Monday of the Second Week of Advent
December 11, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121123.cfm

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Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, Isaiah speaks to a weary and forlorn people, a people captive in the desolate land of their conquers. He tells them that the brown dust of their lives will blossom like a magical garden. He tells the wobbly, weakened masses that they will be rejuvenated beyond their wildest dreams:

Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
With divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
Then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.

Isaiah 35:3-6

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In our Gospel, Jesus tells the crowd the same thing.

In that crowd, there is a dynamic mix of believers and unbelievers. On the one hand, we have the spiritually stodgy Pharisees who like rules better than miracles. On the other hand, we have these outrageously hopeful young men who are willing to blow the roof off to place their friend under Jesus’s miraculous gaze.

Then the scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves,
“Who is this who speaks blasphemies?
Who but God alone can forgive sins?”
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them in reply,
“What are you thinking in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”–
he said to the one who was paralyzed,
“I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”

He stood up immediately before them,
picked up what he had been lying on,
and went home, glorifying God.

Luke 5:21-25

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Wouldn’t you just love to have been a fly on the wall when that paralyzed kid got up and skipped home! The stunned expressions on the pharisaical faces! The grateful oohs and aahs of those who wanted to believe! The profound awe of his disciples as they realize more deeply who it is that they have come to love!

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Throughout the centuries, those with a deep and sincere desire to believe have seen incredible things. The eyes of faith have allowed them to see beyond the dusty surface of appearances.. For those who refuse to believe, even the miracles right in front of them are invisible.

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I think that seeing the miracles in our lives is a little bit like seeing a meteor shower. First of all, we have to go outside. We have to look UP! We have to keep our eyes open. And we have to wait.

All moments, maybe especially the dark ones, hold a heavenly cascade of grace. During this holy time, as we await the Infinite Miracle of Love, let’s focus our hearts on watching, waiting, and celebrating these incredible yet daily graces:

• that we have been given the gift of life
• that our minds and hearts have the insight to seek God in prayer
• that we are capable of giving and receiving love
• that we can hope and heal
• that we have been touched and changed by Mercy
• that we are infinitely loved by God

Each one of our lists goes on and on. Pray yours today with the scriptural encouragement of Jesus and Isaiah!

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Poetry: The Lord Will Come and not be Slow – John Milton

The Lord will come and not be slow,
his footsteps cannot err;
before him righteousness shall go,
his royal harbinger.

Truth from the earth, like to a flower,
shall bud and blossom then;
and justice, from her heavenly bower,
look down on mortal men.

Surely to such as do him fear
salvation is at hand!
And glory shall ere long appear
to dwell within our land.

Rise, God, judge thou the earth in might,
this wicked earth redress;
for thou art he who shalt by right
the nations all possess.

The nations all whom thou hast made
shall come, and all shall frame
to bow them low before thee, Lord,
and glorify thy Name.

For great thou art, and wonders great
by thy strong hand are done:
thou in thy everlasting seat
remainest God alone.

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Music: Miracles – Kari Jobe