Dec 9, 2013
Isaiah 35:1-6,10
Psalm 146:6-10
James 5:7-10
Matthew 11:2-11
John questions Jesus from prison in today's Gospel - for his
disciples' sake and for ours.
He knows that Jesus is doing "the works of the Messiah," foretold
in today's First Reading and Psalm. But John wants his disciples -
and us - to know that the Judge is at the gate, that in Jesus our
God has come to save us.
The Liturgy of Advent takes us out into the desert to see and hear
the marvelous works and words of God - the lame leaping like a
stag, the dead raised, the good news preached to the poor (see
Isaiah 29:18-20; 61:1-2).
The Liturgy does this to give us courage, to strengthen our feeble
hands and make firm our weak knees. Our hearts can easily become
frightened and weighed down by the hardships we face. We can lose
patience in our sufferings as we await the coming of the Lord.
As James advises in today's Epistle, we should take as our example
the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
Jesus also points us to a prophet - holding up John as a model.
John knew that life was more than food, the body more than
clothing. He sought the kingdom of God first, confident that God
would provide (see
Matthew 6:25-34). John did not complain. He did not lose
faith. Even in chains in his prison cell, he was still sending his
disciples - and us - to our Savior.
We come to Him again now in the Eucharist. Already He has caused
the desert to bloom, the burning sands to become springs of living
water. He has opened our ears to hear the words of the sacred book,
freed our tongue to fill the air with songs of thanksgiving (see
Isaiah 30:18).
Once bowed down, captives to sin and death, we have been ransomed
and returned to His Kingdom, crowned with everlasting joy. Raised
up we now stand before His altar to meet the One who is to come:
"Here is your God."