December 2, 2025
Tuesday of the First Week of
Advent
Lectionary: 176
Reading
1
On that day,
A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:
a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A Spirit of counsel and of strength,
a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.
Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide aright for the land's afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.
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.
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (see 7) Justice
shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
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.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
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.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
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.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Behold, our Lord shall come with power;
he will enlighten the eyes of his servants.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus rejoiced in
the Holy Spirit and said,
"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.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."
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."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120225.cfm
Commentary on Isaiah
11:1-10
We have today a messianic poem describing the principal
features of the coming Messiah:
- He
is of Davidic stock;
- He
will be filled with the spirit of the prophets who went before him;
- He
will establish a society reflecting the peace and harmony of God himself.
The reading is a beautiful portrait of Jesus, although that
was not in the mind of the prophet when this was written. It is a description
of a future kingdom of peace. There is some dispute as to the author and the
time of its writing. The emphasis on the gifts of the Spirit seems to point to
a later period.
It begins:
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
Jesse was the father of David, and Jesus, of course, came
through the Davidic line. The line is described as “the stump”, meaning
root-stock, rather than a tree because, after the Babylonian exile, very little
of the Davidic dynasty remained. But it is enough to produce the shoot that
will be Jesus, the messianic King.
He is endowed with the beautiful gifts of the Spirit—the
Spirit of God is seen operative throughout biblical history. It is first seen
hovering over the abyss at the beginning of creation. It will inspire the
Judges, give Joseph his wisdom, and guide the true prophets (the false prophets
follow their own spirit). Later, that same Spirit will come down on Jesus as he
is baptised by John the Baptist in the Jordan. It is the same Spirit which we
wish to guide our own lives.
The Spirit’s gifts are listed in three pairs. Only six of
the usual seven are mentioned here; the seventh, the ‘spirit of piety’, is
added by the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament, which early
Christian writers often used. The New Jerusalem Bible says:
“The prophetic spirit confers on the Messiah the outstanding
virtues of his great ancestors: the wisdom and insight of Solomon, the heroism
and prudence of David, the knowledge and fear of God characteristic of
patriarch and prophet—of Moses, Jacob and Abraham.”
Endowed with these gifts, the coming Messiah will manifest
deep insight that goes beyond just what the senses perceive:
He shall not judge by what his eyes see
or decide by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor
and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth…
This will result in justice for the poor and the weak, but death
for the wicked.
This combination of spiritual giftedness and deep
sensitivity for those in greatest need brings about an environment of peace,
symbolised by normally hostile animals lying down together in harmony. The sign
that true justice prevails is the presence of enduring peace and harmony.
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Commentary on Luke
10:21-24
As Christmas and all it means approaches, the Gospel reminds
us of the tremendous privilege that has come to us through our knowing Jesus
Christ:
Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell
you that 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.
These words were spoken by Jesus just after seventy-two of
his disciples had returned from their mission of proclaiming the Kingdom and
doing the same work as he was doing. They echo words he had spoken to them
earlier:
To you it has been given to know the secrets of the
kingdom of God, but to others I speak in parables, so that
‘looking they may not perceive and
hearing they may not understand.’ (Luke 8:10)
These words imply, not that only the disciples are offered
insight and understanding, but rather that the disciples are, by definition,
those who open themselves to hear and to see and to understand the message.
So for us, today is a day of special thanksgiving for being
so blessed. But with privilege comes responsibility. It is for us to see more
clearly who Jesus really is, and to have a deeper understanding of his vision
and of his ways. It is for us to listen ever more acutely to the Word of God so
that it really penetrates our consciousness and is absorbed into our very
being.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/a1013g/
Tuesday,
December 2, 2025
1st Week of
Advent
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
You never give up on people. Again
and again You want to make a new beginning with us.
You showed us in Jesus Your Son
the kind of people You want us to be. As your Spirit rested on Him, pour out on
us the same Spirit that we may see our mission in life with Your wisdom and
insight and that we may have the strength to live as we believe and hope. Grant
us this through Christ our Lord.
Gospel Reading - Luke 10: 21-24
Just at this time, filled with
the joy of the Holy Spirit, He said, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and
of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing
them to little children. Yes, Father, for that is what it has pleased You to
do. Everything has been entrusted to Me by My Father; and no one knows who the
Son is except the Father, and who the
Father is except the Son and those to
whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.' Then turning to His disciples, He spoke to
them by themselves, 'Blessed are the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you
that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see and never saw it; to
hear what you hear and never heard it.'
Reflection
Today’s text reveals the depth
of the heart of Jesus and the reason for His joy.
The disciples had gone on a
mission, and when they return, they share with Jesus the joy of their
experience (Lk 10: 17: 21)
•
Jesus’ joy comes from seeing the joy of His
friends. Listening to their experience, Jesus feels profound joy.
•
It is not a superficial joy. It comes from the
Holy Spirit. The disciples have shared in Jesus’ mission during their own
missionary experience.
•
Jesus calls them “little children.” Who are the
“little children? They are the seventy-two disciples (Lk 10: 1) who return from
the mission. They are not doctors. They are simple people without education,
but they understand the things of God better than the doctors.
•
“Yes, Father, for that is what it has pleased
You to do!” This is a very serious phrase. It pleases the Father that the
little ones understand them. Therefore, if the great of the world want to
understand the things of the Kingdom, they should become the disciples of the
little ones!
•
Jesus looks at them and says, “blessed are you!”
And why are they happy? Because they are seeing things which the prophets would
have liked to see but did not see. And what will they see? They see the Kingdom
in the common things of life such as curing the sick, consoling the afflicted,
and expelling evil.
Personal Questions
•
If I take the place of the people: Do I consider
myself as belonging to the little ones or the doctors?
•
If I take the place of Jesus: What is the basis
of my joy, superficial or profound?
•
Does being a “little one” versus a doctor imply
ignorance is good, or does it question where we place our trust - in our
knowledge or in God?
•
Do I pray to God as a father with spontaneous
prayer as Jesus did here, or is my prayer formal and rigid?
Concluding Prayer
“I give You praise, Father, for
although You have hidden these things from the wise You have revealed them to
the childlike." (cf. Lc 10: 21)
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