The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God [Second Sunday of Advent - December 4, 2011]

Second Sunday of Advent [December 4, 2011]

Mark 1:1-8

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths." John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist.
He fed on locusts and wild honey. And this is what he proclaimed: "One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

Reflection

Even during his time, John the Baptizer stood out as on oddity of a person. Never mind his clothes; he ate locusts and wild honey. In spite of it all, people went to him to be baptized, confessing their sins, to prepare the way of the Lord.

Nowadays one may find it difficult to allow such a person, man or woman, to prepare the way of the Lord into one's heart. This is so because an eccentric person usually makes us uncomfortable and perhaps even cautious. At times, the unfamiliar can be unnerving.

Now this is what we face: in our society these days, many things that happen are not good, not life-giving, not true; yet they occur so often that they seemingly become acceptable, or worse, the norm. What used to be considered wrong or inappropriate has become so familiar and ingrained in the culture that when the opposite is encountered, it is the good, the life-giving. It is the truth that can be uncomfortable, even suspicious. At such a time we who make up the church, the Body of Christ, can be as John the Baptizer to one another, helping each other discern which paths are dead ends or crooked, and which are straight and true.

Advent is a good time to hope for and to make real the service of preparing for each other the way of the Lord. To fill in the valleys, to make mountains and hills low, to level all the rough terrain: these are daunting tasks for one person. The sooner we commit to forming ourselves as true church communities, the sooner we shall see together the glory of the Lord (cf.  Isaiah 40:5).

Deacon Ricardo I. Santiago
Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica – Ottawa

Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarroabel.blogspot.com/).