St. Francis Xavier

Monday of the First week of Advent

Commentary of the day
Vatican Council II : So that all may enter the Kingdom of heaven

Reading

Is 4,2-6.
On that day, The branch of the LORD will be luster and glory, and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor for the survivors of Israel. He who remains in Zion and he that is left in Jerusalem Will be called holy: every one marked down for life in Jerusalem. When the Lord washes away the filth of the daughters of Zion, And purges Jerusalem's blood from her midst with a blast of searing judgment, Then will the LORD create, over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her place of assembly, A smoking cloud by day and a light of flaming fire by night. For over all, his glory will be shelter and protection: shade from the parching heat of day, refuge and cover from storm and rain.


Ps 122(121),1-2.3-4.8-9.
A song of ascents. Of David. I rejoiced when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD."
And now our feet are standing within your gates, Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, built as a city, walled round about.
Here the tribes have come, the tribes of the LORD, As it was decreed for
Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
For family and friends I say, "May peace be yours."
For the house of the LORD, our God, I pray, "May blessings be yours."


Mt 8,5-11.
When he entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully." He said to him, "I will come and cure him." The centurion said in reply, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven,


Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB



Commentary of the day

Vatican Council II
Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, “Gaudium et Spes”, §45 (©Libreria editrice Vaticana)

So that all may enter the Kingdom of heaven

While helping the world and receiving many benefits from it, the Church has a single intention: that God's kingdom may come, and that the salvation of the whole human race may come to pass. For every benefit which the People of God during its earthly pilgrimage can offer to the human family stems from the fact that the Church is "the universal sacrament of salvation",(Lumen Gentium) simultaneously manifesting and actualising the mystery of God's love.For God's Word, by whom all things were made, was Himself made flesh so that as perfect man He might save all men and sum up all things in Himself. The Lord is the goal of human history, the focal point of the longings of history and of civilization, the center of the human race, the joy of every heart and the answer to all its yearnings. He it is Whom the Father raised from the dead, lifted on high and stationed at His right hand, making Him judge of the living and the dead. Enlivened and united in His Spirit, we journey toward the consummation of human history, one which fully accords with the counsel of God's love: "To re-establish all things in Christ, both those in the heavens and those on the earth" (Eph. 1:10).The Lord Himself speaks: "Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me, to render to each one according to his works. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end,” (Rv 22,12-13).