Second Week

2nd Week of Advent, Wednesday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord invites us to learn from his example be being meek and humble of heart as a way to find rest for our souls. We see this epitomized in that empty manger we’re contemplating during the Advent season. We know the newborn Jesus is rarely depicted as crying or fussy, but we also know the humble beginnings he wished for his earthly ministry. He didn’t pick a royal family or a palace in which to take flesh, but the lowly Mary aided by the quiet and gentle St. Joseph. As human he started as a child like everyone else; as God he decided to start the work of our redemption in a childlike way.

Advent is a season that often softens our hearts, and in a world that seems harsh and cruel, softening your heart doesn’t seem the realistic or practical thing to do. In those moments where we’re tempted to exchange brusqueness for brusqueness, snide remark for snide remark, harshness for harshness,  or temper tantrum for temper tantrum we have to remember how many situations are defused by meekness and humility of heart in response. Hearts often soften and warm when an infant is brought into a room, and meekness and humility can often have the same effect.

If you have a stressful moment, consider the manger today, occupied or unoccupied, and it will help you be meek and humble of heart.

Readings: Isaiah 40:25–31; Psalm 103:1–4, 8, 10; Matthew 11:28–30. See also 15th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday.

2nd Week of Advent, Monday

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In today’s Gospel Our Lord reminds us what a great grace it is for us to receive forgiveness through the mediation of others. When the scribes and Pharisees in today’s Gospel are shocked that Our Lord would presume to forgive sins, Our Lord doesn’t keep silent as if to maintain the secret that he is God; rather, he uses the healing as a sign that the Son of Man has authority “on earth” to forgive sins. When we leave the confessional we have the relief of knowing that if we’ve made a good confession we’re forgiven: it’s the first day of the rest of our spiritual life. The challenges don’t go away, but we know we can make a fresh start.

Our Lord doesn’t just want to dispense his mercy in eternity; God has opened the “roof” of history and arranged for those paralyzed by sin to receive the help they need to encounter his Son and be forgiven. During Advent we remember that Our Lord doesn’t come to condemn us, but to forgive us. We rejoice because we are forgiven and loved by God.

A special time of mercy has begun with Advent; let’s rejoice that our forgiveness it at hand, and help others draw closer to the fount of mercy as well.

Readings: Isaiah 35:1–10; Psalm 85:9–14; Luke 5:17–26. See also 13th Week in Ordinary Time, Thursday.

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2nd Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

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Advent is a time of penitence and conversion, but one characterized by Messianic hope: our penance and conversion are about to experience a boost and a means to bear fruit in the birth of Our Lord at Christmas. As St. Paul describes it in today’s Second Reading: “the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Our Lord enables us to definitively leave our sinful past and ways behind, and that is a cause for joyful hope.

As Baruch in today’s First Reading exhorts the Israelites to get ready to change from their garments of penance to those of joy, we know that soon the sorrowful purple vestments and the embargo on the “Glory Be” in Mass,will give way to the white vestments of our Sunday best and the Glory of the birth of Our Lord. In the Gospel today the Holy Spirit mobilizes St. John the Baptist to get the people of Israel ready: Advent gets us ready. Not only do we reach out to God; in the Incarnation God also reaches out to us. Through penance and striving for conversion we’re reaching out to God so that he can reach out to us; we can try to take his hand to help us up, or we can avoid it. The choice is ours.

Conversion and salvation are within reach. Let’s prepare a good path for Our Lord.

Readings: Baruch 5:1–9; Psalm 126:1–6; Philippians 1:4–6, 8–11; Gospel Luke 3:1–6.

2nd Week of Easter, Friday

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Readings: Acts 5:34–42; Psalm 27:1, 4, 13–14; John 6:1–15.

Today’s readings remind us that if God wants something, he’ll be the one to do the heavy lifting; we just have to try to put everything we have into doing his will. In the First Reading Gamaliel wisely observes that if God is backing the Apostles the Sanhedrin will not be able to stop them. He doesn’t know for sure, but probably suspects the Lord has a hand in what is going on and has the prudence and wisdom to not try to put obstacles in God’s way.

Sometimes we receive a vague intuition that God wants something more from us, but we enter into that confusion of whether he wants it, whether we’re imagining it, or whether we might be trying to put words in his mouth. Something inside us says a change is called for, and many times it involves us being more generous and more trusting. That’s just one of the ways we can tell whether an idea comes from us or from God: if something moves us beyond our comfort zone, tries to take us beyond ourselves, often it is God inviting us to grow spiritually through working with him on something.

In the Gospel Our Lord asks a simple question: “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” Philip looks at thousands of people and does the math, and the math says they don’t have the money. Andrew sees the few resources at hand and says it seems impossible. Jesus asks them to not focus so much on the logistics and to simply try and the miracle happens. They didn’t have enough bread. They didn’t have enough money to buy more bread. But they didn’t factor in what Our Lord was bringing to the table: he asked for it, and he did the heavy lifting. Let’s ask ourselves today if Our Lord is asking something from us that seems impossible based on our mental math–overcoming something sinful in our life, doing something more for others, forgiving the seemingly unforgivable–and try to do his will with what we have knowing he will help us succeed.

2nd Week of Easter, Thursday

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Readings: Acts 5:27–33; Psalm 34:2, 9, 17–20; John 3:31–36.

Our Lord in today’s Gospel continues to teach Nicodemus that if you don’t trust a witness, you won’t trust his testimony either. In contrasting Heaven and earth Jesus encourages us to trust his testimony for another reason: if a high point is often the best vantage point, what higher or greater vantage point is there than Heaven?

Sometimes we think of Heaven as something distant and disconnected from earth, but Our Heavenly Father is always watching over every detail of our life, and does so as a loving father, not as an all-controlling Big Brother. He has the big picture always in mind and can help us make the best decisions regarding ourselves and regarding others. And when sometimes life doesn’t seem to make sense, if we are trying to do what is pleasing to him we know that in the long run everything will work out.

If God sees things from the best vantage point, and has a loving concern for us, his testimony is worthy of our belief, and he is worthy of our trust. Let’s open our hearts to him today and ask him to help us see the big picture from his perspective, and to gain a deeper knowledge of how we can be a part of it, not just for his best interests, but for ours as well.