Nov 29 2008
Notes on the Readings for the First Sunday of Advent
This post deals with the first reading. I hope to post notes on the second reading and Gospel tomorrow.
A look at the opening antiphon, the responsorial Psalm, and the readings for the First Sunday of Advent leave no doubt as to the key themes:
- Antiphon: None of them that wait on Thee shall be confounded.
- First reading: O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, and wouldst come down.
- Responsorial Psalm: Rouse your power and come to save us.
- Second reading: So that nothing is wanting to you in any grace, waiting for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Gospel reading: Watch ye therefore (for you know not when the lord of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning): Lest coming on a sudden, he find you sleeping.
Enatrance Antiphon:
The Entrance Antiphon is from Psalm 25:1-3. This Psalm is a lament for forgiveness, but also an appeal for Divine guidance, and the theme of patient, faith-filled waiting permeates it; therefore it is fitting that its opening verses be invoked at the beginning of the Advent season.
First reading:
The first reading is taken from a prayer in the Book of Isaiah chapter 63:7-64:11. The prayer begins in what scholars call the qina meter, which is typical of laments. After rehearsing some of God’s past favors on behalf of his people (63:7-14), the prophet asks that God would once again intervene (63:15-16), it is at this point that the reading for today’s Mass begins.
63:16b O Lord, art our father, our redeemer, from everlasting is thy name. The phrase “you are our father” occurs twice in the liturgical text and three times in the broader text from which it is taken. The title father and redeemer are closely associated in the OT. God is usually referred to as a father not because he created the people (but see 64:7), but because he redeemed them as His people (Exodus 4:22-23; Hosea 11:1). These texts are closely associated with the theology of covenant. Interestingly enough, the book of Isaiah opened with a rib (reeb), a covenant lawsuit by God against his people: “Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have brought up children, and exalted them: but they have despised me” (Isa 1:2; see also Deut32:5-6)
63:17 Why hast thou made us to err, O Lord, from thy ways: why hast thou hardened our heart, that we should not fear thee? return for the sake of thy servants, the tribes of thy inheritance.
The passage is often explained by noting that the Jews of the OT period lacked the theological sophistication to make an adequate distinction between the permissive will of God, whereby he allowed things to happen (as in the above passage), and his active will, whereby he makes things happen. More recently, some scholars suggest that the above questions should be understood as a question about the absence of God’s favor (grace) which is necessary for living according to God’s ways. In this case, the words of verse 15 (not part of our lectionary reading) is instructive: “where is thy zeal, and thy strength, the multitude of thy pity, and of thy mercies? they have held back themselves from me.” Because God’s pity and mercy have held back the prayer asks “why” in the present verse.
63:18 They have possessed thy holy people as nothing: our enemies have trodden down thy sanctuary. Not part of the lectionary reading) Enemies have possessed the people of God, a reference to exile; and they have trodden down the sanctuary, a reference to the destruction of the temple. (see Lamentations 2:7; Isa 33:22; 51:19-22).
63:19a We are become as in the beginning, when thou didst not rule over us, and when we were not called by thy name. (not part of the lectionary reading). The people have become as they were before God’s saving interventions which created them as His people (see 63:7-14)
63:19b (This text is 64:1 in some translations). O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, and wouldst come down: the mountains would melt away at thy presence. A plea for divine intervention reminiscent of the theophany at Mount Sinai (Ex 19; Deut 4:32-36; 5:23-27; Hab 3:3-15).
64:1-2a They would melt as at the burning of fire, the waters would burn with fire, that thy name might be made known to thy enemies: that the nations might tremble at thy presence. When Thou didst tremendous things which we looked not for (64:1 is not prt of our lectionary reading). Certain events of the Exodus caused fear in the enemies of God’s people (see Psalm 68:8-15; Josh 2:8-11.
64:3 From the beginning of the world they have not heard, nor perceived with the ears: the eye hath not seen, O God, besides thee, what things thou hast prepared for them that wait for thee. This passage is quoted-or, rather, paraphrased- by St Paul in 1 Cor 2:9. Celebrates the wondrous nature of God’s saving intervention (see Sirach 17:5-8).
64:4 May we be found doing right when you come to meet us. May we remember you in all our ways! Behold, you are angry with us because we have sinned. (My translation. Consult the DR, NAB and RSV). Depending on ones relation with God, His presence can be saving or damning (see Malachi 3:19-22), hence the need to be found doing right. The ways of the the Lord are the instructions by which the just man lives (see Psalm 1).
64:5 We are all become as one unclean, and all our justices as an unclean rag, and we have all fallen as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Their separation from God has made them unclean, unable to enter into or enjoy God’s presence, or worship him properly. Seemingly just works cannot repair ones broken relationship with God; only God can accomplish that. A fallen (or withered) leaf lacks life and is separated from the tree. It is a fitting description of sinners separated from God and the supernatural life he can give (see Isa 1:28-30). Wind is often a symbol of God’s judgment (psalm 1:4; 35:5; Isa 29:5-6).
64:6 There is none that calleth upon thy name: that riseth up, and taketh hold of thee: thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast crushed us in the hand of our iniquity. Divine punishment of sinners is grace, intended to be medicinal and leading to repentance (see Deut 30:1-7; He 12:4-13). Here the prophet confesses that the people are not responding to this situation with intercessory prayer (calleth upon thy name see Psalm 14:3-4), or with persistent prayer (see Luke 11:5-9).
64:7 And now, O Lord, thou art our father, and we are clay: and thou art our maker, and we all are the works of thy hands. It is interesting to note that after his parable on persistent prayer referred to above, our Lord goes on to speak of God as our Father: “For every one that asketh receiveth: and he that seeketh findeth: and to him that knocketh it shall be opened: and which of you, if he ask his father bread, will he give him a stone? Or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he reach him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask him?” In spite of the sins, the prayer of the prophet still hopes in God as Father, this time appealing to him to remember the creaturely status of his people. Perhaps the words we are clay: and thou art our maker, and we all are the works of thy hands is a subtle indication that the people are ready to respond to God, thus bringing an end to their alienation (see Jer 18:1-9).
