Be ready for Him...
Reflections on the readings for the Second Sunday of Advent (December 6, 2020): IS 40:1-5,9-11; PS 35:9-12,13-14; 2 PT 3:8-14; MK 1:1-8
MISSIO offers “Preaching Mission,” as a homily help, providing connections to mission from the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
Instead of taking our Lord for granted, we have to be the faithful followers He calls us to be...
The liturgy for this second Sunday of the Advent speaks of the person who was especially called by God to let people know that the Messiah is coming among them. We hear this in the first reading from Isaiah and then repeated by St. Mark at the very beginning of what is considered the oldest of the four Gospels. But before we are introduced to St. John the Baptist, we are told in no uncertain terms exactly who is the central focus of the Gospel: “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” (Mark 1:1-4). John was chosen by God to announce the coming of His Son. This ministry was the be-all and end-all of his life. And John knew that readying the Jewish people and, finally, the world, for the Redeemer was his singular mission.
John the Baptist was an extraordinary man, set apart from others by his extreme asceticism and his focus on calling people to turn away from selfishness and sin. He baptized many in his effort to prepare them to recognize Christ, the Anointed One, the Deliverer. Only Jesus could ultimately offer forgiveness and salvation. But John reminded a nation that had been waiting thousands of years for news of the Messiah, that they must rouse themselves. They must not only learn to truly think and pray, speak and act like His people, but also to realize they are His beloved children. Twenty centuries later we know who Jesus is, but we still need to be reminded of His sacrifice and triumph over evil and how it affects our own lives. Instead of taking our Lord for granted, we have to be the faithful followers He calls us to be, so that we, too, will be ready for Him to come again – whenever that may be.
