December 10, 2017 — Second Sunday of Advent
IS 40: 1-5, 9-11; PS 85: 9-14; 2 PT: 3, 8-14; MK 1: 1-8
Our readings from Holy Scripture on this Second Sunday of Advent remind us of what we are supposed to be doing during Advent, in fact throughout our lives. The reading from Isaiah anticipates the coming of Christ and John the Baptist as it proclaims “… prepare the way of the Lord.” This is a time of preparation for us.
That message is repeated in our Gospel from St. Mark. Today’s Gospel is the absolute beginning of Mark’s Gospel and it immediately gives us that same signal by declaring, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” Of course, we all realize that the path to the Lord may not always be straight for us, but now is a time to correct that.
God is waiting for us. St. Peter in his Second Letter, from which our Second Reading is drawn, indicates that God, however, “is patient with you.” You might say on this Second Sunday of Advent that the Lord is giving us a second chance to respond to His call. One of the basics of St. John the Baptist’s messages was that we need to get ourselves right with the Lord, perhaps turn our lives in a different direction. We can change; now is the time to do that.
Pope St. John XXIII once stated during a homily in Advent, “We are all part of an immense family. This is proven by what is in our hearts during Advent and Christmas.” Now is the time to put love in our hearts and to truly prepare the way of the Lord.
