03 Dec 2011, Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, priest

Reading 1 Is 30:19-21, 23-26

Thus says the Lord GOD,
the Holy One of Israel:
O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem,
no more will you weep;
He will be gracious to you when you cry out,
as soon as he hears he will answer you.
The Lord will give you the bread you need
and the water for which you thirst.
No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:
"This is the way; walk in it,"
when you would turn to the right or to the left.

He will give rain for the seed
that you sow in the ground,
And the wheat that the soil produces
will be rich and abundant.
On that day your flock will be given pasture
and the lamb will graze in spacious meadows;
The oxen and the asses that till the ground
will eat silage tossed to them
with shovel and pitchfork.
Upon every high mountain and lofty hill
there will be streams of running water.
On the day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall,
The light of the moon will be like that of the sun
and the light of the sun will be seven times greater
like the light of seven days.
On the day the LORD binds up the wounds of his people,
he will heal the bruises left by his blows.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

R. (see Isaiah 30:18d) Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Praise the LORD, for he is good;
sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;
it is fitting to praise him.
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem;
the dispersed of Israel he gathers.
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
he calls each by name.
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Great is our LORD and mighty in power:
to his wisdom there is no limit.
The LORD sustains the lowly;
the wicked he casts to the ground.
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.

Gospel Mt 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest."

Then he summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.

Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,
"Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give."


Meditation: Matthew 9:35–10:1,6-8

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” (Matthew 9:37)

Advent is something of a con­tradiction in terms. It is a time of receiving and welcoming the Lord into our hearts, but it is also a time to give away what we have freely re­ceived from the Lord.

It is this pattern of divine ex­change that we find in the two groups of people Jesus addressed in today’s Gospel. The first group re­ceived the gifts of his teaching and miracles. Jesus saw their neediness and had compassion on them. He couldn’t stay away from them but spent all his time ministering to their needs (Matthew 9:35-36).

But there was a second group— the people who knew him best and who had already received his gos­pel. To these, his closest friends, he gave the command: “Go … to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:6). He sent them out to proclaim the good news and do the work of the kingdom of heaven themselves.

Instead of trying to figure out which of these two groups we be­long to, let’s accept that we really belong to both. On the one hand, we all need deeper healing. We all need to learn the gospel message more clearly. We all have areas of sin that need to be addressed and forgiven. So we all need to spend time with Jesus, letting him minister to our wounds and fill us with his grace.

But on the other hand, we all have much that we can offer to other peo­ple. How often during this time of year do you hear people talking about how lonely they are or how guilty they feel about some poor decisions they made? It is to these that we can offer whatever we have already re­ceived from the Lord. Maybe they need nothing more than a friendly word of encouragement. But maybe they need to hear about how much the Lord can work in their lives. None of us is too “new” in the faith to begin giving away what we have.

Brothers and sisters, we serve a generous God. So let’s be just as gen­erous, freely giving what we have freely received!

“Lord, touch everyone searching for you. Use me to show others your abundant love and to lead them to the grace of a new life in you.”