St. Ambrose, bishop & doctor 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Isaiah 35:1-10*

 Let the wilderness and the arid land rejoice,

The desert be glad and blossom.  Covered with flowers, it sings and shouts with joy, adorned with the splendor of Lebanon, the magnificence of Carmel and Sharon.

They, my people, see the glory of Yahweh, the majesty of our God.

 Give vigor to weary hands and strength to enfeebled knees. Say to those who are afraid: “Have courage, do not fear. See, your God comes, demanding justice. He is the God who rewards, the God who comes to save you.”

 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unsealed. Then will the lame leap as a hart and the tongue of the dumb sing and shout. For water will break out in the wilderness and streams gush forth from the desert.

 The thirsty ground will become a pool, the arid land springs of water. In the haunts where once reptiles lay, grass will grow with reeds and rushes.  There will be a highway

which will be called The Way of Holiness; no one unclean will pass over it nor any wicked fool stray there.

 No lion will be found there nor any beast of prey. Only the redeemed will walk there.  For the ransomed of Yahweh will return: with everlasting joy upon their heads,

they will come to Zion singing, gladness and joy marching with them, while sorrow and sighing flee away.

 

Ps 85:9ab & 10, 11-12, 13-14

Our God will come to save us.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 5:17-26

One day Jesus was teach­ing and many Pharisees and teachers of the Law had come from every part of Galilee and Judea and even from Jerusalem. They were sitting there while the power of the Lord was at work to heal the sick. Then some men brought a paralyzed man who lay on his mat.

They tried to enter the house to place him before Jesus, but they couldn’t find a way through the crowd. So they went up on the roof and, removing the tiles, they lowered him on his mat into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.

 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “My friend, your sins are forgiven.” At once the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to wonder, “This man insults God! Who can forgive sins but only God?”

 But Jesus knew their thoughts and asked them, “Why are you reacting like this? Which is easier to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or: ‘Get up and walk’? Now you shall know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

And Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” At once the man stood before them. He took up the mat he had been lying on and went home praising God.  Amazement seized the peo­ple and they praised God. They were filled with a holy fear and said, “What wonderful things we have seen today!”

 

Gospel Reflection：

Today the prophet Isaiah announces the coming of the Redeemer who will pass through the wilderness to build “The Way of Holiness!” The Redeemer will indeed come to call sinners, not to punish them but to save them! Our God we await is a Savior!

When, therefore, Jesus in the Gospel saves the paralytic by first forgiving him his sins before curing him, those who witnessed this miracle cried out “What wonderful things we have seen today!”

The Way of Holiness that Isaiah prophesied is the way of mercy of Jesus revealed in today’s Gospel. How beautiful then is our Christmas carol, O Holy Night, Where we pray: Long lay the world In sin and error pining Till He appeared and the soul Felt its worth A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks A new and glorious morn St. Ambrose, our Saint of today would announce this good news of a Savior to one of the world’s greatest sinners who would become one of the Church’s greatest Saint, St. Augustine! Dear fellow sinners, we have hope to become saints for we have a great Savior!

Thus, Christmas cannot be imagined without the Virgin Mother! How wonderful that during the Advent season holy mother Church lets us contemplate Mary ‘s role in the Divine Drama!