Contemplating today's Gospel
Today's Gospel + homily (in 300 words)
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play by the cobra's den, and the child lay his hand on the adder's lair. There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea. On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious.
Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more. May he rule from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
He shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save.
May his name be blessed forever; as long as the sun his name shall remain. In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed; all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.
Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”
“I give you praise, Father”
Fr. Jean GOTTIGNY (Bruxelles, Belgium)Today, we are reading an excerpt from chapter 10 of the Gospel according to Saint Luke. The Lord has sent seventy-two disciples to the places He intended to visit. And they return jubilant. Hearing them recount their deeds and feats, Jesus “rejoiced in the holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth’' (Lk 10:21).
Gratitude is one of the facets of humility. The arrogant person considers that they owe nothing to anyone. But to be grateful, we need first to discover our insignificance. 'Thank you' is one of the first words we teach children. “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike” (Lk 10:21).
Pope Benedict XVI, speaking of the attitude of worship, states that it presupposes an “acknowledgement of the presence of God, Creator and Lord of the Universe. This recognition is full of gratitude that wells up from the depths of their heart and floods their entire being, for it is only by adoring and loving God above all things.”
A sensitive soul feels the need to express its gratitude. This is the only thing we humans can do to respond to divine favors. “What joy should it not bring to the lowly hearts of men? Beloved, let us give thanks to God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit, because in his great love for us he took pity on us, and when we were dead in our sins he brought us to life with Christ, so that in him we might be a new creation.” (Saint Leo the Great).
Thoughts on Today's Gospel
“For what idea could the human person have of God before, except maybe that of an idol which his own heart had made? Once God was incomprehensible. But now He wanted us to be able to understand him. How was this done? By lying in a manger. When I think on this, I am thinking of God.” (Saint Bernard)
“Jesus exalted in the joy of the Holy Spirit and praised the Father. This the interior life of Jesus: his relationship with the Father in the Spirit. Jesus is the closeness and the tenderness of the Father to us.” (Francis)
“The dual dimension of the Christian liturgy is evident. On the one hand, the Church, united with her Lord and ‘in the Holy Spirit’ (Lk 10:21), blesses the Father ‘for his inexpressible gift’ (2 Cor 9:15) in her adoration, praise, and thanksgiving. On the other hand... the Church never ceases to present to the Father the ‘offering of his own gifts’ and to beg him to send the Holy Spirit upon that offering, upon herself, upon the faithful, and upon the whole world, so that... these divine blessings will bring forth the fruits of life.” (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, Nº 1083)
Other comments
“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see”
Fr. Joaquim MESEGUER García (Rubí, Barcelona, Spain)Today, and always, we Christians are all invited to share Jesus' joy. He, filled with the holy Spirit, said: “Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike” (Mt 11:25). Very rightly, this fragment of the Gospel has been called the “Magnificat of Jesus” by some authors, as the underlying idea is the same as in Mary's Canticle (cf. Lc 1:46-55).
Joy is an attitude, which goes together with hope. It has to be difficult for a person who has no hope, to be happy. And, what is it that we Christians put our hope in? The coming of the Messiah and of his Kingdom, in which justice and peace will bloom; a new reality where “Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; The calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.” (Is 11:6). The kingdom we are waiting for is making its way day by day, and we have to know how to discover its presence amongst us. For the world we live in, so lacking in peace and harmony, in justice and love, how necessary the hope of us Christians is! A hope that does not come from natural optimism nor false illusion, but from God himself.
However, Christian hope, which is light and heat for the world, will only be had by those who are simple and humble of heart, because God has hidden knowledge and the mystery of his kingdom's love from the wise and expert, that is to say, from the ones who are blinded by pride in their erudition.
A good way to prepare the paths of the Lord in this Advent would precisely be to grow in humility and in simplicity, to open our hearts to the gifts of God, to live with hope and become better witnesses of Jesus' kingdom every day.
