2nd Sunday of Advent (B – Violet)
ANTIPHON (Cf. Isaiah 30:19-30)
O people of Sion, behold, the Lord will come to save the nations, and the Lord will make the glory of his voice heard in the joy of your heart.
INTRODUCTION:
John the Baptist appears in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The prophet’s voice should awaken us from spiritual lukewarmness. Like the people who listen to him, we should get up on our feet and go to meet the Lord. But first we have to look deep within us and realize that we are unprepared to meet him. The mountains of our pride and our sinfulness, the valleys of our preoccupation with the things of this world, make for an uneven path. We have to make ready a straight path for the Lord by renewal and conversion.
FIRST READING (Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11)
From Isaiah’s Book of Consolation, we hear God’s words of comfort for his people exiled in Babylon. God has forgiven their sins and will bring them back to their homeland. The call to prepare the way of the Lord in the desert is echoed in today’s Gospel.
COMFORT, give comfort to my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.
A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God!
Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who rules by his strong arm; here is his reward with him, his recompense before him. Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM (Psalm 85:9-10-11-12, 13-14; Response: 8)
R — Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
1 . I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD—for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land. (R)
2. Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven. (R)
3. The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and prepare the way of his steps. (R)
SECOND READING (2 Peter 3:8-14)
Peter pictures the coming of the “day of the Lord” and instructs us to prepare for this day by our repentance and by our holy and devout conduct.
DO NOT IGNORE this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out.
Since everything is to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be, conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire. But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.
ALLELUIA (Luke 3:4-6)
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths; all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL: (Mark 1:1-8)
THE BEGINNING of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”
John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.
John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey.
And this is what he proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
REFLECTION:
The Second Sunday of Advent directs us to discern our identity and mission as a pilgrim Church in the world. We are to regard life as a pilgrimage and ourselves as pilgrims on the move. There are times when the journey is light and bearable, but more often we find ourselves restless and burdened. We easily get distracted by the lures of the world. We get confused by the many choices that come our way and get lost in the lifestyles that run counter to Christian values and beliefs. At the end of the day’s journey, we often feel pained and broken.
Today’s liturgy counsels us that our journey in this world could – and should – be transformed into a journey of faith. God’s glory does shine forth through the crucial circumstances of our life’s journey. He guides every step we take, and in the unchartered courses of our pilgrimage he provides us comfort and strength.
To infuse the faith dimension in our earthly journey, St. Peter (Second Reading) reminds us to accept and embrace the Lord as our faithful companion, as a co-pilgrim. The Lord shows ”generous patience” in handling our missteps and hardheadedness, on our adamant will of not following the road map he has laid out for us. In fact, he makes sure that none of us ”perishes” or ”strays” out of the fold. Our God is a compassionate companion who leads us to ”greener pasture.” He blesses every step of our journey and because of this, ”one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day.”
Both the First Reading and the Gospel point to John the Baptist as the example and model in achieving our identity and mission as a ”pilgrim people.” John the Baptist sees his mission ”as a voice that cries out to prepare the way of the Lord.” ”Proclaiming a baptism of repentance” and the forgiveness of sins, ” he exhorts his followers to ”follow the way of the Lord and clear him a straight path.” For us pilgrims and travelers today, this sense of mission should provide us with the energy and zeal to prepare the Lord’s way. It should give us the second wind to travel anew when the walking gets tough. And in all seasons of the year, a mission-driven life of faith offers all of us pilgrims the capacity to adapt and adjust to the challenges that come our way.
Moreover, John’s personal traits remind us how we are to relate to the Lord Jesus himself. In all honesty and truth, John admits that ”one more powerful than he” is to come after him. John is ”not fit to stoop and untie [the Lord ’s] sandal strap.” John realizes that his whole mission is all about the Lord. John is but a precursor, to prepare the way for him. John is but a voice; Jesus is the center – the very Word.
John the Baptist challenges us today to encounter the Lord Jesus in faith and to embrace him as the center of our personal and communal life. Our journey can easily become unfocused, confused, without a center. Our faith in the Lord Jesus is the voice that brings us close to our core and to our calling ”to be holy in conduct.” Confronted by the center that is the Lord, we could not but feel unworthy and unfit to ”stoop and untie” his sandal straps. John the Baptist is a model par excellence of a pilgrim prophet.
The last challenge of our pilgrim status is to become compassionate with our fellow sojourners who are lost and marginalized, who are poor and overburdened, broken and unable to journey any farther. In solidarity with them, we provide the hand and heart, the face and soul of God’s mercy and compassion.
COMMUNION ANTIPHON (Baruch 5:5; 4:36)
Jerusalem, arise and stand upon the heights, and behold the joy which comes to you from God.
The Mass Readings are taken from www.usccb.org and Reflections by Msgr. Manuel G. Gabriel is taken from the December 10, 2017 edition of Sambuhay Missalette, printed in the Philippines by St. Paul’s Media Pastoral Ministry. The views and opinions in this post are those of the authors and does not necessarily reflect those of the blog site.
The Catholic Gospel Digest 