December 11, 2025
Thursday of the Second Week
of Advent
Lectionary: 184
Reading
I
I am the LORD,
your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I will help you.”
Fear not, O worm Jacob,
O maggot Israel;
I will help you, says the LORD;
your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, and double-edged,
To thresh the mountains and crush them,
to make the hills like chaff.
When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off
and the storm shall scatter them.
But you shall rejoice in the LORD,
and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The afflicted and
the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the desert into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
I will plant in the desert the cedar,
acacia, myrtle, and olive;
I will set in the wasteland the cypress,
together with the plane tree and the pine,
That all may see and know,
observe and understand,
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Responsorial
Psalm
Psalm 145:1 and 9, 10-11,
12-13ab
R.
(8) The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of
great kindness.
I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and
of great kindness.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and
of great kindness.
Let them make known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and
of great kindness.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Let the clouds rain down the Just One,
and the earth bring forth a Savior.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to the
crowds:
“Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force.
All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John.
And if you are willing to accept it,
he is Elijah, the one who is to come.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121125.cfm
Commentary on Isaiah
41:13-20
Again today, we continue reading from ‘The Book of
Consolation’. The Jews are coming to the end of their period of exile in
Babylon, and today we have a message of encouragement. God is coming to help—to
redeem his people. For us during Advent, the message points clearly to Jesus,
our Redeemer and Saviour. The theme of today’s reading is that God will protect
Israel against its enemies and meet its needs in the desert wilderness. Israel’s
enemies will vanish, the empire of Babylon will be no more, but God’s people
will continue under his loving protection.
Do not fear, you worm Jacob,
you maggot Israel!
Israel seems so insignificant when seen in comparison with
its powerful conquerors. But it is a deceptive weakness, as there is a Strength
on their side.
The prophet tells the people that God, “the Holy One of
Israel” is their “Redeemer”. The word in Hebrew originally refers to the
nearest male relative who will avenge the blood of someone who has been
murdered. He is also the one who pays off a debt, and frees the debtor from
prison; his duty is to protect the defenceless.
Leviticus (25:47-55) also speaks of a situation where a
person has to sell himself to a foreigner. He can be ‘redeemed’, that is,
bought back by a brother or uncle or cousin or any other relative (note that
the word ‘redeemer’ comes from the Latin redemptor, meaning
‘someone who buys back’).
‘Redeemer’ then comes to refer to God as one who protects
the oppressed and who liberates his people. The word is used frequently in this
sense in Second Isaiah. The word then was applied to Jesus, who is the Redeemer
and Liberator of us all.
Far from being weak, God tells his people:
I will make of you a threshing sledge…
Just as the emperor Cyrus reduced his enemies (including the
Babylonians) to dust (Isa 41:2), so too Israel will deal with its enemies:
…you shall thresh the mountains [i.e. their
powerful enemies] and crush them…
For the Israelites, good times are coming as they leave
their place of exile and return to their homeland. This is symbolised in the
provision of an abundance of water—the formation of rivers and lakes. It is
reminiscent of Moses, who produced water from the rock for Israelites during
the Exodus. The desert is thus transformed by all kinds of magnificent trees.
Some of these trees are named later in connection with the adornment of God’s
sanctuary. Acacia wood was used for the tabernacle. In Isaiah chapter 55, we
are told that pine and myrtle replace thorns and briers.
In fact, King Cyrus, who crushed the Babylonians and allowed
the Jews to return to their homeland, is seen as an instrument doing God’s
work. Through all these manifestations, the writer foresees the coming of the
Messianic age:
…so that all may see and know,
all may consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Commenting on this text, the Christian Community
Bible rightly describes that the Israelites, depressed by their exile
experience, are being reminded to stop looking back at the ‘good old days’ or
their glorious past and to look forward to a promising future:
“For centuries the Jews had looked upon their past, always
expanding the memory of the wonders worked by God in their departure from
Egypt. Now, they must look to the future. This time, a new departure is being
prepared from Babylon, and it will be accompanied by wonders greater than those
of the first Exodus.”
We, too, as we prepare to celebrate Christmas, need to
remember that our celebration is not just a nostalgic look at the past, but a
renewal of hope and energy in working for the building of the Kingdom in the
year ahead.
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Commentary on
Matthew 11:11-15
Jesus today has high words of praise for John the Baptist.
John had a unique role which sets him apart from all others. He was the one to
announce the long-awaited arrival of the Messiah. John is the last in the line
of the great Old Testament prophets, men who spoke in God’s name pointing the
way for God’s people, sometimes denouncing their behaviour and at other times
pointing to a great destiny ahead. John is an Old Testament figure, but he
forms a kind of bridge between the Old and the New. He died—in fact, was
executed—before the mission of Jesus was completed. The New Testament or
Covenant was sealed with Jesus’ blood on the cross. John never saw that; he
never was fully a disciple of Jesus.
And so, Jesus says, even the very least in the Kingdom of
God, inaugurated by Jesus, is in a more privileged position than John. At the
time of his death, John was not able to share in the abundance of life that was
released through the death and resurrection of Jesus as every believing
Christian can do.
At this point, there are some strange words:
From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom
of heaven has suffered violence, and violent people take it by force.
The meaning is not immediately clear, but it seems to refer
to those who are using violence to prevent people from entering the Kingdom,
and pulling away those who have already entered.
In the context of Matthew’s Gospel, this could apply to
those Jews and others who were bitterly opposed to Jesus and his message, and
who either tried to prevent people from entering the Christian community, or
tried to make those who were already members, defect. This, we know from the
letters of Paul, was happening in many communities. And it is still happening
today, sometimes with violence (e.g. persecution) and sometimes in much more
subtle ways (suggesting it is not ‘cool’ to be Christian).
John, too, is described as “Elijah who is to come”. We know
that the prophet Elijah did not die a natural death. He was carried off to
heaven in a chariot. However, it was a Jewish belief that some day he would
return to leave this earth in a normal way and join the dead in Sheol. But the
important point was that his return would be the immediate prelude to the
arrival of the Messiah. In calling John ‘Elijah’, Jesus is clearly pointing to
himself as the Messiah. And so Jesus says:
Let anyone with ears listen!
Those with real insight will know what Jesus is saying. They
will listen carefully to his words and recognise Jesus for who he really is,
and accept him as Lord.
We might conclude by reflecting that the role of John the
Baptist is one that each follower of Christ is called to fill. It is up to us
to prepare the way for Christ and his vision of the Kingdom to enter the lives
of people. In the words of the Benedictus, a hymn said every day in
the Church’s Morning Prayer:
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most
High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways…
(Luke 2:76)
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/a1025g/
Thursday, December 11,
2025
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
You do not abandon those who rely on
You. Take us by the hand when we are afraid, help us when we call out to You,
for we experience that we are powerless to establish Your kingdom of justice
and love.
Send Your Son again among us today to be our Lord and Savior
now and forever.
Gospel Reading - Matthew 11: 11-15
“In truth I tell you, of all the
children born to women, there has never been anyone greater than John the
Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. Since John
the Baptist came, up to the present time, the kingdom of Heaven has been
subjected to violence and the violent are taking it by storm.
Because it was towards John that all the prophecies of the
prophets and of the
Law were leading; and he, if you will believe Me, is the
Elijah who was to return. Anyone who has ears should listen!”
Reflection
In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives an
opinion on John the Baptist. Compared to the persons of the Old Testament,
there is no one greater than John. John is the greatest of all: greater than
Jeremiah, greater than Abraham, greater than Isaiah! But, compared to the New
Testament, John is inferior to all. The smallest in the Kingdom is greater than
John! How can we understand this apparently contradictory qualification that
Jesus makes about John?
•
A short time before, John had sent messengers to
ask Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?”
(Mt 11: 3). John seemed to have some doubt concerning Jesus. Jesus, in fact,
did not correspond to the idea that he, John, had of the Messiah: a severe
judge who had to come to carry out the judgment of condemnation and anger (Mt
3: 7). He was to cut the trees from their roots (Mt 3: 10), clear the threshing
floor and throw the dry sticks into the fire (Mt 3: 12). But Jesus, instead of
being a severe judge, is the friend of all, “meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:
29), who receives the sinners and eats with them (Mt 2: 16).
•
Jesus responds to John by quoting the prophet
Isaiah: “Go back and tell John what you hear and see; the blind see again, the
lame walk, those suffering from diseases are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are
raised to life and the good news is proclaimed to the poor, and blessed is
anyone who does not find me a cause of stumbling!” (Mt 11: 5-6, cf. Is 33: 5-6,
29: 18). A hard response ... Jesus asks John to analyze the scripture better in
order to change the erroneous vision he had of the Messiah.
•
John was great! The greatest of all! And the
smallest in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than John. John is the greatest
because he was the last echo of the Old Testament. It was John who, because of
his fidelity, was finally able to indicate the Messiah to the people: “Behold,
here is the Lamb of God!” (Jn
1: 36), and the long history that
began with Abraham gains its meaning. But John was not capable by himself of
understanding the importance of the kingdom of God in Jesus. He had a doubt:
“Are You the one whois to come, or are
we to expect someone else?” The ancient history alone does not communicate
sufficient light to understand all of the Good News of God which Jesus brings
to us. The new was hidden in the old. Saint Augustine said: “Novum in Vetere latet, Vetus in Novo patet,”
which means: “The New is hidden in the Old, but the Old reveals its full meaning
in the New.” The one who is with Jesus and lives with Him receives from Him a
light which helps to discover a more profound meaning in the Old. And what is
this meaning?
•
Jesus offers a key: “The Law and all the
prophets have prophesized up to John, and if you would accept it, he is the
Elijah who has to come. He who has ears, let him hear!” Jesus does not explain,
but says: “He who has ears, let him hear.” Elijah had to come to prepare for
the coming of the Messiah and to reconstruct the community, “To reconcile
parents to their children and children to their parents” (Mal 3: 24). John
announced the Messiah and sought to reconstruct the community (Lk 1: 17). But
the most profound mystery escaped him, that of the life of the community. Only
Jesus communicated it, announcing that God is Father and therefore, we are all
brothers and sisters. This announcement makes us capable of overcoming
differences and creating community.
•
These are the violent who succeed in conquering
the kingdom. The kingdom is not a doctrine, but a new way of living like
brothers and sisters, beginning with the announcement that Jesus makes: God is
Father of all.
Personal Questions
•
The kingdom belongs to those who, like Jesus,
have the courage to create community. Do you also have this courage?
•
Jesus helped John to better understand the facts
by means of the bible. Does the bible help me to better understand the events
of my life?
Concluding Prayer
I will extol You, O my God and King, and I will bless Your
name forever and ever.
The Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all His
works. (Ps 145)
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