1st Sunday of Advent, Cycle B
1st Reading: Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7
Victory at the End (Continuation)
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[16b] Thou, 0 Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer from of old is thy name. [17]
0 Lord, why dost thou make us err from thy ways and harden our heart, so that
we fear thee not? Return for the sake of thy servants, the tribes of thy heritage.
[1] 0 that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains
might quake at thy presence [2b] to make thy name known to thy adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at thy presence! [3] When thou didst terrible
things which we looked not for, thou camest down the mountains quaked at thy
presence. [4] From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has
seen a God besides thee, who works for those who wait for him. [5] Thou mee-
test him that joyfully works righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways.
Behold, thou wast angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time,
and shall we be saved? [6] We have all become like one who is unclean, and all
our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our
iniquities,like the wind, take us away. [7] There is no one that calls upon th
name, that bestirs himself to take hold of thee; for thou hast hid thy face from
us, and hast delivered us into the hand of our iniquities.
([8] Yet, 0 Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou art our potter; we
are all the work of thy hand.)
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Commentary:
63:1-64:12. The previous oracle sang of the glory of the new Jerusalem and the
prospect of its savior’s imminent arrival (cf. 62:11). Now at last the Lord comes
as a conqueror and a Judge to dispense rewards and punishments. There are a
number of oracles here to do with this theme, and they combine to create a long
and beautiful apocalyptic poem. There are three stanzas in it: the first (63:1-6)
describes the Lord’s victory over the Edomites, the epitome of a nation hostile
to Israel; the second (63:7-14) celebrates the mercy of God and all he has done
for his people; the third (63:15-64:12) is an entreaty full of confidence in the Lord,
our Father.
God is twice invoked in urgent tones as the Father of Israel (63:16; 64:8). This is
one of the most eloquent Old Testament passages about God’s tender fatherly
feelings towards his people. The author of the poem is fully confident that the
Lord’s fatherly heart will be sensitive towards everything his people suffer, even
though they brought it on themselves (64:3-6). He beseeches God for help (63:
17-19), even asking for a spectacular miracle (64:1).
The listing of the calamities that beset Israel continues in 64:1-12 in the same
tone as 63:15-19: the prophet spells out why God should help his people.
63:1-6. The poem uses surprisingly strong, apocalyptic, language. It refers to a
victory that appears to have two very different effects. On the one hand, victory is
obtained after a very real and bloody struggle, symbolized by the treading of the
wine-press, and it ends with the blood-stained clothes (v. 3). The conqueror
works on his own, unaided (v. 5). On the other hand, his victory over the enemy
means redemption for his people: the conqueror is first and foremost, the redee-
mer ("goel": v. 4; cf. 41: 14).
Christian tradition has interpreted this passage as a prophecy about the Messiah.
The Revelation to John combines it with Psalm 2 to describe Christ’s battle with
the beast and his eventual victory (Rev 19:11-21). The "Divine Office", which offers
the poem as an optional reading in Eastertide, suggests that these words of
Isaiah apply to Jesus Christ, Judge of the living and the dead, who shed his blood
during his passion. And just as the vine harvester does his heavy work on his own,
with none to help him (v. 5), so too Jesus Christ was abandoned by his disciples
and left alone on Calvary when he was redeeming the world.
64:1. The prophet’s cry sums up very well the long years when Israel waited pa-
tiently for God to bring salvation; set in a messianic context, it expresses the hope
in a Savior that the chosen people maintained over the centuries. And in some way
it is a cry that everyone utters to God when be or she begs to see their noble aspi-
rations bear fruit. This centuries-long Advent, which in some way is being relived in
our own days, finds its answer once again in the purpose of God the Father, who
sent his Son, made Man, to bring about our Redemption, and who sent the Holy
Spirit to enable human beings to share in his Love.
64:4. St Paul quotes from this verse when writing about the wisdom of God, and
his love for those who love him, and the gifts he has in store for man: “As it is writ-
ten, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what
God has prepared for those who love him'” (1 Cor 2:9). Because these gifts will
not be fully bestowed until the next life, the verse is often quoted in Christian
spirituality to describe the happiness enjoyed in heaven. For example, St Robert
Bellarmine says: “You promise to those who obey your commandments a reward
more precious than gold and sweeter than honey from the comb. It is a great re-
ward, as St James says: 'The crown of life which the Lord has prepared for those
who love him.' And what is the crown of life? It is a gift greater than any we can
imagine or desire. St Paul says, quoting the prophet Isaiah: 'What no eye has
seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for
those who love him'" ("De Ascensione Mentis In Deum", first step).
2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Greeting
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[3] Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving
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[4] I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was
given you in Christ Jesus, [5] that in every way you were enriched in him with
all speech and all knowledge [6] even as the testimony to Christ was confirmed
among you--[7] so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for
the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ; [8] who will sustain you to the end, guilt-
less in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. [9] God is faithful, by whom you were
called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Commentary:
1-9. With slight variations almost all St Paul's letters begin in the same kind of
way: there is a greeting (vv. 1-3), which carries the name of the writer, information
on the addressee(s), and the conventional phrase; and an act of thanksgiving to
God (vv. 4-9), in which the Apostle refers to the main qualities and endowments
of the Christians to whom he is writing. By comparing his letters with other let-
ters that have come down to us from the same period, it is quite apparent that
St Paul usually begins his letters in the style of the time. yet he does not entire-
ly follow this rigid pattern: he changes the usual opening--"Greeting!" (cf. Acts
15:23; 23:26)--to this more personal one, which has a pronounced Christian
stamp: "Grace to you and peace." Also, the way in which he introduces himself
and describes those he is addressing tells much more than a simple "Paul to
the Corinthians: greeting!" Even his words of thanksgiving convey tenderness
and warmth--and their tone is not merely human, for he attributes to God the
virtues he praises in the faithful.
The Fathers of the Church have drawn attention to this characteristic of Paul's
letters--the way he manages to convey a deep doctrinal message in a familiar
style, nicely suited to whomever he happens to be addressing: "A doctor", St
John Chrysostom explains, "does not treat the patient in the same way at the
start of his illness as when he is recovering; nor does a teacher use the same
method with children as with those who need more advanced tuition. That is
how the Apostle acts: he writes as suits the needs and the times" ("Hom. On
Rom", Prologue).
3. Peace of soul, that "serenity of mind, tranquillity of soul, simplicity of heart,
bond of love, union of charity" of which St Augustine spoke ("De Verb. Dom.
Serm.", 58), originates in the friendship with God which grace brings with it; it
is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (cf. Gal 5:22-23). This is the only true kind
of peace: "There is no true peace, just as there is no true grace, other than the
grace and peace which come from God," St John Chrysostom teaches, "Pos-
sess this divine peace and you will have nothing to fear, even if you be threa-
tened by the direct danger, whether from men or even from the demons them-
selves; whereas see how everything is a cause of fear for the man who is at war
with God through sin" ("Hom. on 1 Cor", 1, "ad loc".).
4-9. After the greeting, words of thanksgiving conclude the introduction to the
letter, before St Paul begins the doctrinal part. He reminds the Corinthians that
they owe their privileged position to God. They, like all Christians, received God's
grace in Christ, and that grace has enriched them in every way, for it causes
man to share in God's very nature (cf. 2 Pet 1:4), raising him to an entirely new
level of existence. This transfiguration enables a person, even here, to know the
perfections of God's inner life and to partake of that life--albeit in a limited, imper-
fect way--through the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, which grace
brings and which elevate the mind and will to know and love God, One and Three.
St Paul teaches the need to give thanks to God and he sets us an example in
this regard. Obdurate sinners fail to acknowledge the benefits God gives them (cf.
Rom 1:21), but Christians should always base their prayer on gratitude to God (cf.
Phil 4:6). "Nothing charms God more than a heart that is grateful either on its own
account or on account of others" (Chrysostom, "Hom. on 1 Cor", 2, "ad loc".).
5-6. The grace of God, mentioned in the previous verse, embraces gifts, including
those to do with eloquence and knowledge. So richly does God endow the Chris-
tian that St Alphonsus exclaims: "Our wretchedness should not make us uneasy,
for in Jesus crucified we shall find all richness and all grace (cf. 1 Cor 1:5, 7). The
merits of Jesus Christ have enriched us with all the wealth of God and there is no
grace we might desire that we cannot obtain by asking for it" ("The Love of God
Reduced to Practice", chap. 3). The Fathers interpret these gifts as meaning that
the Corinthians had such a good grasp of Christian teaching that they were able
to express it clearly: "There are those who have the gift of knowledge but not that
of speech; and there are others who have the gift of speech but not knowledge.
The faithful in general, who are uneducated, know these truths, but they cannot
clearly explain what they have in their soul. You on the other hand, St Paul says,
are different; you know these truths and you can speak about them; you are rich
in the gift of speech and in that of knowledge" (Chrysostom, "Hom. on 1 Cor", 2,
"ad loc".).
8-9. "The day of our Lord': in St Paul's writings and in the New Testament gene-
rally, this refers to the day of the General Judgment when Christ will appear
Judge, clothed in glory (cf. 2 Cor 1:14; 1 Thess 5:2).
Christians actively hope that that Day will find them "blameless" (cf. Phil 1:10;
1 Thess 3:13; 5:23); the basis for this hope is God's faithfulness--an attitude fre-
quently applied to him in the Old Testament (cf. Deut 7:9; Is 49:7) and in St
Paul's letters (cf. 1 Cor 10:13; 2 Cor 1:18; 1 Thess 5:24; 2 Thess 3:3; Heb 10:23):
the Covenant which God made with the chosen people was primarily a gift and a
grace, but it also was a legal commitment. The Covenant was grounded on God's
fidelity, which was not merely a matter of legal obligation: it involved faithful, con-
stant love. The God's fidelity will finds its fullest expression in the Redemption
brought about by Jesus Christ: "If, in fact, the reality of the Redemption," Pope
John Paul II says, "in its human dimension, reveals the unheard-of greatness of
man, "qui talem ac tantum meruit habere Redemptorem", at the same time "the
divine dimension of the Redemption" enables us [...] to uncover the depth of that
love which does not recoil before the extraordinary sacrifice of the Son, in order
to satisfy the fidelity of the Creator and Father towards human beings, created
in his image" ("Dives In Misericordia", 7).
Gospel Reading: Mark 13:33-37
The Time of the Destruction of Jerusalem (Continuation)
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(Jesus said to His disciples,) [33] "Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not
know when the time will come. [34] It is like a man going on a journey, when
he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and com-
mands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. [35] Watch, therefore--for you do not
know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or
at cockcrow, or in the morning--[36] lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.
[37] And what I say to you I say to all: Watch."
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Commentary:
33-37. "Watch": since we do not know when the Lord will come, we must be pre-
pared. Vigilance is, above all, love. A person who loves keeps the command-
ments and looks forward to Christ's return; for life is a period of hope and waiting.
It is the way towards our encounter with Christ the Lord. the first Christians often
tenderly repeated the aspiration: "Come, Lord Jesus" (1 Cor 16:22; Rev 22:20).
By expressing their faith and charity in this way, those Christians found the inte-
rior strength and optimism necessary for fulfilling their family and social duties,
and interiorly detached themselves from earthly goods, with the self-mastery that
came from hope of eternal life.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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