual "feet swift as those of" the deer and enable us "to go upon the heights" (Hab 3:19). Therefore, have faith in Jesus and "climb the Lord's mountain" every day of Advent (Is 2:3). Jesus is looking for faith (Mt 8:10). "Come, let us climb" (Is 2:3).

Prayer: Father, renew my strength that I may walk, run, and soar with You this Advent (Is 40:31).

Promise: "One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again." —Is 2:4

Praise: John prepared during Advent to meet Jesus at Christmas. However, John met Jesus in his own death before Christmas, fully prepared for everlasting life.

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