SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
10 DECEMBER 2017
The
words of the Prophet Isaiah are addressed to a people who are suffering
greatly. Those few remaining children of
Abraham had witnessed the execution of their leaders, the complete destruction
of Jerusalem, and the dismantling of their Temple. Now they are languishing in exile in
Babylon. Isaiah is honest with
them. They have brought this destruction
upon themselves. But he also tells them
that God has not abandoned them. With
tenderness, he tells them that their time of suffering is about to end. He promises that God will lead them through
the wilderness back to their own land.
Just as God had filled in the valleys and leveled the hills for their
ancestors in the desert between Egypt and the Promised Land, God would now
accompany them in their return to Jerusalem.
In the desert, God is giving them a new beginning.
Saint Mark
remembers those words as he sits down to write his Gospel, which literally
means “the proclamation of joyful tidings.”
Mark echoes the words of the Book of Genesis: In the beginning, God created the heavens and
the earth. In the person of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, God is beginning something new. John the Baptist is not proclaiming these joyful
tidings in the sacred Temple, where his father serves as a priest. He proclaims them in the desert, in that
barren wilderness where God walks with his people and calls them to pursue new
beginnings. He is not wearing the sacred
vestments that were his as a member of the tribe of Levi. He is wearing the rough garments of Elijah
the prophet, who called his people to repent of walking away from God. He is not eating the rich foods in
Jerusalem. He is eating the locusts and
honey consumed by his ancestors in their 40 day journey through the desert to
the Promised Land.
John the
Baptist speaks to us in the darkness of our world. We live at a time where there are so many
deep divisions between groups of people.
Not only are there dangerous tensions between nations, but there are
steep mountains of arrogance and deep valleys of distrust dividing so many in
our country. If we are to embrace his
glad tidings of a new beginning, we must enter the desert. We must repent. The Greek word for repentance is metanoia, which implies a complete
change of mind and heart. In other
words, we need to take a good look at the ways in which we have dug valleys
that separate us from people we don’t like or don’t agree with. We need to admit that we have built up
mountains of pride that focus our attention on ourselves and our own needs,
forgetting the needs of those around us.
It is the Holy Spirit who can help us to fill in these valleys and level
these mountains – the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead an in whom we
have been baptized. Then the glory of
the Lord will be revealed!
This Second
Sunday of Advent is surrounded by two feasts honoring Mary, the Mother of
God. On Friday, we celebrated the
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
We recalled that the Virgin Mary became the new Eve by recognizing that
she was truly free when she trusted the Word of the angel and agreed to do
God’s will. On Tuesday, we will
celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a feast central to the experience
of so many of our brothers and sisters in our sister parish of Saint
Adalbert. Our Lady had entered into the
culture of Saint Juan Diego, and she remains in the mess of our culture as the
Patroness of the Americas, pointing to her Son.
These main
figures of the Advent Season speak to us.
The Prophets Isaiah and John the Baptist call us to look for a new
beginning, as Mary had the courage to do.
Take some time to listen to these figures. Retreat for a few moments from the noise and
sounds of the “Holiday Season and spend some time alone in the desert which is
known as Advent. Make a really good
Confession sometime before Christmas.
The Lord invites us to travel through repentance to meet him, not only
as a child born in a stable, but as the Lord who returns to set us free.
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