Catechism Links [1]
CCC 522, 711-716, 722: The prophets and the expectation of the Messiah
CCC 523, 717-720: The mission of John the Baptist
CCC 1042-1050: A new heaven and a new earth
Readings for the Second Sunday of Advent [2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
Readings and Commentary: [4]
Reading 1: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
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 on to 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.
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Commentary on Is 40:1-5, 9-11
This passage from Isaiah provides the first prophetic vision of John the Baptist: “A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God” (see Matthew 3:3 which quotes this passage). Isaiah's prophecy then announces the coming of the Messiah and what a blessing he will be to the people. It uses language similar to that spoken by God as Jesus walks out of the Jordan following his baptism. He goes on in the first paragraph to describe the compassionate and loving character of the Messiah who is to come. In the second paragraph the prophet focuses on the new covenant that will be established with the people with the advent of the Messiah.
CCC: Is 40:1-3 719; Is 40:11 754
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 85:9-10-11-12, 13-14
R. (8) Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
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. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
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. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
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. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
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Commentary on Ps 85:9-10-11-12, 13-14
Psalm 85 is a communal lament that focuses on the woes of the nation. These strophes reflect the joy of salvation at the restoration of the land following the destruction of the temple and the Diaspora. Those faithful to God see the reward: a land restored, justice returned, and the salvation of God. When used in the context of the Advent season, the theme of preparation for a time of peace is announced. It is a clear tie to the herald of the Messiah, echoing Isaiah’s oracle (Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11).
CCC: Ps 85:11 214; Ps 85:12 2795
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Reading II: 2 Peter 3:8-14
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.
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Commentary on 2 Pt 3:8-14
The author begins this passage cautioning the people not to lose heart because the Lord had not returned in their lifetimes. St. Peter reminds them that God’s time is different than man’s perception: “a thousand years like one day” (see also Psalm 90:4). He continues, reaffirming the Parousia (the second coming and the Apocalypse). St. Peter teaches them that they must understand the day is coming, at a time they do not expect, when they will be called to account for how they have used the life God gave them. Their actions, he tells them, must be the very image of holiness and devotion to Christ Jesus.
CCC: 2 Pt 3:9 1037, 2822; 2 Pt 3:11-12 671; 2 Pt 3:12-13 677; 2 Pt 3:13 1043, 1405
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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.”
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Commentary on Mk 1:1-8
This introduction and beginning of St. Mark’s Gospel contains several important elements. First, Mark begins announcing his intent; to provide the good news of Jesus as the Christ – the Son of God. He follows this immediately by linking Jesus’ story to the Hebrew scriptures describing John the Baptist’s role as fulfilling the oracle of Isaiah 40:3 (he actually includes other OT references from Malachi 3:1; and Exodus 23:20).
The description of John the Baptist recalls the Prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1:8), further establishing St. John’s role as prophet and providing the preconditions necessary for the appearance of the Messiah (it was explicit in Hebrew tradition that the appearance of the Messiah must be preceded by the second coming of Elijah (cf. Malachi 3:23-24)).
The passage closes with St. John the Baptist announcing the coming of the Messiah who will transform the people through, not simply repentance, but also by placing a new spirit within them (cf. Ezekiel 36:24-28).
CCC: Mk 1:1 422, 515
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Reflection:
The themes of Advent are well represented in Sacred Scripture this day. We begin with the prophetic vision of the Prophet Isaiah, who sees the coming of salvation heralded by one who must appear to him to be Elijah returning, but who is in fact St. John the Baptist.
The glory of God will be revealed as his path is prepared. We understand the metaphor being used. Not only must the event be announced, but the spirit of those who will receive the gift must be readied. Preparing a path for the Lord means that the “will” must be ready to accept the spirit of holiness that God will impart.
St. Mark introduces us to the herald of Christ, St. John the Baptist. We have known about him from before his birth. He greeted Holy Mary when Jesus was in her womb by leaping for joy (Luke 1:39-45). Now, fully grown, he takes up his mission, calling for a return to God’s law and reign. Eccentrically, he comes out of the wilderness reminding us of the Prophet Elijah, and basically hijacks the Jewish rite of ritual purification. (The Pharisees used this ritual out of Ezekiel’s prophetic book (Ezekiel 36:24-29) to symbolize that they had turned from sin. Later, in Jesus' public ministry (John 2:1-11), the Lord changes water intended for this use into wine at the Wedding Feast at Cana.)
The Baptist calls for conversion of heart and “repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” We note that St. John clarifies that there is one coming after him who will forgive those sins. His baptism is symbolic, the Lord’s is efficacious – it does what it signifies.
All of this is given to us in Scripture, and how do we take it to heart? As luck would have it, I had a recent experience that provides an apt analogy.
Our family has a cabin (literally a log cabin) up north near Gladwin Michigan. In that cabin there is a very old round wooden table. How old, I’m not exactly sure, but to give you an idea, it was found in the attic of a house my parents bought in 1961. It had been there for a long time and house itself was nearly 100 years old. My guess is the table is probably around 100 years old now. It once had leaves, long since lost. The table is about 5 feet in diameter so our family of 7 fit around it quite nicely. It became our kitchen table and the place where most of our meals were shared. In that role it saw a lot of use.
When my mother found the table she went to work on it. She took off the peeling surface veneer and underneath found solid planks of what she called wormy Walnut, really pretty wood in spite of the name. Knowing the use she had in mind for the table, she needed to protect that wooden surface. She proceeded to refinish the top using stain and varnish. Now, the varnish available back in the early sixties was not what we have today. She put on several coats of varnish in order to protect it from spills and five growing children. As the years wore on, this varnish became sticky. By the time it was moved to the cabin in the early seventies the top had become tacky enough so that we expected to find flies trapped on its surface.
We decided it was time to refinish the table. So, on a long weekend the project was undertaken. For those of you who have never refinished furniture here is the process we followed:
First – the table was taken apart. The top was placed on long benches in the garage and the pedestal was put next to it on the same drop cloth we had under the table top.
Second – the old varnish had to be stripped off so we applied stripping compound and let it sit overnight. We were not sure if we were going to need to do this twice since at some point in the recent past a plastic table cloth was put on the table and the backing, a sort of cotton fabric, had stuck to the top so it looked as if it was growing fur.
Third – the next morning we came out with plastic putty knives and scraped off the gooey mess. Even though that was a messy job it was easier than what had to happen next.
Fourth – we needed to take the top down to clean bare wood so we started sanding – and sanding – and sanding, first with coarse paper, then medium, then fine, until we had a clean smooth surface.
Fifth – came the stain. In our case we used a combination stain and polyurethane coating so we combined two steps that any cabinet makers among you might consider sacrilege. But we needed to put on two coats and could have put on a third.
To complete the job we polished up the top with fine steel wool and moved it back inside and re-assembled it. The results were good. The table no longer traps flies and it looks great in that old log cabin of approximately the same age.
That refinishing project is what St. John the Baptist invites us to do to ourselves in this Advent season as we hear his call to repentance. Just like that old table, our finish gets flawed and perhaps even sticky with time. We need to strip off that old finish and renew ourselves as we prepare to receive the great guest who comes at the Nativity of the Lord.
First, just as with that old table, we need to strip off the varnish of sin and bad habits that have accumulated since last we undertook this kind of effort. Also like the table, the longer it’s been since we have had ourselves down to bare wood, the more difficult the finishing process is going to be. In place of the stripping compound and sandpaper we have the sacrament of reconciliation to take care of the really big stuff, sins that blemish the soul.
Once we get that taken care of we can start refining the clean-up process. Prayer is a great refiner of our spiritual selves. It is a lot like sanding if you think about it. Since we are commanded to pray in private, no one really sees us praying, but it is in that way we get to know the Lord. We speak with him and he answers (if we listen). While people do not see that interior life of prayer, it is the foundation that ultimately determines what is seen by others.
So, in our analogy what represents that last step, the finishing process, in our lives? It is our actions in accordance with our faith. It is how we act around others and what we do for those less fortunate. Acts of charity do amazing things for the luster of our finish. In those instances, others see us as we hope to be seen, as adopted children of God.
As we really get into our Advent journey the hardest part is really deciding to begin the transformation that will make us worthy to receive the one who came and who is to come. Let that be our pledge going forward; that we will make the effort to remake ourselves so that like a beautiful piece of furniture we will be fitting guests at our Lord’s great feast.
For those of us still not able to receive Christ in the Eucharist, either out of caution or availability to attend Mass physically we offer this prayer:
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, And I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen
Pax
In other years on this date: Optional Memorial for Saint Nicholas, Bishop.
[1] Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, Published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2] The picture used today is “St. John the Baptist” by Francesco Solimena, c. 1700.
[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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