Second Sunday of Advent, Cycle B
Is 40, 1-11; 2 Pt 3, 8-14; Mk 1, 1-8
Anyone who has ever waited for something important and needed to be prepared for that special event would tell you that waiting and being prepared are anything but passive. I think of athletes who prepare for a particular marathon which might be coming up with much care and expectation. Whoever is expecting a baby to be born in their family similarly does all that is needed to be prepared and to wait "actively". When we prepare for something, it is as though we are almost already making that particular thing present. We make the necessary adjustments to our life so that we can truly receive and benefit fully from that thing that we are waiting for once it finally arrives.
True preparation can be long and tedious and it requires of us a large dose of hope. To hope is to believe something that we do not yet see. It requires of us great commitment and determination. Above all, it requires of us the ability to start again.
Preparation for Christmas is no exception. The Christmas shopping, the preparations for social gatherings, whether they may be drinks with our department colleagues or Christmas dinner with our family, the decorations and Christmas cooking. All these things are good and important. Unfortunately, the many other preparations that need to be done can sometimes distract us from preparations that need to be done on a deeper level, in the depths of our heart.
John the Baptist in today's Gospel repeats the same words of the Prophet Isaiah: "prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths." The Church therefore offers us this opportunity to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord. There may be a lot of things that can hinder Christ's coming in our life.
The liturgical year is like a spiral. Year after year, we celebrate the same feasts, but they are not merely a repetition. Although they sound like the same feasts, year in year out, we are actually going deeper and deeper into these realities. Each time time we celebrate Christmas we go deeper into the mystery of God who has become man for us. We understand a bit more what it means for us, for you and for me that Jesus has come into my life. Unless we take these preparations seriously, we cannot really appreciate the extent of the joy that Jesus has brought us through the incarnation.
Therefore it is not that Jesus is coming this Christmas, for he has already come. But Christmas is an opportunity for us to open our eyes and realise that he has already come. It is not that we need to clear the way for Jesus to come, but that we have put so many things in between us and Jesus that he seems distant from us.
This is why Isaiah's words in today's reading have a particular strength: Comfort, comfort, and the tenderness of the shepherd who gathers the lambs in his arms. In preparing ourselves for Jesus, we are being comforted because Jesus came to bring us his peace and his joy. Sometimes I ask myself, does it really show that Jesus has really come into the world or would the world be just the same with or without Christmas? If we truly prepare ourselves we can truly experience this comforting joy the Jesus brings. If we truly prepare ourselves, we can feel as though we are indeed sheep gathered in the arms of our shepherd.
In this second week of Advent, may our hope be restored, way we wait actively and prepare ourselves fully so that we may really prepare the way of the Lord. May we allow ourselves be comforted by the One who came to bring us joy and joy everlasting.
The liturgical year is like a spiral. Year after year, we celebrate the same feasts, but they are not merely a repetition. Although they sound like the same feasts, year in year out, we are actually going deeper and deeper into these realities. Each time time we celebrate Christmas we go deeper into the mystery of God who has become man for us. We understand a bit more what it means for us, for you and for me that Jesus has come into my life. Unless we take these preparations seriously, we cannot really appreciate the extent of the joy that Jesus has brought us through the incarnation.
Therefore it is not that Jesus is coming this Christmas, for he has already come. But Christmas is an opportunity for us to open our eyes and realise that he has already come. It is not that we need to clear the way for Jesus to come, but that we have put so many things in between us and Jesus that he seems distant from us.
This is why Isaiah's words in today's reading have a particular strength: Comfort, comfort, and the tenderness of the shepherd who gathers the lambs in his arms. In preparing ourselves for Jesus, we are being comforted because Jesus came to bring us his peace and his joy. Sometimes I ask myself, does it really show that Jesus has really come into the world or would the world be just the same with or without Christmas? If we truly prepare ourselves we can truly experience this comforting joy the Jesus brings. If we truly prepare ourselves, we can feel as though we are indeed sheep gathered in the arms of our shepherd.
In this second week of Advent, may our hope be restored, way we wait actively and prepare ourselves fully so that we may really prepare the way of the Lord. May we allow ourselves be comforted by the One who came to bring us joy and joy everlasting.
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