On the First Sunday of Advent (Matthew 24:37-44 (A); Mark 13:33-37(B); Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 (C)), we are awaken and called to stay vigilant as we prepare for the coming of Christ incarnated in the human flesh of Jesus, conceived in and born of Mary the Blessed Virgin, the Immaculate Conception. And he is coming not to Bethlehem and to be placed in a manger. Rather, he is coming to our hearts so that we can grow in him as he dwells in our hearts. On the Second Sunday of Advent (Matthew 3:1-12 (A); Mark 1:1-8 (B); Luke 3:1-6 (C)), we are instructed our Advent preparatory work to welcome Christ in by John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ.
Being fully awaken and alert, on the Second Sunday of
Advent, we now turn our attention to John the Baptist because he was the one
who prepared the Israelites for the public appearance of the incarnated Christ
by calling for penance, as the crying voice out of the wilderness, fulfilling
Isaiah’s prophecy, and cleansing their sins through the baptism he was
conducting. And we also heed his prophetic message about what Christ will
bring, namely, the powerful baptism, indicating the descent of the Holy Spirit on
Pentecost.
On Cycle B, we read Mark’s description of John the
Baptist and his preparation of the Israelites for the coming of the incarnated
Christ in public, for its Gospel Reading (Mark 1:1-8).
In this pithy Marcan Gospel narrative, we see John the
Baptist as the fulfillment of what Isaiah calls a voice proclaiming in the
wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord, making straight in the wasteland a
highway for our God (Isaiah 40:3) in First Reading (Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11). And
the way John the Baptist prepared the Israelites for the coming of the
incarnated Christ to them by proclaiming to repent and to be baptized for
forgiveness of sins was to fulfil this voice in the wilderness (Mark 1:1-4). In
response to the voice in the Judean wilderness on the bank of the Jordan River,
the voice of John the Baptist, people of the whole Judean countryside and all
the inhabitants of Jerusalem were streaming to him and were baptized by him in as
they acknowledged their sins (Mark 1:1-5). Those were the people who were
committed to their preparation to meet Christ and to be saved by him. To them,
John the Baptist 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 (Mark 1:7-8).
Through these words, John the Baptist was alerting
that his preparatory work for the coming of Christ was also to prepare them, in
the long run, to receive more powerful baptism with the Holy Spirit, namely,
Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), by the mightier one, who was coming after him. And the
mightier one who was coming after him is the Christ the Parakletos (Παράκλητος)
(1 John 2:1), as well as, allon Parakletos (ἄλλον Παράκλητος) (John
14:16), namely the Spirit of truth (Πνεῦμα
τῆς ἀληθείας/Pneuma tes aletheias) (John 14:17), which is the Holy Spirit (Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον/ Pneuma Hagion) to teach
and remind of the teaching of Christ (John 14:26). In fact, it is Christ
himself, who calls us to receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). And it is he who
asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit in his name so that we are always with
the Parakletos, the helper (John
14:16). Whether the Parakletos comes
to us in the human flesh of Jesus or in the form of the Holy Spirit, Christ is mighty
and mightier than his forerunner, John the Baptist. And this is he whose coming
we are preparing for.
The voice in the wilderness also orients us to penance in a metaphorical way:
Every
valley shall be lifted up, every mountain and hill made low; the rugged land
shall be a plain, the rough country, a broad valley
(Isaiah 40:4).
By lifting up what was made valleys and flattening
what was made mountains, by making what was rugged plain, we make the path of
Christ’s coming straight (Mark 1:3). This is a call for us to repent and remove
sinfulness out of us so that there is no obstacle in the path of Christ’s
coming into our hearts.
When our hearts are clean and pure, made suitable for
the incarnated Christ, by repenting, as John the Baptist calls (Mark 1:4),
making the path of Christ’s coming straight (Mark 1:3; Isaiah 40:3-4), Christ is
made visible to our eyes at his arrival in glory. Thus, Isaiah has proclaimed:
Then the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has
spoken (Isaiah 40:5).
And God commanded Isaih to further proclaim (Isaiah
40:6a):
All flesh is grass, and all their loyalty
like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower wilts, when the
breath of the Lord blows upon it.
Yes, the people is grass! The grass
withers, the flower wilts, but the word of our God stands forever (Isaiah
40:6b-8).
Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald
of good news! Cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Cry out, do not fear! Say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God! Here comes
with power the Lord God, who rules by his strong arm; Here is his reward with
him, his recompense before him. Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms
he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, leading the ewes with care
(Isaiah 40:9-11).
In the first part of the proclamation (vv. 6b-8) humbly
reminds us that we are made alive by God through his breath of life (נִשְׁמַ֣ת
חַיִּ֑ים /nishemat chayim) which turns עָפָר֙ מִן־ הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה/apar min adamah
(dust from the ground brought by God) into הָֽאָדָ֗ם /adam (a living man)(Genesis
2:7) with a living soul (נֶ֫פֶש/nephesh). God gives us life by his נִשְׁמַ֣ת
חַיִּ֑ים /nishemat chayim (breath of life)(Genesis 2:7) but can take it
away by blowing by His breath (ר֥וּחַ/ruah)(Isaiah 40:7). Our mortality,
therefore, keeps us humble to recognize that we live because of God’s breath of
life. In contrast, וּדְבַר־ אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ/udabar elohenu (Word of God, Dabar
of Elohim) stands forever (Isaiah 40:8; cf. Matthew 24:35; 1 Peter 1:25). In
fact, the words spoken by Christ is the Spirit and life that is not subject to
mortality and impermanence (i.e. John 6:63).
Then, in the second part (Isaiah 40:9-11), the
proclamation calls us to move up to the Mount Zion, Jerusalem (Psalm 122:1-5;
Isaiah 2:2-3), herald of good news because it is where Christ will reign forever
(Jeremiah 3:17; Revelation 21:1-27) with his mighty arm (i.e. Isaiah 52:10) upon
his arrival, taking care of his people as the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-18).
Because of this good news to be proclaimed (Isaiah
40:9-11), along with the crying voice to call for the preparation of the coming
of Christ by repenting (Isaiah 40:3-4), God has called Isaih to proclaim:
Comfort, give comfort to my people, says
your God. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service
has ended, that her guilt is expiated, that she has received from the hand of
the Lord (Isaiah 40:1-2).
With our repentance and contrition, we come out of our
debt of sin (Isaiah 40:2). As our sins are expiated, we are justified by Christ
(John 1:29; Romans 5:1), upon his coming, and he is made visible to our eyes,
as the invisible God made visible (Colossians 1:15; Isaiah 40:5). Then, Christ
will also comfort us, as the Parakletos (1 John 2:1) and in the Holy
Spirit (John 14:16, 26; cf. John 14:18, 28), because “Parakletos” also means
“comforter” (נַחוּם/nahum).
Christ has been already incarnated by the power of the
Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35) to dwell among us (John 1:14). He is coming nearer and
nearer day by day as Advent season progresses. We heed John the Baptist’s call,
the crying voice in the wilderness, to repent for the comfort that Christ will
bring with his eternal reign in Jerusalem. And it is where we are called to
make pilgrimage to.
Now a full week has passed already. As we have been awake
and alert, we shall waste no time for drowsiness. We shall be diligent in our
preparation for the coming of the incarnated Christ. Peter, in the Second Reading (2 Peter 3:8-14),
also calls us to repent but in a way to be ready to stand God’s judgement,
which can come stealthily, as Christ comes so (Matthew 24:43; 1 Thessalonians
5:2,4; Revelation 16:15). For this, we must bear these words of St. Augustine
of Hippo, “Timeo Iesum transeuntem”(
I
fear that Jesus will pass by me unnoticed) (Sermons, 88, 14, 13), as cited by
Pope Francis in preaching on Mark 13:33-37.
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