1st Week of Advent, Monday, Dec 4
Isaiah 2:1-3 / Matthew 8:5-11
Isaiah looks to the future; All nations will live in peace.
The presidential seal of the United States shows an American eagle clutching arrows (the symbol of war) in one talon and an olive branch (the symbol of peace) in the other.
On some earlier versions of the seal, the eagle is shown looking at the arrows. When Harry Truman was president, he decreed that on all future versions of the seal the eagle should look not at the arrows but at the olive branch. He said he wanted to make it clear that our nation should be turned toward peace, not war.
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Today's reading and the story of Harry Truman invite us to ask ourselves: Are our lives turned in the direction of peace? Today's reading invites us to pray: "O God our loving Father ...help us to keep in mind the real causes of war: dishonesty, greed, selfishness, and lack of love, and to drive them out of this ship, so that she may be a pattern of the new world for which we are fighting.” Lord Hugh Beresford, Royal Navy, 1941
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Today’s message speaks of universal salvation. Isaiah preaches that all are called to believe in God, to worship him, to live according to God’s plans and laws, and to enjoy his peace. Jerusalem stands here for God’s believing people. (In year A, another reading from Isaiah is taken, so as not to duplicate that of the first Sunday A: God will protect the remnant that has been faithful to him and live among his people.)
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In a civilized society where there is law and order, it is an offense to carry a knife of a certain length which is categorized as an offensive weapon. The punishment for such an offense can be quite severe, especially for carrying offensive weapons. But even a kitchen knife can be turned into an instrument of harm if it is in the hands of someone with a harmful intention. But in a civilized society, we won't carry a weapon like a knife even if we intend to hurt someone. But we carry those "knives" in our hearts.
And those "knives" come out of our mouths in the form of abusive and hurtful words, slandering and disparaging words, lies, and deceiving words. So, hammering swords into ploughshares and spears into sickles may only eradicate weapons that harm and kill. But the weapons that we carry in our hearts are more dangerous as they can inflict invisible injuries and torment the lives of others.
But in the gospel, we hear of a centurion, a soldier who is familiar with weapons and bloodshed, approaching and pleading with Jesus to heal his servant. The centurion knows that weapons can harm and kill, no weapon can ever heal and save. He had to abandon whatever weapons he had, whether in his hand or in his heart and turn to Jesus who came to heal and save.
May we be able to discover what are those "weapons" that are hidden in our hearts and to surrender them to Jesus as we begin our Advent preparation.
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The centurion’s faith is remarkable. He is symbolic of the Gentiles who will be called, for the kingdom is open to all, without any privilege of race or culture. With Christ, salvation has become available to anyone of goodwill.
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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. Amen
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Saint John of Damascene (late 600s-mid 700s)
Feast Day December 4
John grew up in the rich, luxurious court of the Muslim ruler of Damascus, where his father was a wealthy Christian court official. In order to make sure John had a solid Christian foundation, his father employed a brilliant Sicilian monk named Cosmos, who was a war captive, to teach John. Cosmos schooled the boy in science and theology, in the Greek and Arabic languages, and in the culture of Islam. Then John was ready to assume a high place in the government, which he did. But the spirit of the Muslim rulers was turning against Christians, so John left his position in the government and became a monk in Jerusalem. The date of his death is uncertain. Some think he may have lived to be 104 years old.
We know about John’s faith through his writings. In them John explained the mysteries of the Christian faith, such as the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Real Presence in the Eucharist, and Mary’s Assumption. One book he wrote is an important source on the teachings of the Greek Fathers of the Church. John was also a poet and hymn writer. Some of his songs are summaries of the truths of faith.
Perhaps John is most famous for his opposition to the heresy of the Iconoclasts. The Iconoclasts claimed that is superstitious to have religious images. They wanted to destroy all religious icons, pictures, and statues. The Iconoclasts were supported by the Eastern Christian Emperor Leo III. John of Damascene defended the use of sacred images. He explained that the respect given to them is really given to the person they represent. If you look around an Orthodox Church today, you will see that John won the debate. For all of his efforts to defend the faith, John of Damascene was named a Doctor of the Church in 1890.
