3rd Week of Advent, Monday, Dec 14
Numbers 26:2-7, 15-17 / Matthew 21:23-27
Balaam prophesies: A star shall advance from Jacob.
Douglas Hyde was an English journalist who disliked the Catholic Church. One day he bought an anti-Catholic book to use in his attacks against the Church. The book had just the opposite effect on him. It led him into the Church. Something similar to this happened to Balaam in today’s reading. He set out to curse Israel, but ended up blessing her instead. Early church writers considered the words about the star in today’s reading as a prophetic reference to the star that directed the Magi to Jesus.
2nd Week of Advent, Saturday, Dec 12
Ecclesiasticus 48:1-4, 9-11 / Matthew 17:10-13
Elijah is described as parting life in a fiery chariot. (2 Kings 2:11) Symbolic or not, the description gave rise to the popular belief that Elijah would return to prepare the way for the “Day of the Lord.” To this very day, Orthodox Jews put an empty chair at the seder table for Elijah. Reform Jews put a “cup of Elijah” at the table. They hope this will be the year he’ll return.
2nd Week of Advent, Friday, Dec 11
Isaiah 48:17-19 / Matthew 11:16-19
I am your God: I will show you the path to follow.
In The Upper
Room, David McIntosh tells this story about a dream his uncle
had. In the dream, his uncle’s four-year-old son had grown up to be a teenager.
The boy was walking down a road when, suddenly, he disappeared down a dark
path. As he did, he called back, “Daddy, you never showed me the right path to
follow.”
The dream was so vivid that his uncle woke up from a sound sleep. He was so disturbed by the dream that he woke his wife and told her about it. Together they knelt down on the spot and prayed for their young son. They also resolved to teach their son how to walk always in the light of God’s Word.
2nd Week of Advent, Thursday, Dec 10
Isaiah 41:13-20 / Matthew 11:11-15
Before child labor laws were enacted, a ten-year-old boy was working in a factory in Naples, Italy. He wanted to earn money for music lessons. After singing for a schoolteacher, however, he was told to save his time and money. “Forget about singing,” the teacher said;