Commentary

December 11, 2022

INTRODUCTIONHOMILIESPAPAL HOMILIESCOMMENTARYECUMENICAL RESOURCESVIDEO ARCHIVEHOMILY STARTERSFAITH SHARINGCHILDRENMUSIC

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WORD SUNDAY

courtesy of Larry Broding

GOSPEL

MT 11:5 “the poor are being told the Good News.” is literally “the poor are evangelized.” Notice the activities in 11:5 are listed in the reverse order of importance. The wonders performed only add to the legitimacy of Jesus’ primary function: to preach the Good News.

MT 11:6 This verse is a beatitude. The Greek word “makarios” can mean “happy, blessed or fortunate.” Jesus assumed the only people not scandalized were believers. He did not refer to the apathetic or disinterested.

MT 11:8 “in the houses of kings” The “houses” could either refer to the royal court (building) or the king’s clan (family). The former is preferred.

MT 11:10 This verse which combined Malachi 3:1 and Exodus 23:20 compared the prophet to the traveling crier. A royal crier would precede the king in areas to be visited. The local people would prepare for the king’s arrival with public work projects (fresh paint, cleaned roads, etc.). Of course, Jesus referred the spiritual preparations John made.

MT 11:11 “greater” means “important.” Here Jesus is again comparing people of “this generation” to those of the Kingdom. The difference is so great that even a looming figure like John the Baptist would be stand small in the Kingdom. Jesus wasn’t belittling John. He was emphasizing the great and different nature of God’s reign. What did John expect? From last week’s study, we know that John foresaw someone who would carry on his ministry at a higher level. The One greater than John would fulfill John’s prophecies; he would be the instrument of God’s judgment and usher in God’s Kingdom. In prison, however, John did not see continuity of his ministry; his prophecies were not fulfilled (to his satisfaction) and the end did not come. Was Jesus of Nazareth the answer to his prayers? [MT 11:2-3]

Used with Permission

ST. PAUL CENTER FOR BIBLICAL THEOLOGY

3rd Sunday of Advent (A)

DR. SCOTT HAHN

John questions Jesus from prison in today’s Gospel—for his disciples’ sake and for ours. He knows that Jesus is doing “the works of the Messiah,” foretold in today’s First Reading and Psalm. But John wants his disciples—and us—to know that the Judge is at the gate, that in Jesus our God has come to save us.

The Liturgy of Advent takes us out into the desert to see and hear the marvelous works and words of God—the lame leaping like a stag, the dead raised, the good news preached to the poor (see Isaiah 29:18–20; 61:1–2).

SOURCE: Sunday Bible Reflections

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AGAPE BIBLE STUDY

3rd Sunday of Advent (A)

MICHAL E. HUNT

INTRODUCTION

Our Joyful Hope

The three Christian virtues are faith, hope, and love. A person who lives without faith or hope becomes a victim of despair, and the person who lives without love endures an empty life. However, Christians who practice these virtues place their trust in God, knowing that no matter how difficult their earthly struggles that God provides the hope of an eternal future full of joy and infinite love.

SOURCE: Agape Bible Study – Michal Elizabeth Hunt (Used with permission)

FIRST READING COMMENTARY

The Promise of a Future Restoration

In our First Reading, God promises to restore His covenant people after their years of exile and return them to worship in the Promised Land. Christians apply this passage to Jesus, God’s Anointed One (Messiah), who came to liberate people from their exile in sin by declaring the coming of His Kingdom in the new Zion of the New Covenant Universal Church. Jesus came to save us by ransoming all who believe in Him from the bondage of sin and death and to guide us to the Promised Land of Heaven. The worship we experience in the sacrifice of the Mass is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet promised to us in the heavenly Zion where the redeemed will experience “everlasting joy.” The festive lights we hang at Christmas time are meant to remind us of the “Light of the World,” Jesus Christ, the source of our promised eternal joy.

SOURCE: Agape Bible Study – Michal Elizabeth Hunt (Used with permission)

RESPONSORIAL PSALM COMMENTARY

Praise God who Keeps Faith Forever

In the Responsorial Psalm, the psalmist praises God, who is merciful to the needy, gives justice to the oppressed, and is forever faithful to His promises. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, fulfilled the seven works of God listed in this psalm. During His earthly mission, Jesus fed the hungry, proclaimed a divine liberation for those who were captives to sin, gave sight to the blind, showed His love to the just, lifted those bowed down by injustice, welcomed the outsiders, and loved and supported the oppressed. It is Jesus Christ who reigns forever from the heavenly Sanctuary over the new Zion of God’s Kingdom of the Church who continues His mission of love and mercy on earth for all generations of humanity until His glorious return.

SOURCE: Agape Bible Study – Michal Elizabeth Hunt (Used with permission)

SECOND READING COMMENTARY

The Lord’s Coming is at Hand

In the Second Reading, St. James urges Christians to remain patient in waiting for the Second Advent of Christ. St. James uses the example of a farmer who watches for the rains to come that he knows will provide the last “growing season” before the harvest. He assures us that the Lord will be coming soon to call the final human harvest of souls to stand before the throne of God in the Final Judgment of humanity.

SOURCE: Agape Bible Study – Michal Elizabeth Hunt (Used with permission)

GOSPEL COMMENTARY

Jesus’ Testimony Concerning St. John the Baptist

In today’s Gospel Reading, St. John the Baptist, arrested and imprisoned by Herod Antipas, sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the “One who is to come,” meaning the promised Messiah. In response to their question, Jesus offers evidence to John’s disciples that He is fulfilling the Messianic prophecies of the prophets in healing the sick, the physically disabled, raising the dead, and proclaiming the “good news” of the kingdom.

Then, Jesus gives two statements concerning St. John the Baptist. First, Jesus declares that John is the greatest of the Old Testament/Old Covenant prophets because God chose him to prepare the way for the coming of the Redeemer-Messiah and His Kingdom. However, since the founding of the Kingdom has not yet occurred, John is still in the age of those not yet glorified by the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. After Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension, His disciples, who He will send to proclaim the Gospel of salvation to all humanity (Mt 28:19-20), will have an even greater mission than St. John the Baptist. Christians today who continue to faithfully proclaim the Gospel of salvation to their families, their communities, and the world are among those who Jesus declared will be greater in Heaven than St. John the Baptist.

SOURCE: Agape Bible Study – Michal Elizabeth Hunt (Used with permission)

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MASS READINGS EXPLAINED

3rd Sunday of Advent (A)

DR. BRANT PITRE

John the Baptist and the Divinity of Jesus

In this video, Dr. Pitre discusses Matthew 11 and John the Baptist’s question to Jesus, “are you the one who is to come?” How does Isaiah 35 help us to understand this question and what does it have to do with the divinity of Jesus?

To learn more about this passage, and for all Sunday Masses, subscribe to The Mass Readings Explained

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SOURCE: CATHOLIC PRODUCTIONS

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HEARERS OF THE WORD

3rd Sunday of Advent (A)

PORTABLE COMMENTARY

DR. KIERAN J. O’MAHONY

The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed…

John the Baptist asks the question we all ask: is this the one? The question may seem a strange one given that (a) in Luke 1-2 they are supposed to be cousins and (b) Jesus was a disciple of John. As for (a), it would seem clear that the family link is a metaphor for their theological relatedness. As for (b), we really know very little of their actual relationship. Jesus was indeed a disciple of John. John did baptise Jesus. Jesus started his ministry once John was arrested. It would seem that Jesus saw John as an authentic and important prophet (cf. 11:7-15; 21:23-27). Furthermore, only when John could no longer function did Jesus enter the public arena. How much they knew each other personally remains unanswerable for lack of evidence.

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SOURCE: Dr. Kieran J. O’Mahony, OSA

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THE WORD PROCLAIMED INSTITUTE

3rd Sunday of Advent (A)

FR. FRANCIS MARTIN, S.S.D

Commentary on the First Reading, Psalm, and Gospel

SOURCE: the WORD PROCLAIMED INSTITUTE

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WORKING WITH THE WORD

3rd Sunday of Advent (A)

Focusing the Gospel

Advent calls us to look deeper and then to trust what we see. Whom we discover depends upon what we see.

Connecting the Gospel

We learn who a person is by observing how that person lives and behaves. We learn who Jesus is by observing how faithful believers live and behave.

SOURCE: The Sunday Website at Saint Louis University.

To dig deeper and look more closely at this Sunday’s readings, visit the links at right from the Sunday Website at Saint Louis University.

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INTEGRAL FAITH

3rd Sunday of Advent (A)

LAUDATO SI’ CONNECTION

God Will Save His People

This week’s reading from Isaiah emphasizes how God, who is all just and merciful, will save His people. The Psalm likewise echoes this theme of justice and lifting up the oppressed. The Letter of James then urges patience in awaiting the salvation from the Lord. Then, the passage from Matthew’s gospel has Jesus responding to John the Baptist with a list of miracles that should make his identity as the messiah obvious. It concludes with good news for the poor.

Unfortunately, today the poor are suffering the most from environmental problems linked to climate change, and yet they are least culpable for it. One wonders how much hope they can have, especially given the recent United Nations reports indicating how much the richest nations have fallen short of their climate commitments. How can this be interpreted as “good news for the poor”?

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