The Responsorial Psalm

Homily for Friday of the Second Week in Advent

Psalm 1 is chosen as our response to the readings for this Friday of the Second Week of Advent. Whenever I am treated to this Psalm or the Psalm that follows it, I cannot help but consider something that sets them apart from many of the Psalms; namely, it does not have a title nor is there any attribution given to its composer, nor any instructions about how it is to be sung. The first two verses of most of the Psalms supply this kind of information. The fact that these things are missing in Psalms 1 and 2 is often overlooked. Yet, those who have studied the Book of Psalms point out that these two Psalms summarize the content of all that follow them.

The subject matter of Psalm 1 is “The Law.” The subject matter of Psalm 2 is a meditation upon “the one who is to come”; namely, the Messiah. Everything that follows, all 148 of the remaining Psalms touch upon these two subjects extensively. When we remember that the Psalms are the prayers of the Jewish people, the hymns that are sung in their liturgies, their attempts to answer the age-old question of suffering, and their shouts of joy when a new king comes to the throne, thoughts of “The Law and of “the Messiah” permeate the occasions when these prayers and hymns are used.

Today, the Church asks us to consider the path that we are following. Is it the way that God would have us go? Are we, indeed, on the path of justice? These questions are an apt response to the question that Isaiah poses in the very first reading; namely, have we paid attention to the commandments that God has given us?

The Gospel text for today reveals the frustration that Jesus must have felt as his message about the Kingdom of God was routinely ignored while the people focused on John’s asceticism and Jesus’ questionable attempts to reach out to the lost children of Israel. As Jesus has said previously, he has not come to eradicate The Law but to fulfill it.

As we come to the altar today, as we receive the Eucharist, let us focus on the questions posed by Isaiah and St. Matthew.