December 9, 2020 Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent

2020년 12월 9일 대림 제2주간 수요일

제1독서

이사야서. 40,25-31 

25 “너희는 나를 누구와 비교하겠느냐? 나를 누구와 같다고 하겠느냐?”
거룩하신 분께서 말씀하신다.
26 너희는 눈을 높이 들고 보아라. 누가 저 별들을 창조하였느냐?
그 군대를 수대로 다 불러내시고
그들 모두의 이름을 부르시는 분이시다.
그분께서는 능력이 크시고 권능이 막강하시어 하나도 빠지는 일이 없다.
27 야곱아, 네가 어찌 이런 말을 하느냐?
이스라엘아, 네가 어찌 이렇게 이야기하느냐?
“나의 길은 주님께 숨겨져 있고
나의 권리는 나의 하느님께서 못 보신 채 없어져 버린다.”
28 너는 알지 않느냐? 너는 듣지 않았느냐?
주님은 영원하신 하느님, 땅끝까지 창조하신 분이시다.
그분께서는 피곤한 줄도 지칠 줄도 모르시고
그분의 슬기는 헤아릴 길이 없다.
29 그분께서는 피곤한 이에게 힘을 주시고
기운이 없는 이에게 기력을 북돋아 주신다.
30 젊은이들도 피곤하여 지치고 청년들도 비틀거리기 마련이지만
31 주님께 바라는 이들은 새 힘을 얻고 독수리처럼 날개 치며 올라간다.
그들은 뛰어도 지칠 줄 모르고 걸어도 피곤한 줄 모른다.

복음

마태오 11,28-30

그때에 예수님께서 말씀하셨다.
28 “고생하며 무거운 짐을 진 너희는 모두 나에게 오너라.
내가 너희에게 안식을 주겠다.
29 나는 마음이 온유하고 겸손하니 내 멍에를 메고 나에게 배워라.
그러면 너희가 안식을 얻을 것이다.
30 정녕 내 멍에는 편하고 내 짐은 가볍다.”

 

December 9, 2020   

Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent 

Daily Readings — Audio 

Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass 

Reading 1 

is 40:25-31

To whom can you liken me as an equal?
says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high
and see who has created these things:
He leads out their army and numbers them,
calling them all by name.
By his great might and the strength of his power
not one of them is missing!
Why, O Jacob, do you say,
and declare, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?

Do you not know
or have you not heard?
The LORD is the eternal God,
creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint nor grow weary,
and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.
He gives strength to the fainting;
for the weak he makes vigor abound.
Though young men faint and grow weary,
and youths stagger and fall,
They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength,
they will soar as with eagles’ wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
walk and not grow faint.
 

Responsorial Psalm 

ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8 and 10

R. (1) O bless the Lord, my soul!
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits. 
R. O bless the Lord, my soul!
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul!
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul!

 

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Behold, the Lord comes to save his people;
blessed are those prepared to meet him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
 

Gospel 

mt 11:28-30

Jesus said to the crowds:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest. 
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves. 
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” 

 

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

 

Today’s readings call us to look upward.  The prophet Isaiah counsels: “Lift up your eyes on high.”  We are prone to focus on the muddled environment that surrounds us at eye-level.

Reminders like this one may help us to see what we have been missing, which was actually there all the time.

We live in rural Iowa where Redtail hawks are our regular companions as we work outside on the farm.  Sometimes bald eagles also visit, particularly when waterfowl are migrating.  These magnificent birds can soar for hours while looking for food.  But sometimes they prefer to rest quietly in a tall perch that allows them to survey the landscape.  On top of a high hill in one of our pastures, a tall tree provides one of those preferred resting spots.  This tree recently died after a hailstorm, but my smart and observant wife has counseled not to take it down because the birds need it. God gives us these birds to inspire us, but He also gives us a small role in helping to lift them up – or at least not to bring them down.  Even hawks and eagles get tired; all of us creatures share the confinements of our physical nature.  We are not like God.

Psalm 103 provides a beautiful summary of the generosity of God, which we are prone to over- and under-estimate.  In the midst of troubles, we ask why and wonder if God is paying attention.  We forget that He is there with us.  In the midst of triumphs, we can easily forget that He is the author of good who is there with us, too.  We are a forgetful lot.  Reminding one another is important.  My wife keeps a post on her mirror that says, “To love a person is to learn the song that is in their heart and to sing it to them when they have forgotten.”  What an indelible mark that music makes upon our souls!  Can the song of God’s love be less indelible?  Perhaps someone we know needs to hear that song.  All of us can get tired.

Today’s gospel provides a comforting message for those who are tired now, as well as those who fear they may be tiring. This world and its regular drumbeat of demands -- along with all of the other noise that attends them -- sometimes deprives us of the silence and peace we need, from which the song of God’s love that we need to hear emerges.  Jesus is telling us that he understands the burdens, and he can help us deal with them. 

Like the hawk and the eagle, we need to soar, but we also need to rest.  Jesus is calling us to Himself, to seek out peace and silence, so that we may hear the song of God’s love.  And perhaps He is also giving us an opportunity to assist in some small way to provide a little rest for others, maybe even some music for their weary, forgetful hearts.  Thanks be to our generous God.

 

 http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp

‘WAIT’ LIFTING

“They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles.” —Isaiah 40:31, RSV-CE

Advent is a time of waiting. We wait through the longest nights of the year for the light of dawn. Children wait to open their presents on Christmas day. Christians wait for their family and friends to accept Jesus and celebrate their first real Christmas.

There are two kinds of waiting: waiting that makes us nervous and emotionally drained, or waiting that renews our strength. If we wait against our will as victims of circumstances, we become frustrated. If we choose to wait on God and refuse to control our own lives, we become energized by this act of faith. When we wait on God, we are really waiting on ourselves and/or other people who are keeping God waiting. We are choosing to accept God’s way of forgiveness, patience, and mercy. When we wait on God, we’re either admitting we’ve partly caused the delay or we’re forgiving seventy times seven those who refuse to cooperate with the Lord.

Waiting on the Lord implies repentance and/or forgiveness. This waiting and soul-searching will energize us for Christmas. “Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord” (Ps 27:14).

Prayer:  Father, thank You for waiting for me when I deserved to be left behind.

Promise:  “Come to Me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you.” —Mt 11:28

Praise:  St. Juan Diego’s name is forever intertwined with Our Lady of Guadalupe. In a private revelation, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him on Mexico’s Tepeyac Hill in 1531.

 

 http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/

 

What kind of yoke does the Lord Jesus have in mind for each one of us? And how can it be good for us? The Jewish people used the image of a yoke to express their submission to God. They spoke of the yoke of the law, the yoke of the commandments, the yoke of the kingdom, the yoke of God. Jesus says his yoke is "easy". The Greek word for "easy" can also mean "well-fitting". Yokes were tailor-made to fit the oxen well for labor. We are commanded to put on the "sweet yoke of Jesus" and to live the "heavenly way of life and happiness". Oxen were yoked two by two. Jesus invites each one of us to be yoked with him, to unite our life with him, our will with his will, our heart with his heart.

Jesus carries our burdens with us
Jesus also says his "burden is light". There's a story of a man who once met a boy carrying a smaller crippled lad on his back. "That's a heavy load you are carrying there," exclaimed the man. "He ain't heavy; he's my brother!" responded the boy. No burden is too heavy when it's given in love and carried in love. When we yoke our lives with Jesus, he also carries our burdens with us and gives us his strength to follow in his way of love. Do you know the joy of resting in Jesus' presence and walking daily with him along the path he has for you?

In the Advent season we celebrate the coming of the Messiah King who ushers in the reign of God. The prophets foretold that the Messiah would establish God's kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy. Those who put their trust in God and in the coming of his kingdom receive the blessings of that kingdom - peace with God and strength for living his way of love, truth, and holiness (Isaiah 40). Jesus fulfills all the Messianic hopes and promises of God's kingdom. That is why he taught his disciples to pray, "thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). In his kingdom sins are not only forgiven but removed, and eternal life is poured out for all its citizens. This is not a political kingdom, but a spiritual one.

Freed from the burden of sin and guilt
The yoke of Christ's kingdom, his kingly rule and way of life, liberates us from the burden of guilt and disobedience. Only the Lord Jesus can lift the burden of sin and the weight of hopelessness from us. Jesus used the analogy of a yoke to explain how we can exchange the burden of sin and despair for a yoke of glory, freedom, and joy with him. The yoke which the Lord Jesus invites us to embrace is his way of power and freedom to live in love, peace, and joy as God's sons and daughters. Do you trust in God's love and truth and submit to his will for your life?

Lord Jesus, inflame my heart with love for you and for your ways and help me to exchange the yoke of rebellion for the sweet yoke of submission to your holy and loving word. Set me free from the folly of my own sinful ignorance and rebellious pride that I may wholly desire what is good and in accord with your will.

Psalm 103:1-4, 8-10

1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The LORD works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger for ever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor requite us according to our iniquities.

Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Grace bear us, by an anonymous early author from the Greek church

"'My yoke is easy and my burden light.' ... The prophet says this about the burden of sinners: 'Because my iniquities lie on top of my head, so they have also placed a heavy burden on me' (Psalm 38:4)' ...'Place my yoke upon you, and learn from me that I am gentle and humble of heart.' Oh, what a very pleasing weight that strengthens even more those who carry it! For the weight of earthly masters gradually destroys the strength of their servants, but the weight of Christ rather helps the one who bears it, because we do not bear grace; grace bears us. It is not for us to help grace, but rather grace has been given to aid us.' (excerpt from INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY, the Greek fathers).

   

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