The Second Sunday of Advent Is 40:1-5 & 9-11; 2 Pet 3:8-14; Mk 1:1-8 (Year B)
It is significant that the Gospel according to Mark, considered by most to be the earliest of the written Gospels, has no account of the birth of Jesus. Instead his Gospel begins with the call of John the Baptist. “The beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah: Look, I am going to send my messenger before you; he will prepare your way. A voice cries in the wilderness: prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.”
Mark’s surprising omission of the Christmas narrative directs our thoughts to Advent’s fundamental call. We, like the Evangelist, begin from the sure knowledge that already Christ has been born into this world. He has lived, died and risen from the dead that we might live in him. Therefore throughout Advent, and indeed in every moment of our lives, we are called to welcome him in prayer, quiet reflection and repentance.
Long ago the prophet Isaiah had consoled a broken people with the promise of God’s healing: “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call to her that her time of service is ended, that her sin is atoned for.”
At this time the citizens of Jerusalem were refugees, strangers in a foreign land. They mourned for all that had been lost and, above all, for a lost sense of God’s familiar presence.
In different circumstances the season of Advent bids us to consider our lives. What has been lost? What distractions and selfish preoccupations have obstructed God’s presence? Have I created a wilderness in which love, forgiveness and hope have withered for lack of sustenance?
Advent brings the promise that God comes to meet us at the heart of our wilderness. He becomes our straight highway through the conflict of daily living, our victory over sin. To longing hearts he becomes the shepherd leading his flock, gathering lambs in his arms. As John the Baptist promised, he comes as the one who baptises us with the Holy Spirit.
At the beginning of Advent, let us turn to the Holy Spirit in prayer. Through the Holy Spirit Mary welcomed Christ into her life. Through that same Holy Spirit God breathes fresh hope into our hearts, enabling us to pray: “Come, Lord Jesus, come.”
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