Skip to main content

2nd Sunday of Advent

Prepare the way of the Lord!  Make straight his path!  This is the clarion call we receive for this 2nd Sunday of Advent.  Preparation is the message as we are bombarded with all sorts of advertising right now... to find the perfect gift, create the perfect meal, decorate the perfect home, all the while surrounded by the perfect sense of family.  Trouble is, when we seek this type of perfection, we often find ourselves disappointed.  Not only have we missed the point of the season, we’ve allowed the secular world to obfuscate our understanding of the Gospel message…


Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
Psalm 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14
2 Peter 3:8-14
Mark 1:1-8

We open with one of the finest songs of forgiveness and triumph from the Prophet Isaiah.  There is an established pattern in all of our worship… that before we ask for something from God, we first must ask him for forgiveness for our sins.  We see this every time we celebrate the Mass as we begin with the Penitential Rite at the beginning of Mass .  Preparation, in the truest Judeo-Christian form, means approaching God (and one another) with a clear conscience… with an unburdened heart and a cleansed soul.  Isaiah recognizes that the people’s sufferings in Exile in Babylon has been more than sufficient payment for their sins, and God in his compassionate mercy, doesn’t merely forgive their sins, but states that “her guilt is expiated,”  as if that sin had never existed.  From this comes the triumphant prophecy of the end of their exile.  By recognizing their mistakes, they have opened themselves to salvation… a promise echoed in our Psalm as we sing, “Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation!”

But how long until we are saved?  This is the question St. Peter is faced with in our second reading.  The communities to which he is writing were made a promise… that by renouncing sin and following the way of Christ they would be saved.  The next obvious question, then, is “when?”  Peter, in the voice of the wise Church elder, reminds us to be patient.  In a society where we are increasingly accustomed to instant gratification, rushing around to make sure everything is ready for the holidays, Peter’s message serves as a poignant reminder for us all;  we should be patient and focus instead on how we are conducting ourselves.

Our Gospel then takes us to the opening of Mark’s Gospel, where we hear again those same words from Isaiah, “prepare the way of the Lord!”  In this case, the announcement is from John the Baptist preparing the people for the one who is to come… Jesus, the Christ.  An how does he prepare the people?  By baptizing them in the Jordan River as they acknowledge their sins.

We are all attracted to the idea of having the “perfect” holiday.  But none of us are perfect.  We all come with some baggage.  But guess what… God knows that.  And yet he still wants us.  God isn’t looking for us to be perfect, but he does expect us to take stock of our failings, acknowledge our sins, and strive to learn from those mistakes for the betterment of all.  This is how we prepare for the coming of the Lord.  Repent, give thanks, and then give praise.

Final Thoughts:
When I think about Advent it reminds me about cleaning my kitchen before preparing something special.  All the dishes from previous meals need to be clean and put away.  The counter tops need to be cleared to have plenty of work space.  All the items I need to cook need to be clean, staged, and standing ready.  How, I ask myself, could anyone cook in a dirty, disorganized kitchen?  You can’t.  At least no good cook would.  The first order of business is always to make sure everything is cleaned and organized before you start.  This is Advent.  This is the time to clean the dishes… to cleans our souls, to organize and prioritize our lives for the feast that is the coming of Christ.  So let go of the commercial chaos of the holidays and take this opportunity to “clean your kitchen, ” and prepare the way of the Lord.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time - Cycle C

“In the beginning there was the Word…”  These are the dramatic opening lines from the Gospel according to John, and though we will not be reading from John’s Gospel this Sunday, these words ring true for our readings for this 3rd Sunday of Ordinary time.  The people are in the midst of something new, a new beginning that, as our readings will show, begin with The Word… The Word for the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10 Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 15 1 Corinthians 12:12-30 (or 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27) Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21 Our first reading is from the book of the Prophet Nehemiah.  Nehemiah, along with the priest/prophet Ezra, are the architects of the Restoration of Israel.  Their great Exile in Babylon is over and through the grace of the Persian King, Cyrus the Great, Israel is free to return to their land, to rebuild the Temple and to rebuild their lives as the people of God.  In an effort to guild them in this new beginning, Nehemiah and Ezra g...

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

February 2nd is the date chosen by the Church to celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.  When a significant feast day falls on a Sunday, the Church sets aside the readings for that normal week to celebrate the feast with these special readings: The Word for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord Malachi 3:1-43 Psalm 24: 7, 8, 9, 10 Hebrews 2:14-18 Luke 2:22-40 or 2:22-32 While the Catholic Church today refers to this day as the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, traditionally it has also been called the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, Candlemas, the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, and the Meeting of the Lord .  Prior to the Second Vatican Council, Candlemas was a time where beeswax candles were blessed for use throughout the year, a tradition still followed in some parish communities.  Today the celebration focuses more on the prophecy of Simeon, and Pope John Paul II chose it as a time for renewal of religious vows (not to be confused...

8th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Cycle C

As with last week’s readings, our readings for the 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time are usually passed over for other feast days, but since Easter is somewhat late this year, we get to finish out this stretch of Ordinary Time with some readings we rarely get to hear during Sunday Mass: The Word for the 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time Sirach 27:4-7 Psalm 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16 1 Corinthians 15:54-58 Luke 6:39-45 Our first reading comes from the book of Sirach, also known as the Wisdom of Ben Sira, a great sage from Jerusalem who embraced the Wisdom tradition.  The work was originally finished around 175 BCE and was later translated into Greek by the author’s grandson sometime after 117 BCE during the Jewish diaspora that flourished in the later Ancient Greek Empire.  Since our earliest manuscripts for this book were found in Greek, it does not hold the same canonical status for Jews and Protestants, but more recent archeological finds have verified its Hebrew origins.  Like all Wisdo...