Reading 1
Is 41:13-20
I am the LORD, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I will help you.”
Fear not, O worm Jacob,
O maggot Israel;
I will help you, says the LORD;
your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, and double-edged,
To thresh the mountains and crush them,
to make the hills like chaff.
When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off
and the storm shall scatter them.
But you shall rejoice in the LORD,
and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the desert into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
I will plant in the desert the cedar,
acacia, myrtle, and olive;
I will set in the wasteland the cypress,
together with the plane tree and the pine,
That all may see and know,
observe and understand,
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Ps 145:1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab
Responsorial PsalmR. (8)
The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
Let them make known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
Gospel
Mt 11:11-15
Jesus said to the crowds:
“Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force.
All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John.
And if you are willing to accept it,
he is Elijah, the one who is to come.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
Meditation: Isaiah 41:13-20
“I will turn … the dry ground into springs of water.” (Isaiah 41:18)
At this point in Advent, we may get a little worried. Christmas is approaching, and we probably haven’t crossed off enough items from our very long to-do list! And this worry can lead us to skip our times with the Lord. We know we should be praying and reading Scripture, but every morning we just want to hit the ground running.
Yet there is a thirst deep within us that only God can quench. And in today’s first reading, the prophet urges us to drink deeply from the well of God’s love. Without his rivers of grace and springs of mercy, we become like the bare heights and the dry ground in this passage. And when our hearts are dry and brittle, we don’t reflect God’s love very well. Perhaps we react to others with impatience or harshness. Maybe we become self-centered or so worried about what we need to do that we forget about the needs of others.
There’s no doubt that this is a busy season, but Advent can be a blessed time as well. It’s a great opportunity to contemplate the faithfulness of our God, who promised the Israelites a Messiah and who fulfilled that promise so gloriously in Jesus. Perhaps we can imagine Mary, pregnant and waiting in anticipation for this special son who would change the world—or Joseph, caring lovingly for his bride. We can meditate on the wonder of the Incarnation, of God loving us so much that he became a man just to save us. Times of prayer like this can nourish us and prepare us for the great feast of Christmas.
And even if you can’t spend as much time in prayer as you’d like, you can always turn your gaze to the Lord during the day. Doing so can help to remind you why you are buying gifts, making special foods, or decorating your home—so that we can welcome Jesus and rejoice in his coming to earth!
This Advent, try to put aside for a while all the to-do items on your list. Start first with the only task that will truly satisfy your heart: time with the Lord!
“Jesus, I want to prepare for your coming this Christmas. Help me to recognize my thirst for you so I can drink deeply of your love.”
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