Continuing in prayerful reading of Scripture, we move into the 2nd Sunday, it is still a time of waiting and wonder, but now we hear the call to the Wilderness, to prepare and make straight our paths, so we may see the saving presence of God.
Having visited the Sahara Desert, apart from the vast expanse, the harshness of the rough of the terrain, the obvious barrenness, what stuck me most was how could anything (me included) actually cope in such an environment?
The wilderness is a place of such unfamiliarity, immediately we are out of our comfort zone. Luckily for me, we were in a 4 x 4, with excellent guides who knew exactly where they were, and how to get to the nearest Oasis. I simply would not have been there otherwise.
Yet this is where we are called to go. It is in the Wilderness that the Gospel, the new message of consolation is proclaimed, it is here that the knowledge of our Lord’s saving power is brought to mankind. It is in the wilderness we find God’s saving Presence and Help.
Spiritually it is an unnerving place to go. If left to our own devices perhaps we are all too acutely aware that we will not survive. We need our survival kits, we need certain things to make us feel secure, which we can pull out of the hat when necessary – when the going gets tough. Outside of our comfort zone, we are not perfectly safe, especially if we are called to leave behind our little luxuries and our securities, as they alleviate our fears, and stop us from worrying. Having to trust Another to save us is scary. Surely we could keep back something, or continue doing the things that we have always been doing, which make our journey easier?
John the Baptist is in the Wilderness shouting “Prepare a way for the Lord”. How can we prepare a way? Perhaps one way is to look again at what we are taking with us, what ‘security blankets’ we have, and perhaps we may begin to start letting go of things that hold us back from entering more fully into His Love.
“Lord, Help to make straight our paths, so we may enter into your Love, Peace and Joy.”
First Reading Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
‘Console my people, console them’
says your God.
‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem
and call to her
that her time of service is ended,
that her sin is atoned for,
that she has received from the hand of the Lord
double punishment for all her crimes.’
A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness
a way for the Lord.
Make a straight highway for our God
across the desert.
Let every valley be filled in,
every mountain and hill be laid low.
Let every cliff become a plain,
and the ridges a valley;
then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed
and all mankind shall see it;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
Go up on a high mountain,
joyful messenger to Zion.
Shout with a loud voice,
joyful messenger to Jerusalem.
Shout without fear,
say to the towns of Judah,
‘Here is your God.’
Here is the Lord coming with power,
his arm subduing all things to him.
The prize of his victory is with him,
his trophies all go before him.
He is like a shepherd feeding his flock,
gathering lambs in his arms,
holding them against his breast
and leading to their rest the mother ewes.
Second Reading 2 Peter 3:8-14
There is one thing, my friends, that you must never forget: that with the Lord, ‘a day’ can mean a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not being slow to carry out his promises, as anybody else might be called slow; but he is being patient with you all, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to change his ways. The Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then with a roar the sky will vanish, the elements will catch fire and fall apart, the earth and all that it contains will be burnt up.
Since everything is coming to an end like this, you should be living holy and saintly lives while you wait and long for the Day of God to come, when the sky will dissolve in flames and the elements melt in the heat. What we are waiting for is what he promised: the new heavens and new earth, the place where righteousness will be at home. So then, my friends, while you are waiting, do your best to live lives without spot or stain so that he will find you at peace.
Gospel Acclamation Luke 3:4,6
Alleluia, alleluia!
Prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight,
and all mankind shall see the salvation of God.
Alleluia!
Gospel Mark 1:1-8
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.
and so it was that John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him, and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins. John wore a garment of camel-skin, and he lived on locusts and wild honey. In the course of his preaching he said, ‘Someone is following me, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’
Readings for 2nd week of Advent
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Tags: Christian Life, Church Life
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