Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.

Dec 03 2024

Scripture Study for

Isaiah wrote of a time when the monarchy had been conquered and there seemed to be no hope for a future king. Yet out of this “stump” a new ruler would emerge. The image of his “peaceable kingdom” recalls the primal paradise of Eden (see Genesis 2), where the animals did not follow their predatory instincts, and natural enemies lived in harmony with each other. In this new reign, all creation will be either transformed or recreated. This vision is not a return to the past, but one of future peace and fulfillment.

Paul bases his teaching of universal salvation for all on God’s original promise that Abram and his descendants would be a source of blessing for others (see Genesis 12:2; 22:18). Paul argues that it was in fulfillment of this promise that the Gentiles have been brought into the family of God through the love of Christ. In his prayer for the community, he asks for three different expressions of unity: “to think in harmony,” to be in “one accord,” and to glorify God in “one voice” (Romans 15:5–6). This unity in no way obliterates the differences between Jew and Gentile; it is a unity in diversity.

John’s baptism was neither the kind that proselytes to Judaism underwent, nor the repeated ritual cleansing that the Essene community of Qumran practiced. It was a devotional rite with eschatological significance, administered to Jews, accompanied by their acknowledgment of sinfulness and a resolve to live an ethical life. John admits his subordinate role when compared with Jesus. He, John, is the voice that announces the coming of another. The winnowing of which he speaks refers to the separation of those who respond to John’s call to repentance from those who do not. John does not act as judge; the one who is to come will do the judging. In other words, the time of the Messiah will be a time of both redemption and judgment.

Dec 03 2024

Scripture Study for

The first reading contains a vision of universal peace and an invitation to participate in that peace through faithfulness to God’s word. The image of the reign of God found in the reading from Isaiah is of a city, not known for its political prominence or military might, but revered as the dwelling place of God. This is a vision of the future reign of God, of an eschatological age of complete faithfulness to God and the peace and harmony among people that will flow from it.

Paul, too, speaks about the reign of God, but from a different perspective. He tells the Roman Christians that they are living in a decisive moment, the kairós, the period of transition from the age of sin to the long-awaited age of fulfillment. Paul employs several images to characterize this division of time. He says that this age is like slumber, or night and darkness, while the age to come is like wakefulness, or day and light. He urges the Christians to wake from sleep and to live in faithful

ness. The apparent incongruity between these two ages exemplifies the paradox that we sometimes hear, “already but not yet.” It is a way of acknowledging that the age of fulfillment, the reign of God, has already dawned, but it has not yet been brought to completion in our lives.

Jesus also speaks about this transition from one age to the next. The question he addresses is not whether this time will come, but when it will come. Like a good teacher, he uses examples to make his point. The people at the time of Noah were oblivious to the danger that faced them and so they were not ready. The same was true in the analogies he uses of the men and women, and the parable of the householder, all of whom blindly go about their daily lives. The moral of the story? Be prepared!

Nov 08 2024

Scriptural Study for First Sunday of Advent

Jeremiah’s words announce a future wherein God’s promise of restoration will be fulfilled. A shoot, a sign of new life springing from previous life, will be raised up for the Davidic house. Jerusalem, the city whose name means “foundation of peace,” is here called “The Lord our justice.” Thus, the foundation of this peace is justice, and the basis of the justice is the quality of commitment to the Lord. This oracle opens with an announcement that God will deliver the people to safety, and it concludes with the people rooting their salvation in the righteousness of God.

Paul expresses his desire for the spiritual growth of the Thessalonians. His exhortation contains a tone of urgency, encouraging the believers to continue to live righteous lives. He does not ask that their love increase, but that their capacity for growth be expanded so that they can fill it with love. This love should be both communal (for one another) and universal (for all). It breaks all ethnocentric bounds and, like the love that Paul himself possesses, it resembles the inclusive love of God. Paul implies that the coming time of fulfillment should be an incentive to righteous living.

Jesus speaks of cosmic disturbances and the distress on earth that these disturbances will cause. His cosmic turmoil calls to mind the primordial chaos out of which God brought order (see Genesis 1:1–10), and the destruction at the time of Noah out of which God brought order anew (see Genesis 7:12; 9:9–11). In the case described in this passage, the disturbances are probably less predictions of actual historical events than they are metaphorical images portraying the end of one age and the birth of another. For those who faithfully await the revelation of God, this will not be a time of punishment, but of fulfillment. Since the exact time of the revelation is unknown, the fundamental exhortation is: Beware! Take heed! Be alert! Don’t be caught by surprise!