The Universal Church celebrates December 10, 2023, as the Second Sunday of Advent in the liturgical year B. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he spoke of: The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Amen.”
In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah consoles his people with the words of hope. He urges them to make a straight highway for their God who is coming to free them from the slavery of fear and of sin and to receive them like a shepherd receiving his sheep. In his Second Letter, the Apostle Peter tells his people that despite the persecution they are subjected to, they should not lose hope. He tells them, and us, that we should do our best to live without spot or stain so that God will find us prepared for a place in his kingdom. The Gospel passage from Saint Mark introduces the figure of John the Baptist, who appears like the dividing line between the Old and the New Testaments. He is called the prophet of the Most High because his mission is to announce the arrival of the Messiah and to urge us to prepare a way for him.
First Reading: Isaiah 40: 1-5, 9-11.
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries out: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, "Here is your God!" See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.
Comment
As we said last Sunday, of all the Old Testament Books, pride of place in the liturgy belongs to the Book of Isaiah. Its sublime doctrine on the Messiah and the Suffering Servant of God makes it a natural choice for the Advent preparation of Christmas and the Lenten prelude to Holy Week.
Today’s reading is taken from what is commonly called Second Isaiah. We are in the period when the deportees are beginning to return from Babylon, which is depicted as a “new exodus”. The news that deliverance is at hand greatly consoles the people of Israel. For this reason, the part of Isaiah is usually called the “Book of Consolation,” and it has been interpreted as an anticipation of the consolation that Christ will bring.
This section opens with a voice proclaiming the Lord’s consolation. The years of suffering are now over. The time has now come for them, with the Lord’s help, to set out on the return journey. The prophet’s voice, speaking in the name of the Lord, encourages the people and boosts their morale. They will find a way opened up for them to the glory of the Lord. As in the exodus from Egypt, the returnees from Babylon will see wonderful evidence of the power of God.
The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) see these words of encouragement spoken to the people of Israel in exile as finding their fulfillment in the ministry of John the Baptist, who is a voice crying in the wilderness. John’s call for personal conversion, as we hear in today’s Gospel, prepares the people to find Christ. He proclaims the imminence of the consolation of Israel.
So what message does this reading have for me today? It clearly tells me that I must trust the power of God, who comes not to lay waste but to protect those in his care. We are the sheep of his flock, who are nourished, through the Church, by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd, who gave his life for his sheep. I pray therefore that the Holy Spirit should help me during this Advent season to clear all sins from my soul so I can make straight the highway through which my Lord and Saviour shall pass to reach my soul. Amen.
Second Reading: 2 Peter 3: 8-14.
But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed. Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him.
Comment
Saint Peter was originally called Simeon, in Hebrew, or Simon, the Greek form of the same name. Jesus surnamed him ‘Cephas’, which means stone or rock, in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. Peter comes from the Greek for rock or stone.
Like most of the Lord’s first disciples, Simon Peter was a native of Bethsaida, a city of Galilee on the north-east shore of Lake Tiberius. He was, like his brother Andrew, a fisherman. It was his brother Andrew who, according to John, brought him to Jesus, thereby beginning a relationship which would lead Christ to make him the head of his Church on earth. After Christ’s death and resurrection, Peter became the uncontestable head of all Christ’s disciples and of the church, hence the saying, “Ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia” (Where there is Peter, there too is the Church of Christ).
He wrote two letters all addressed to Christians living and facing persecutions in the different parts of the then Christian world, especially in Asia Minor. In his Second Letter, from where the text for our meditation is taken, Peter begins by appealing to his Christian converts to remain faithful to the teaching they have received from the Apostles. He then denounces in strong terms false teachers and those who try to corrupt others.
In the section from where the reading of the day is taken, he addresses the issue of the Second Coming of our Saviour (the Parousia), refuting false views and expounding the true teaching. He warns that the fact that Christ’s Second Coming has not yet occurred is no reason to believe that it will never happen. It will pounce on us like a thief in the night. Let us not be the foolish virgins who did not make any provision for extra oil; rather, let us keep our lamps alight, and keep extra oil for our lamps because the second coming of our Lord will take us unawares. Let us be prepared at anytime to receive him.
Saint Peter reminds us in this passage that God, in his great mercy, shows wonderful patience with us because he does not seek our condemnation but rather wants all men to be saved (1 Tim 2:4, Rom 11: 22). As we prepare the way for the coming of our Lord, by leveling the hills and filling the valleys of our lives through a good confession of our sins, let us thank God for his infinite patience with us. Were he to count our sins, who among us would survive? rightly wonders the Psalmist. Send your Holy Spirit, Lord, to guide me and to lead me along the right path so that I can stand ready for you when you come to us as Emmanuel: God with us. Amen.
Gospel acclamation: “Alleluia, alleluia. Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight his paths: All flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia.”
Gospel: Saint Mark 1:1-8
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'" John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
Comment
The opening of Mark’s Gospel introduces us to two great figures that stand at the beginning of the Christian story: Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, and John the Baptist. In his beautiful book, Seasons of the Word: Reflections on the Sunday Readings, (St Pauls, 2005), Father Denis McBride, c.ss.r, says that all four evangelists – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – witness to the truth that you cannot tell the story of Jesus without first speaking about John the Baptist. It is the towering figure of John that introduces the adult Jesus in all the Gospels. John did not work any miracles; he held no office and belonged to no religious party; yet he stands as the only religious leader that Jesus sought out and spoke of with deep affection and admiration. He is described as a voice crying in the wilderness, a large presence whose voice was heard echoing in the vast emptiness of the wasteland. Saint Augustine calls John the Baptist a harbinger of new times, who shows that he has been a prophet from his mother’s womb. He has not yet been born when, at our Lord’s arrival, he leaps for joy inside his mother.
The whole of John’s life is therefore determined by his prophetic mission, even before he was born. His whole purpose is to prepare, for Jesus, a people capable of receiving the Kingdom of God. He was to carry out his task to the full, even to the extent of giving up his life in the fulfillment of his vocation.
Many came to know Jesus through John the Baptist’s apostolic work. Thanks to him the first disciples, John and Andrew, followed Jesus. Even though John is such an energetic personality, he does not make himself the center of attention. He does not claim that he is the long-awaited Messiah. “Someone is coming after me; someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals.” He is merely the voice proclaiming the greatness of his Lord. His whole being is defined by Jesus. This should also be the way we define our own being. Let us, like John, seek to grow smaller as we allow Christ to grow bigger in us.
As we reflect on this great figure, John the Baptist, let us ask ourselves if we too freely celebrate the greatness of others, or do we instead sink into despair and jealousy simply because our brother or sister stands out above us? The more we celebrate the goodness in others, the more the goodness in you shines out.
Let us also ask ourselves if we, like John the Baptist, have brought people around us, especially in our immediate families, to Jesus. Do we give a good example in the way we carry out our work, in our family circle, in our social relationships? Do we speak about God to our colleagues or co-workers and do we point out Christ to them? Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to embolden us so we can speak the truth to everyone around us the boldness of a John the Baptist. We make our supplication through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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