 DAILY GOSPEL «Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.» John 6,68
Sunday, 27 November 2011
First Sunday of Advent – Year B
Saint(s) of the day : St. Maximus, Bishop († 460), St. Virgil, Bishop († 784)
See commentary below or click here
Saint Aelred of Rielvaux : The Lord's coming
Book of Isaiah 63:16b-17.19b.64:2b-7. for you are our father. Were Abraham not to know us, nor Israel to acknowledge us, You, LORD, are our father, our redeemer you are named forever.
Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from your ways, and harden our hearts so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.
Too long have we been like those you do not rule, who do not bear your name. Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, with the mountains quaking before you,
While you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for,
such as they had not heard of from of old. No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen, any God but you doing such deeds for those who wait for him.
Would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in our ways! Behold, you are angry, and we are sinful;
all of us have become like unclean men, all our good deeds are like polluted rags; We have all withered like leaves, and our guilt carries us away like the wind.
There is none who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to cling to you; For you have hidden your face from us and have delivered us up to our guilt.
Yet, O LORD, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands.
Psalms 80(79):2ac.3b.15-16.18-19. Shepherd of Israel, listen, guide of the flock of Joseph! From your throne upon the cherubim reveal yourself
to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Stir up your power, come to save us.
Turn again, LORD of hosts; look down from heaven and see; Attend to this vine,
the shoot your right hand has planted.
May your help be with the man at your right hand, with the one whom you once made strong.
Then we will not withdraw from you; revive us, and we will call on your name.
First Letter to the Corinthians 1:3-9. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus (Christ).
God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 13:33-37. Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.
Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.
May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'"
Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
Commentary of the day :
Saint Aelred of Rielvaux (1110-1167), Cistercian monk
Sermon for Advent, (Durham collection)
The Lord's coming Behold the time is now here for us, dearest brethren, when we are to «sing of kindness and judgement to the Lord» (Ps 101[100],1). This is the Lord's Advent, the arrival of the Lord of all who comes and is to come (Rv 1,8). But how and where is he to come? How and where is he coming? Has he not said: «I fill the heaven and the earth?» (Jr 23,24). How, then, is he who fills heaven and earth coming to heaven and earth? Listen to the Gospel: «He was in the world and world was made by him and the world did not know him» (Jn 1,10). Therefore he was both present and absent at the same time: present in that he was in the world; absent because the world did not know him... How could he who was not recognised not be far away, he in whom people did not believe, who was not feared, who was not loved?...
He comes, then, so that he who was not known might be recognized; he in whom no one believed might be believed; he who was not loved might be loved. He who was present according to his nature is coming in his mercy... Think on God a little and see what it means that he should transfer so great a might; how he humbles so great a power, weakens so great a strength, makes feeble so great a wisdom! Was this a requirement of justice towards us? Most certainly not!...
In truth, my Lord, not my righteousness but your mercy guided you; not your necessity but my need. As you have said: «My mercy is established in the heavens» (Ps 89[88],3). Rightly so, for our neediness abounds on earth. That is why «I shall sing for ever of your love, O Lord», which you manifested at your coming. When he showed himself humble in his humanity, powerful in his miracles, strong against the tyranny of the demons, gentle in his welcome of sinners: all these things came from his mercy, all came from his inmost goodness. That is why «I shall sing your love, O Lord» made known at your first coming. And rightly so, for «the earth is filled with the mercy of the Lord» (Ps 119[118],64). |
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