December 1, 2025
Monday of the First Week of
Advent
Lectionary: 175
Reading
1
On that day,
The branch of the LORD will be luster and glory,
and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor
for the survivors of Israel.
He who remains in Zion
and he who is left in Jerusalem
Will be called holy:
every one marked down for life in Jerusalem.
When the LORD washes away
the filth of the daughters of Zion,
And purges Jerusalem's blood from her midst
with a blast of searing judgment,
Then will the LORD create,
over the whole site of Mount Zion
and over her place of assembly,
A smoking cloud by day
and a light of flaming fire by night.
For over all, the LORD's glory will be shelter and protection:
shade from the parching heat of day,
refuge and cover from storm and rain.
Responsorial
Psalm
Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4b, 4cd-5,
6-7, 8-9
R. Let us
go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
"We will go up to the house of the LORD."
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
May those who love you prosper!
May peace be within your walls,
prosperity in your buildings.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Because of my relatives and friends
I will say, "Peace be within you!"
Because of the house of the LORD, our God,
I will pray for your good.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Come and save us, LORD our God;
Let your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
When Jesus entered
Capernaum,
a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,
"Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully."
He said to him, "I will come and cure him."
The centurion said in reply,
"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes;
and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes;
and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
"Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,
and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120125.cfm
Commentary on Isaiah
2:1-5 (Years B and C) and Isaiah 4:2-6 (Year A)
Now that we are entering the season of Advent, we are making
our preparations to welcome the coming of the Son of God among us as one of us.
The Child, born in such obscure surroundings, will become the Light of the
Nations.
Our First Reading is taken from the early part of the Book
of the Prophet Isaiah, as will be the case for much of the Advent season.
Depending on the Church Year (A, B or C), the verses will come from one of two
sections in Isaiah. This commentary reflects on the verses starting with Isaiah
2:1. It begins with the lovely prophecy:
In days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains
and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.
Many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
In the ancient Near East, temples were seen as the places
where gods lived. Frequently too, temples were built on the tops of mountains.
Isaiah is primarily thinking of the Temple in Jerusalem to which he sees
peoples from all over coming to pay homage to the one true God. For us, of
course, at this season we are thinking of the Temple of the New Covenant, which
is the Incarnate Word of God.
Eventually, he will be raised up in glory and, in a very
different sense, will be:
…highest of the mountains
and shall be raised above the hills.
And his is a Temple to which over the centuries “all the
nations shall stream to it”. Who would ever have thought, in those early days
of Christianity, that the fellowship would one day number more than two billion
people? Such a number was not in any vocabulary in those days!
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
In this context, Mount Zion and Jerusalem are one and the
same.
After the disciples of Jesus were filled with his Spirit,
following the resurrection and glorification of Jesus, the word of the Lord did
begin to go out from Jerusalem until it spread to every corner of the world.
Jerusalem is no longer the centre, because wherever there are Christian
communities, there is the Temple, the very presence of the Risen Christ. And
the message that is going out is the message of love and peace. It is a message
that has been heard by many, but needs to be heard a lot more.
He shall judge between the nations
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation.
Indeed there are nations which have gone a long way to being
havens of peace and justice and which have reduced their weapons to a minimum.
Unfortunately, there are still many who think that only by violence can
problems be solved, and the arms industry still thrives.
As Christians we have a lot of work to do to bring the
spirit of Christ and the gospel into our world. To do that effectively we need
to hear and respond to the invitation with which our reading closes:
O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord!
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Commentary on
Matthew 8:5-11
The Gospel describes the story of the centurion who came to
Jesus, asking that his servant be healed. When presented with the unexpected
level of faith this gentile soldier had:
Jesus…was amazed and said to those who followed him,
“Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you,
many will come from east and west and will take their places at the banquet
with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven…”
The Kingdom which Jesus comes to proclaim is for all peoples
everywhere. It is the central message of Christmas. This is not just a time for
celebration and for parties. The birth of the Prince of Peace in the poverty of
the stable is a challenge to us to carry on his work among God’s children
everywhere.
Jesus has not failed. It is we who have done so little to
carry on what he began. Advent is a time for us to reflect on the real meaning
of God’s coming to live and work among us, and on the responsibility of his
followers to carry on the work of making the Kingdom a reality for all.
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Monday,
December 1, 2025
1st Week of Advent
Opening Prayer
Lord God, Father of all, in Your Son Jesus Christ
you invite everyone and all to
know and love You and to live in Your unending peace.
Keep alive in us the zeal to bring the
light of Your truth and the riches of Your life and love to all, without any
distinction of race, language or culture. May everyone on earth come to know
You as the merciful Father of all through our brother and Savior, Jesus Christ
our Lord.
Gospel Reading - Matthew 8: 5-11
When He went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded
with Him. “Sir,” he
said, “my servant is lying at home paralyzed and in great pain.” Jesus said to
him, “I will come myself and cure him.”
The centurion replied, “Sir, I am not worthy to have You under my
roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. For I am under
authority myself and have
soldiers under me; and I say to one man, ‘Go,’ and he goes; to another, ‘Come
here,’ and he comes; to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When
Jesus heard this, He was astonished and said to those following Him, “In truth I tell
you, in no one in Israel have I found faith as great as this. And I tell you
that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of Heaven."
Reflection
Today’s Gospel is a mirror. It reminds us of the words we say
during the Mass at the moment of communion: “Lord, I am not worthy that You should
enter my house, only say
the word and I will be healed.” Looking at this text more closely it
suggests the following:
•
The person who seeks Jesus is a pagan, a
gentile, a soldier of the Roman army, which dominated and exploited the people.
It is not merely religion or the desire for God, but rather the need and the
suffering which impels him first to seek Jesus, followed by a faith that Jesus
could heal. Jesus has no prejudices. He does not demand anything first, He
accepts and listens to the request of the Roman centurion.
•
Jesus’ answer surprises the centurion because it is beyond his
expectation. The centurion did not expect that Jesus would go to his house. He
feels unworthy: “I
am not worthy.” This
means that he considered Jesus a highly superior person.
•
The centurion expresses his faith in Jesus
saying “say the word and
my servant will be cured.” He believes that the word of Jesus is capable of healing.
From where does he get this great faith? It comes from his professional
experience as a centurion! Because when a centurion gives an order, the soldier
obeys. He has to obey. Thus, he believes it is enough for Jesus to say one
word, and things will happen according to His word. He believes the word of
Jesus has authoritative force.
•
Jesus praises the faith of the centurion. Faith
does not consist in just accepting and repeating doctrine, but in believing and
acting on the word of Jesus.
Personal Questions
•
Placing myself in the place of Jesus: how do I
accept and help people of other religions?
•
Placing myself in the place of the centurion:
what personal experience leads me to believe in Jesus?
Concluding Prayer
Come near to me with Your saving power, let me share the
happiness of Your chosen ones, let me share the joy of Your people. (Ps 106)
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