Category Archives: Advent

Advent 1A

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Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for Nov. 27, 2022 (Advent 1C)

First Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5

Advent begins, and with it a new liturgical year centered on the Gospel according to Matthew. The name “Advent” is based on the Latin word for “coming.”

The World Before the Flood

The World Before the Flood (1828), oil painting on canvas by William Etty (1787-1849). Southampton City Art Gallery, England. (Click image to enlarge.)

During these four weeks we prepare for the coming celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Incarnation, on Christmas Day. We also consider the tradition of the final coming of Christ in power and glory. Sunday’s readings look forward to a bright Messianic future. In verses of poetic beauty in our first reading, the prophet Isaiah foresees Jerusalem and its Temple restored. It will be the highest of the mountains, the center of a world that recognizes it as the house of God. It will be a world of peace, a time when swords have been beaten into plowshares and there is no more war.

Psalm: Psalm 122

Psalm 122 closely mirrors the prophet’s hope in the first reading for a future of triumph and peace for Jerusalem, the city of God, the throne of the new King David, the Messiah. The House of David is a city at peace. It is a city on a mountain where all the tribes of Israel go up with gladness to praise God’s name. At David’s throne, the Psalmist sings, all the people can expect fair judgment. There the love of God is rewarded with security, prosperity and peace.

Second Reading: Romans 13:11-14

Paul exhorts the people of the young church in Rome to be prepared for the return of Jesus, an event that Christians of that time believed and prayed would come very soon. “The night is far gone, the day is near,” Paul writes to his Roman flock in this letter that we will hear during three of the four Sundays of Advent. In the meantime, Paul advises the people to behave well, live abstemiously, avoid quarrels and jealousy. These verses follow immediately after Paul’s urgent reminder to follow God’s commandments and love our neighbors as ourselves, a way of life that prepares us to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Second Reading: Matthew 24:36-44

In all three years of the Lectionary cycle, the Gospel for the First Sunday of Advent is apocalyptic, anticipating the second coming of Christ. In Sunday’s Gospel according to Matthew we find Jesus talking with the apostles on a hillside on the Mount of Olives, looking across a small valley toward the Temple. In preceding verses Jesus has told them – in words similar to those we heard told by Luke two weeks ago – that the temple will be torn down amid a time of war and great suffering, before Christ comes to usher in a new age. Now Jesus warns them that only God knows when the last days will come, just as sinful humans in Noah’s time had no warning of the coming flood.

Lessons and Carols

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Thoughts on the readings for Lessons and Carols (Dec. 26, 2021)

Lessons and Carols is a service of worship that celebrates the birth of Jesus with readings from Scripture, carols, and hymns.

King's College Chapel, Cambridge, England.

King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, England. (Click image to enlarge.)

Lessons and Carols originated at the Church of England’s Truro Cathedral in Cornwall in 1878, and since World War I has been famously presented (and broadcast) every December for the past century by King’s College, Cambridge, England, and Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The original service has since been adapted and used by other churches all over the world, not only in the Anglican and Episcopal traditions but in many other denominations as well.

The original liturgy consisted of nine scripture readings from Genesis and the Prophets. The current Episcopal liturgy in our Book of Occasional Services permits as many as nine readings, plus a Gospel.

These are the readings that St. Matthew’s Episcopal will use in Lessons and Carols on Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021.

Genesis 3:1-23
The happy time of Adam and Eve’s stay in the garden comes to an end in the ancestral origin story told in these verses: The serpent tempted them and they ate fruit that God forbade. When they heard God walking in the garden in the evening breeze, they realized that they were naked, and they hid, because they were afraid. When God found them, they blamed each other, and then they blamed the snake. Yes, God cast them out. But God came out with them, clothed them, and stayed with God’s people of free will and belief through the ages.

Isaiah 7: 10-15
Isaiah tells of God’s warning to David’s descendant, King Ahaz: His land will soon be conquered, but God will give the people a sign. A young woman will bear a child called Immanuel – “God With Us” – a child who will eventually show the world how to refuse evil and choose the good.

Luke 1: 5-25
In this passage we hear the back-story to Canticle 16, which we sang on the second Sunday of Advent: John the Baptist’s father-to-be, Zechariah, a priest of the Temple, refuses to believe an angel who came to tell him that his elderly wife, Elizabeth, had become pregnant after an angelic visitation. God struck him mute for his disbelief. He would remain unable to speak until eight days after the child’s birth, when Zechariah regained his voice to name the baby John.

Luke 2:1-20
We heard this familiar story of Jesus’s birth on Christmas Day. Now we hear again the unforgettable stories of Mary giving birth, wrapping the child in swaddling clothes and laying him in a manger in Bethlehem – the City of David – because there was no room in the inn. Here we have the beautiful scene of baby Jesus and his parents suddenly surrounded by shepherds and their flocks. Angels sing gloriously overhead while the Lord’s angel tells them that the baby is a Savior and the Messiah.

Hebrews 1:1-12
This poetic description of Jesus opens the letter to the Hebrews. Jesus, chosen as the son of God, is the perfect reflection of God’s glory, higher even than the angels. When Jesus was born, multitudes of angels appeared in the heavens to worship him. Because Jesus loved righteousness and hated wickedness, his throne is for ever and ever, and God speaks to us no longer through the prophets but through him.

John 1:1-18
“In the beginning … ” The first words of John’s Gospel exactly mirror the first words of Genesis: “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,” God’s Word, “Let there be light,” opened up creation. The Word of God that brought the world into being comes to us now as Jesus, the light through which we can see God. The Word was with God, and now lives among us.

Advent 3C

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 12, 2021

First Reading: Zephaniah 3:14-20

Our Lectionary readings for the Third Sunday of Advent shout out in joy and exultation as we light the pink candle on our Advent wreaths.

The Sermon of Saint John the Baptist

The Sermon of Saint John the Baptist (1566), oil painting on oak by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (c.1526/1530-1569). Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest . (Click image to enlarge.)

Our first reading is taken from the minor prophet Zephanaiah, who came before Isaiah and Jeremiah. Like the more well-known later prophets, Zephaniah foretold Jerusalem’s coming destruction and the people’s exile. These verses, though, anticipate a joyous time when God will restore Israel, rejoicing with its people in gladness and love. The prophet declares God’s favor for the oppressed, a theme of liberation that John the Baptist will echo in this week’s Gospel.

Psalm: Canticle 9 (Isaiah 12:2-6)

“Surely it is God who saves us. We will trust in God and not be afraid.” We often read this passage from the Prophet Isaiah in Morning Prayer. In these psalm-like verses, the prophet relates salvation with drawing water from a well, a striking image for people in desert lands. In biblical times, drought meant death and flowing water brought joy. Thank God with joy when we draw God’s precious, life-giving water from the springs of salvation, Isaiah tells us. Sing out your joy and praise, knowing that you are safe under God’s protection.

Second Reading: Philippians 4:4-7

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” In these brief verses, Paul tells the people of Philippi that they should rejoice, for the Lord is near. Pray and give thanks, he tells the people, and even in difficult times, “the peace of God, which passes all understanding” will fill their hearts and minds. In our world of stress and tension, what a blessing it is to enjoy a moment of peace. Imagine God’s peace, a peace so wonderful that we can’t even comprehend it!

Gospel: Luke 3:7-18

Picking up where last Sunday’s Gospel left off, the long-haired, ranting prophet yells at the crowds. He calls them “a brood of vipers,” and warns that God might chop them down and burn them up if they don’t repent. This does not sound like rejoicing! But John shouts an urgent message: Prepare the way for Jesus, the one to come whose sandals John is not worthy to untie. Prepare for the coming of Jesus: Share your clothing and your food with those who have none. Don’t cheat. Don’t be selfish! Jesus’ mother, Mary, also sang of filling up the hungry with good things; and Jesus himself will remind us, “When I was hungry, you gave me food …” This is Jesus’s way. We are called to make it our way …joyfully.

Would you like to browse through more of our Illuminations?
Click this link to browse more than two full three-year cycles of these weekly Lectionary reflections, online in our Illuminations archive.

Advent 2C

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 5, 2021

First Reading: Baruch 5:1-9

In the second week of Advent, we turn from apocalyptic expectations of fear and foreboding to a more hopeful theme: A Messenger is coming to make the way ready for the Messiah.

St John the Baptist

Detail from the Ghent Altarpiece: St John the Baptist (c.1425-1429l). Oil painting on panel by Jan van Eyck (c.1390-1441). Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium. (Click image to enlarge.)

In Sunday’s first reading from the prophet Baruch (one of the apocryphal books at the end of the Hebrew Bible) gives us his version of a more familiar Isaiah passage: He declares that Israel in exile will no longer need to mourn, for God will lower the mountains and fill up the valleys to make level ground upon which the people may walk safely home. In the Gospel, Luke will repeat the Isaiah verses in the voice of John the Baptist.

Or:

First Reading: Malachi 3:1-4

God’s Messenger is coming, and the people will delight in them, foretells the minor prophet Malachi, whose Hebrew name literally means “my messenger.” But it’s not going to be easy, Malachi warns the people. Because of their sins and their failure to walk in God’s way, the Messenger will have to cleanse the people with fire and strong soap, making them pure and pleasing to God. In words that Handel would make unforgettable in The Messiah two millennia later, the prophet sings, “Who can endure the day of his coming? He is like a refiner’s fire!”

Psalm: Canticle 16 (Luke 1: 68-79)

In place of a Psalm we sing a Canticle taken from Luke’s Gospel. These verses tell the story of John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, a priest of the Temple. When Zechariah had refused to believe that his elderly wife, Elizabeth, had really become pregnant after an angelic visitation, God struck him mute. But his voice returned when he held the infant and named him John. This child, Zechariah declares, in words that we often read in Morning Prayer, is to be a prophet like Abraham, the Messenger who will “go before the Lord to prepare his way.”

Second Reading: Philippians 1:3-11

In affectionate words reminiscent of his letter to the Thessalonians in last week’s second reading, Paul starts his letter to the people of Philippi in Macedonia, Greece, with greetings, love, thanks for their friendship and prayers for their well-being. Writing from a Roman prison, Paul remembers their eager acceptance of the Gospel. He prays for this little congregation’s continued spiritual growth and insight, and he prays that this will lead them to a harvest of righteousness and justice in God’s love through Christ.

Gospel: Luke 3:1-6

In Sunday’s Gospel, Luke introduces us to John the Baptist, who we had met in the Canticle/Psalm as an infant in the hands of his father, the Temple priest Zechariah. The reading begins with a detailed roster of Roman and Jewish leaders of the time, a practice that we also see in the introduction of Hebrew Bible prophets like Ezekiel, placing the prophet in a specific time and place. Luke tells us that John, traveling in the regions along the Jordan, proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Then Luke likens John’s prophecy to Isaiah’s call to “Prepare the way of the Lord … make his paths straight,” filling every valley and making every mountain and hill low so that all humanity may see God’s salvation.

Advent 1C

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 28, 2021

First Reading: Jeremiah 33:14-16

The wheel of the seasons has come around to Advent. A new liturgical year begins.

Triptych of the Last Judgement

Triptych of the Last Judgement (c.1486), oil painting on oak panel by Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450-1516). Groeningemuseum, Bruges, Belgium. (Click image to enlarge.)

While much of the world is already celebrating Christmas with carols, parties, and serious shopping, Advent invites us to move toward the celebration of the Incarnation in a quieter, more meditative way. Sunday’s readings look toward the fulfillment of God’s promise to humanity and our desire for forgiveness as we wait for the coming of the Messiah. Israel in exile understood the prophet Jeremiah’s words in our first reading to be a promise that the people would return safely to Jerusalem, protected by God’s righteous justice. Christians must honor that understanding, while also imagining in the prophet’s words an image of Jesus as our righteous king and savior.

Psalm: Psalm 25:1-9

Just as the Jeremiah reading calls for hope and trust in a time of pain, Sunday’s Psalm portion asks us to put our faith in God’s love. The psalmist, speaking in the imagined voice of King David, repeatedly calls for God’s compassion using the Hebrew word chesed. This, said to be Thomas Merton’s favorite biblical word, represents an emotion-laden idea that may also be translated as “faithfulness,” “kindness,” “mercy” or “grace.” Yes, it is reassuring to place our hope in God’s compassion, faithfulness, kindness, mercy, and grace when things look dark.

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

So many of Paul’s letters are directed to beloved communities from afar. He expresses hope to be reunited with them, and calls for God’s blessing on their lives. This short letter to the people of Thessalonika in Northern Greece is believed to be the earliest authentic letter from Paul. He prays that, with God’s help, they will love each other and love everyone! He prays that God will strengthen their hearts in holiness so they may be blameless before God at the coming of Jesus with all the saints.

Gospel: Luke 21:25-36

In this passage from Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is teaching the apostles after they have left the Temple, not long before they gather for the Last Supper and his passion begins. Jesus is giving the disciples dire warnings, in apocalyptic language, of hard times to come. The Temple will be destroyed and Jerusalem fallen to its foes, and people will faint with fear as even the heavens are shaken. These signs will signal that Jesus’s return and the world’s redemption are drawing near, and everyone should pray that they have the strength to escape all the things that will happen. Yes, Luke makes Jesus’s coming sound scary – when I was a little boy, these Advent readings used to scare the bejabbers out of me. That may be the Evangelist’s point: The people of God should live good lives and be ready, so Jesus’ coming won’t be a surprise.

Advent 4B

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 20, 2020

First Reading: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

As we reach the fourth and final Sunday of Advent and turn toward Christmas, our readings trace the Messianic line of King David that Christians follow down the ages to Jesus.

The Annunciation

The Annunciation (1597-1600), oil painting on canvas by El Greco (1541-1614). Prado Museum, Spain. (Click image to enlarge.)

In the first reading, King David, consolidating his earthly kingdom, was dissatisfied with the people’s custom of keeping the Ark of the Covenant in a mere tent. David wanted to build a great temple for God to live in. But God, speaking through the Prophet Nathan, dismisses this idea. God lives with the people. God’s home, David hears, is with the House of David, the dynasty of God’s people.

Psalm: Luke 1:46-55 (Canticle 15)

For the second Sunday in a row, the Magnificat, the surprisingly radical Song of Mary, is available as an alternative Psalm reading. As we hear in the Gospel for the week, the Angel Gabriel has told Mary that she will give birth to King David’s heir, the Messiah. In the verses of Luke following this Gospel, Mary goes to visit her relative, Elizabeth, who is pregnant with the child who will be John the Baptist. Elizabeth feels the infant John move with joy inside her when Mary arrives. Elizabeth declares Mary the blessed mother of God, full of grace. In response, Mary sings these starkly radical verses that foreshadow Jesus’ own teaching. She praises a God who scatters the proud, casts down the mighty, and sends the rich away hungry, while filling the hungry with good things.

Alternate to the Psalm: Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26

The Psalmist celebrates God’s covenant with David, a royal lineage that God established to last forever. Even through the devastation of war and the pain of exile, when Israel and Judah feared that God’s promise might have been revoked because the nation had broken its covenant by failing to be just and righteous, the Psalms sing of a new King David. This coming Messiah and King would rule the land forever, “from the great sea to the river,” from the shores of the Mediterranean to the Jordan.

Second Reading: Romans 16: 25-27

Throughout his powerful letter to the Romans, Paul has encouraged Rome’s Gentile and Jewish Christian communities to heal their differences and get along. Now, in a ringing doxology that concludes the epistle, he emphasizes that God’s covenant with the people, expressed through the prophets, is given for all humanity, all living forever in glory through Jesus Christ.

Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

On this Sunday before Christmas, we hear Luke tell the familiar story of the Angel Gabriel’s visit to a young Palestinian woman named Mary, betrothed to Joseph of the House of David. Through God’s Holy Spirit this young virgin will give birth to a son named Jesus, who will inherit King David’s throne and rule over an eternal kingdom. She responds to this amazing news with simple, trusting acceptance: “Let it be with me according to your word.” And then, in the following verses that we read in the first alternative for Sunday’s Psalm, she goes on to utter the poetic, prophetic words of the Magnificat, the Song of Mary.

Advent 3B

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 13, 2020

First Reading: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

The third Sunday of Advent is sometimes called Rose Sunday, when it’s traditional to light the pink candle on the Advent wreath. The more festive color marks light in the darkness as our Advent readings turn from the hope and fear of end times and Judgement Day. Now our thoughts move toward the Incarnation, the Messiah, the coming birth of Jesus on Christmas Day.

Madonna of the Magnificat

Madonna of the Magnificat (1483), tempera painting on panel by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), The Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

In the first reading, we hear the Prophet Isaiah speaking to the people returning home from exile in Babylon to a devastated Jerusalem. In words that share some of the coventantal themes that we also hear this week in the alternate to the Psalm, the Song of Mary, the prophet declares that God’s good news comes to the poor, the oppressed, captives and prisoners. This is the same passage that Luke’s Gospel says Jesus read in his first visit in the synagogue at Nazareth.

Psalm: Psalm 126

Just as Isaiah told the people in exile of God’s promise that justice and righteousness would be restored, here the Psalmist sings that God’s promise has been fulfilled. God has indeed restored the fortunes of the Temple on Mount Zion, the Psalmist exults. Every verse of this short Psalm contains a shout of laughter, joy, gladness, or praise. God has been good. God has turned the people’s tears into songs of joy; their weeping into a bountiful harvest.

Alternate to the Psalm: Luke 1:46-55 (Canticle 15)

In place of the Psalm assigned for this day we may sing the Magnificat, the beautiful Song of Mary. In this passage from the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel. Mary has just been told by an angel that she will bear the Messiah, and goes to visit her relative, Elizabeth. Elizabeth, pregnant with the child who will be John the Baptist, feels the infant move with joy inside her when Mary comes in. Elizabeth declares Mary the blessed mother of God, full of grace. In response, Mary sings these starkly radical verses that foreshadow Jesus’ own teaching. They are liberating verses that praise a God who scatters the proud, casts down the mighty, and sends the rich away hungry, while filling the hungry with good things.

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Closing his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul urges the people to be prepared in prayer and rejoicing for Christ’s return. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,” he urges the people, telling them to give thanks for all things, stay faithful and be filled with the Spirit. Hold fast to what is good and abstain from every kind of evil, he urges them, so they will be ready, “sound and blameless,” when Jesus Christ returns.

Gospel: John 1:6-8,19-28

This Sunday we hear the story of John the Baptist from the evangelist John. This version, in contrast with Mark’s account, makes no mention of the Baptist’s attire or his dietary preferences, but opens on a tense scene: The Temple authorities, worried about the noisy crowds surrounding him, want to know who John is. He is not the Messiah, nor a new prophet nor Elijah, John says. Rather, he says – quoting from the Isaiah verses that we heard last week – he is the voice of the one crying out in the wilderness, calling on the people to make straight the way of the Lord. He baptizes with water, John says, not for his own sake but to make way for the one who is coming after him, who is so much greater than John that John is unworthy to untie his sandals.

Advent 1B

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Nov. 29, 2020

First Reading: Isaiah 64:1-9

It is Advent now, the first season of the new church year, and our Gospel readings for the year turn from Matthew to Mark. Our Hebrew Bible readings this year will take us through an anthology of Israel’s ancestral legends and its earthly kings.

Profeta Isaia (Prophet Isaiah)

Profeta Isaia (Prophet Isaiah), 18th Century painting by Antonio Balestra (1666-1740). Castelvecchio Museum, Verona, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

Sunday’s readings sound a consistent Advent theme: God is coming. God may come quietly and quickly; God may come with fire and upheaval. We must be ready. In our first reading from Isaiah, the people are returning home to Jerusalem from exile at last. They must face up to harsh reality: This is not the city they knew, but a devastated landscape with a destroyed Temple and a remnant of defeated people. Oh, God, the prophet cries, come down! Show your might, restore your people. Make us new, and forgive our sins.

Psalm: Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

The Psalm, too, calls on God to hear the people’s prayers, set aside God’s anger, and restore Israel. The people have suffered. God’s punishment has forced them to endure their enemies’ derision and laughter. They have eaten and drunk their tears like bread and water. Please, God, the Psalmist pleads: Shine the light of your countenance upon us, save us, and we will never turn from you again.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Paul’s first letter to the people of Corinth, a busy Greek seaport city, is a deeply pastoral epistle that will address serious fractures in a small but passionate Christian community. Paul begins with no hint of conflict, addressing the people in the formal style of ancient Greek correspondence. He sets the scene by greeting the community with grace and peace. He reminds them that grace has come to them through Jesus and enriched them, filling them with spiritual gifts. Because of this, Paul assures them, they will be ready, strong and blameless when Christ returns.

Gospel: Mark 13:24-37

The Prophet Isaiah spoke of his hope for God to come and bring justice after the first destruction of Jerusalem. Now we hear a similar call from the evangelist Mark soon after the Romans have destroyed the city and the temple again. As Mark anticipates Jesus’ return in power and glory, it is no wonder that he uses apocalyptic language. Mark imagines Jesus speaking of the signs and portents that will accompany his return: In three quick images, Jesus warns of a tumultuous time; advises his followers to watch for signs of his return; and urges them to be on the watch. Be ready, be awake, be alert, he warns, for we do not know the time or the hour.

Advent 4A

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 22, 2019

First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-16

Christmas is drawing near, and we can all but feel the Incarnation – God becoming human in Jesus, the Messiah – in our readings for the fourth Sunday of Advent.

The Angel Visiting Joseph in a Dream

The Angel Visiting Joseph in a Dream (c.1628-1645). Oil painting by Georges du Mesnil de La Tour (1593-1652). Musee des Beaux-Arts, Nantes, France. (Click image to enlarge.)

In our first reading, we hear the prophet Isaiah describing the Messiah as a good king, a worthy successor to King David. The prophet warns David’s descendant, King Ahaz of Judah, that his land will soon be conquered; but a child named Immanuel – “God With Us” – will be born to a young woman, and the child will eventually bring good in place of evil.

Psalm: Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

This psalm of lament over Israel’s exile remembers the shame and disappointment of being conquered. It calls on God in a sorrowful voice, asking to be spared the divine anger that has left the people with “bowls of tears to drink” as their enemies laugh them to scorn. Send a man of God’s right hand, the strong son of man, the Psalmist begs, promising that the people will never again turn from God’s way if only God will save them.

Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7

Paul gets directly to the point as he opens his letter to the young church in Rome, a congregation that he has not yet met. He tells them that he is an apostle of Jesus, called to that ministry; that Jesus is the son of God, the descendant of David whom the prophets had foretold; and that through his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ is Lord, the Son of God. He comes to them in Jesus’ name, he assures his mostly Gentile audience: They, too, are God’s beloved. Only after offering these important assurances does he come back to a proper formal greeting: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25

In Sunday’s Gospel we come to the brink of Christmas, but there’s a bump in the road: Joseph has learned that his young fiancee is pregnant, but not with his child! We can easily imagine how a man in the culture of the ancient Near East might react to such news. But Joseph, a righteous man, decides to end the engagement quietly, without scandal or gossip. Before this can happen, though, an angel appears to Joseph and assures him that Mary is bearing God’s son. In words almost mirroring the Isaiah prophecy, the angel announces, “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel.” (The Hebrew word translated as “young woman” in Isaiah now reappears in the New Testament as “virgin” in Greek.)

Advent 3A

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Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 15, 2019

First Reading: Isaiah 35:1-10

When the Messiah comes, when the Kingdom draws near, those days of glory will be filled with righteousness and justice, joy and abundance, with healing and good news for the poor. This is the message that we hear in the readings for the third Sunday of Advent.

Madonna of the Magnificat

Madonna del Magnificat (Madonna of the Magnificat, 1483), tempera painting on panel by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510). Uffizi Gallery, Florence. (Click image to enlarge.)

This Sunday the readings shift focus from quiet expectation toward anticipatory joy, a change in pitch that many like to mark by wearing something pink to church. The first reading offers Isaiah’s vision of the people’s return to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon, a homeward journey when the desert itself shall rejoice and blossom with joy and singing.

Psalm: Psalm 146:4-9

In Psalm 146 we sing praise for God our creator – who made heaven, earth, the seas and all that is in them – by seeing the happiness of those who have received God’s assistance. The oppressed receive justice from God; God feeds the hungry, sets prisoners free, cares for strangers, orphans and widows, and gives sight to the blind. All this foreshadows the words that Mary will sing in the Magnificat (which is also available as an alternate Psalm on this Sunday); and we hear them echo again when Jesus describes God’s Kingdom on earth.

Alternate Psalm: Canticle 15 (Luke 1:46-55)

Tradition has come to show us Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a sweet, submissive figure. But the Magnificat, the Song of Mary from Luke’s Gospel, shows a very different Mary, a brave Palestinian teen-ager. Shouting out when she first feels the baby Jesus moving within her, she thanks God for this gift in a song about God’s righteousness and justice. In words that we will later hear again from Jesus, she sings that God has “scattered the proud … brought down the powerful … lifted up the lowly … filled the hungry with good things … and sent the rich away empty.”

Second Reading: James 5:7-10

“Be patient, therefore”? What an odd way to begin a reading! Turn back a page in your New Testament to see what led to this, and you’ll find James excoriating the rich, or more exactly, the selfish rich. “… you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. … You have laid up treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.” But we don’t hear that this Sunday; we begin with the next verses, in which James reminds us to must love each other and be generous with one another, lest we be judged.

Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12

As we move through Matthew’s Gospel in this new Lectionary year, we will hear frequent reminders that Jesus is Messiah, the lord and savior that the prophets foretold. Today we hear a conversation between Jesus and messengers from John the Baptist in prison, asking outright whether Jesus is the Messiah or if they must wait for another. In response Jesus sets out his priorities, which echo Isaiah’s prophecies and his mother’s song: “… the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.”