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First Sunday of Advent, Year C, December 3, 2006 |
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A digest for the congregation: Your parishioners would like to know some of the historical background behind today's readings. Your parish's liturgy or education commissions, with its clergy, may decide to satisfy that need with the brief introductions below. As lector, you may have to get the organizational ball rolling.
At the liturgy, the presider may speak these before the first and second readings, and before rising for the gospel acclamation. Print this page, cut it at the blue lines, and give the introduction paragraphs to the person who will speak them. The liturgy committee, lector and presider should pay the charge described below.
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| Weekend of December 2 & 3, 2006, First Sunday of Advent (Lectionary Cycle C). | ||
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Before the first reading:
In the memory of Israel and Judah, their early king David had set the standards for all later kings. The people thought their national fortunes rose and fell with the virtue of their kings. In a time of national peril, Jeremiah predicts what a new, good king, descended from David, will do for the nation.
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Between responsorial psalm and second reading:
Saint Paul wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians at an early time when he and they believed Jesus was soon to come again. Here Paul gives them two ways to get ready.
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Before the gospel acclamation:
Today's gospel also preserves a memory of early Christians' expectation that the Son of Man would come again, to judge the world. Hear the differences between what the prepared can expect and what the unprepared must face.
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To pay for use of the words above, please subtract an equal number of optional words from other places in the liturgy (click here for some suggestions). | ||
The Historical Situation: Scholar Peter F. Ellis, in The Collegeville Bible Commentary -- Old Testament (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1992) lists these among the highlights of Jeremiah's career. "He grew up during the reign of King Josiah (630-609 B.C.E.), when Judah was at peace and when king, priests and people were engaged in a revitalization of Mosaic faith and worship... During the forty or so years he served as a prophet (626-580), the kingdom of Judah went through one religious reformation (626-609); three wars (against Egypt, 609; against Babylon, 597 and 587); three exiles (597, 587 and 582); and five Davidic kings..."
The prophet made enemies among his own people during his long career. Today's passage is from one of the points where he's imprisoned in Jerusalem, which itself is under siege. Yet Jeremiah has a hopeful message.
Understanding the Details: He specifies a promise made to both Israel and Judah because the once united tribes of Israel had split into northern (Israel) and southern (Judah) kingdoms, which still maintained much in common culture and religion.
What does it mean to raise up for David a just shoot? David was this people's first great king, and he became the standard by which subsequent kings were measured. "Shoot" is an image from farming or gardening, meaning a young growth off a mature plant. In the minds of these people, their fortunes were linked to the justice of their king. So a just shoot for David means a new king, descended from David, whose justice will have positive effects among the people.
Just as we formally name our infants at baptism, the time of their rebirth, and just as some monks and nuns take new names when they adopt the new life of their orders, Jeremiah says this reborn people will get a new name: "The Lord our justice."
Proclaiming It: Emphasize the future tense verbs (which are all the verbs), because the events promised contrast so completely with the current reality of Jeremiah and the people. Slow down and pronounce solemnly the last sentence with its new name for Judah/Jerusalem, "The Lord our justice."
The Historical Situation: Readings in early Advent always carry forward the theme of Jesus' coming again from the last Sundays of the previous year. At the time Saint Paul wrote to the Thessalonians (rather early in his apostolic career) he and they believed Jesus was to return soon. His coming will mean the end of history and the judgment of all peoples. So the long first sentence of today's reading means, in short, "grow in love so you're ready to stand before God when Jesus comes."
Proclaiming It: In your proclamation, break up that long sentence with pauses and changes in your tone of voice.
The second long sentence, and the third with it, just say in effect, "keep up the good work, as I taught you." This, too, is a challenging mouthful to proclaim intelligibly. You might practice with a family member who has not read the text ahead of time. Proclaim it to this listener until he or she can paraphrase it correctly, as above.
| Several other commentaries on these passages. All are thoughtful, all quite readable, from the scholarly to the popular.
Links may be incomplete more than a few weeks before the "due date." | |
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Lutheran pastor and college teacher Dan Nelson's notes for a study group.
Dan covers 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 as second reading today. |
The Evangelist, newspaper of the diocese of Albany, New York, USA, archives the weekly scripture columns of Father Roger Karban. Click on the years to read how he treated these passages in
1997, in
2000, and in
2003.
The Saint Louis Review, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis, Missouri, USA, archives the weekly scripture columns of Father Frank Cleary, S.J. Click here for his 2003 esaay. |
| The Text This Week; links to homilies, art works, movies and other resources on the week's scripture themes |
Saint Louis University's excellent site for Sunday liturgy
Most welcome here are Reginald Fuller's commentaries. (Caveat lector. As of November 13, 2006, Lector's Notes' author is speculating about the exact URL of SLU's December 3 offering, since it's not yet posted. If you get a 404 Not Found, try here). |
The Lectionary selections in the frame at the left, if any, are there for your convenience. The publishers of the page in that frame have no connection, except for membership in the one Body of Christ, with the publisher of this page. Likewise the publishers of the pages on the links above.