SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Last Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent, the Church, in her liturgy invited us to “be vigilant, be alert.” Today, second Sunday of Advent, the invitation is “prepare the way.” Only the one who is alert is able to prepare the way on time.  

FIRST READING   ISAÍAH 40:1-5. 9-11

Ø  This Reading is taken from the beginning of the book of the Second or Deutero-Isaiah. Prophet who had the mission to tell the Israelites exiled in Babylon that they would  soon return to their beloved country. 

Ø  The reading  offers us several images of great beauty, images of peace and consolation. 

o   First image verses 1 and 2  

§  Her service is at an end. These words bring to our imagination the military man

or woman who is allowed to return to his or her home after serving his or her country.   

§  Her guilt is expiated, makes us think of the prisoner who is set free after serving the time assigned to be  in prison. 

o   Second image, verses 3-5

§  A voice cries out, what does it cry?  PREPARE THE WAY.   How?   Make a straight a highway for the Lord.  This image brings to our mind the preparations that took place in ancient times, when a king, an emperor or a victorious commander was coming.

§  What is high must be lowered and what is low must be filled, so that the path is smooth and secure. 

§  Thus the Lord will be able to “come” “to reveal Himself to us” and everyone will see his glory. 

§  This text brings also to our memory the crossing of the sea, by the Hebrew slaves in Egypt, they walked  through the waters on a smooth and straight path. 

§  And also the way these same slaves, now transformed in the people of God, walked through the desert. With them Yahweh, the Lord of Hosts, as the Old Testament likes to call Him, walked with them, led  them.   

o   Third Image, verses 9 and 10

§  The Messenger who brings good tidings. In ancient times the news were brought by messengers. 

§  This Messenger is asked to go to a high mountain and cry out  in a loud voice  

§  What does he has to cry out? That God is here. 

§  God comes with power and brings with himself the salary, but before him goes the recompense.    The real salary will be earned by Christ on the cross, and will be given to us a free gift from God in Christ, a free recompense earned by the Lord Jesus. 

o   Fourth Image verse 10

§  The shepherd feeds his sheep with tenderness, this is an idyllic image.

§  The shepherd who takes care of the flock, he carries in his arms the little ones and takes good care of the pregnant mothers. 

This is a very rich Reading with many themes for our meditation, for our personal reflection over our own life. Let us prepare in the desert of our heart a smooth path for the Lord, a smooth path for our brothers and sisters so that they do not find obstacles in their relationship with us. And thus we will be able to proclaim to everyone that the Lord is near, that the Lord comes, or still better,  that the Lord is already here among us. He takes care with love and tenderness of each one of us, according to our own nature and needs, as the shepherd of Isaiah. 

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  – PSALM  85: 9-10, 11-12, 13-14.

      This psalm is a supplication of the community. It has three different parts:

o   The actions of God   verses 2-4

o   A supplication  verses 5-8

o   A divine oracle   verses 9-14

      The responsorial psalm is taken from the third part.  

      Let us reflect on the  meaning of the Hebrew word SHALOM  mentioned in this psalm:

o   Shalom means more than our word peace. 

o   Very often in our Western culture, peace means absence of war, of conflict, of confrontations, of differences.  

o   But shalom goes beyond that, maybe we could translate it as harmony. 

o   According to the dictionary harmony means a combination of parts into a pleasing or orderly whole. These parts can be words, sounds, colors…. 

o   Shalom  speaks to us of peace and harmony in the relationship between creation and its Creator.  

§  The relationship between the human being and his or her Creator. Relationship of harmony in which we are filled with the joy of knowing that we are taken care of, loved and cherished by our God who is Father.   

§  Relationships between human beings. This harmony is translated into justice. Relationships in which we recognized that we are brothers and sisters created by the same God who is Father and Mother of all. 

§  The relationship between the human beings and the rest of creation. Relations of justice as the psalm says: justice and peace shall kiss.  Relations in which we acknowledge ourselves as part of the same created world, together with the rest of creation.  

      The response will be : LORD LET US SEE YOUR KINDNESS AND GRANT US YOUR SALVATION. 

  SECOND LETTER OF PETER 

§  This letter has the characteristics of what has been called “Last will Letters” written by someone who is very close to death.  

§  The author writes to strengthen the faith of the readers, defending it from those who preach a superior knowledge “gnosis.” 

§  It is an exhortation to be prepared for the second coming of the Lord.

§  From the early times of the Church this letter was not considered to have been written by Peter, but by someone who used the name of Peter as a pseudonym. 

§  The reasons are: 

o   A great difference in literary style between this second letter and the first letter written by Peter.  

o   The Hellenistic influence.

o   He speaks of the apostles as persons who are not present anymore. 

o   The mention  of the letters of Paul. This happened in the Church after Paul’s death, which was also the time of the death of Peter.  

o   The disappointment for the delay of the second coming, which in the first letter was imminent. 

SECOND READING – SECOND LETTER OF PETER 3,8-14

Ø  Peter says that the Lord does not delay his coming, for him one day and one year are the same. 

Ø  What happens is that he was to give us time to change whatever is wrong in our life. 

Ø  The day of the Lord will come as a thief, and the author  describes it in  apocalyptic terms. 

Ø  What we await after that are new heavens and new earth, which according to Paul have already began in Christ Jesus. 

Ø  The author  asks us, what kind of person do we have to be if we await the Lord who will come as a thief? How are we going to prepare ourselves? 

Ø  They say that one day Saint Aloysius Gonzaga was playing during recreation time with other novices. They asked him, brother Aloysius, if you were told that God will come to take you with Him, what would you do?  He answered I will keep playing.   

Ø  In the same way we must conduct our life in such a way that we do not fear the coming of the Lord.   

GOSPEL OF MARK 1:1-8

      The Gospel of Mark begins telling us that he is going to tell us the Good News of Jesus, the Son of God.  It is like an overture as in the operas. 

      Good News because Jesus is always Good News. Also because we begin a new period in Salvation History. 

      The person of Jesus will be revealed before our eyes. The revelation of Jesus de Son of God will go in crescendo until the cross, when a pagan, a Roman soldier will recognize Him as the Son of God.

      The biblical quote which follows the prologue, and that Mark says is from Isaiah, is in reality a mixture of several quotes taken from  the book of Exodus  23:20; the book of the Second Isaiah 40:3  and   the book of the prophet Malachi  3:1,  

       Mark puts before our eyes John the Baptist, the Herald of good tidings, the prophet who can point to us the Lord already present among us. 

      After explaining to us  the mission of John on verses 2 and 3; his preaching on verse 4; his success on verse 5 and his living style on verses 7 and 8, John himself will present to us the Lord.   

      He says, that he baptizes with water (from the outside) but Jesus will baptize in the Holy Spirit (from the inside)  

CLARETIAN CORNER

 But God, who had given the idea for everything, disposed that the procurator came that morning to celebrate the mass. I saw clearly in this the Divine disposition, and was encouraged to speak to him after mass (after the time of the mass I had been praying to God- if He was pleased – to prepare the procurator to accept it well and that everything could be done without any disappointment. This would be the most painful for me.)    Everything came out as prepared by the hand of God. Because, after the mass, I explain to Him the motives and inconveniences I had for not leaving the house. And how the Lord had enlighten me that night in that same way, that it was alright and that he would take care to send a message not to go on with the other house. I gave thanks to the Lord who, as a good father, remedies the necessities of his children and provides for their economy. María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters , Autobiography 187)

 Moreover, everyone feels--and sees the same in everyone else--as if he were at the scene of an explosion. The air is filled with terrifying cries of "Mercy!" and, driven by their instinct for self-preservation, people start running for the nearest square, patio, or street, for nobody feels safe in his own home. Then, after running a while, they stop and suddenly grow silent. They look at each other foolishly and tears come to their eyes. What is happening is beyond explanation. In the midst of all these terrors, one touch of incongruous humor stands out: all the sick in private homes and in civilian and military hospitals--all of them wrapped in their bedsheets --arise and leave their sickbeds. Not one of them but says that he is quite well and that nothing could induce him to return to bed. (St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 532)

MARANATHA   COME LORD JESUS

YES I AM COMING SOON