Prepare the way of the Lord

ADVENT SUNDAY BANQUET: Ish 40:1-5.9-11, 2 Pet. 3:8-14, Mk 1:1-8. On this Second Sunday of Advent Year B, the Church invites us to focus on the nearness of the coming of the Lord and the need for repentance. Today's first reading refers to the return from Exile as a ‘New Exodus’. A ‘way’ is being prepared, not just for Israel, but for God, whose ‘glory’ will be made manifest to all humankind. Thus the ‘good tidings’ of ‘home-coming’ that Isaiah proclaimed concerning Israel has become the ‘Gospel’ of humanity’s return to its true home within the ‘family’ of God. Each Advent invites us to revisit a longing for that ‘home-coming’ existing in the depths of our souls.

The Second reading features the typical Jewish apocalyptic imagery of the ‘Day of the Lord’. It provides a symbolic portrayal of the Christian sense that Christ’s victory over sin and death will take time to be fully realised in the world. Believers must not lose heart, nor allow themselves to be simply absorbed in the present shape of the world, which is destined to give way to ‘a new Heaven and a new earth’. There they and their faithful pattern of life will truly be ‘at home’. Nevertheless, the Advent readings call on us to cultivate 'the soil' of our hearts so that we may become more open to Christ. Today’s Gospel urges us, in the stirring words of John the Baptist, to "prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" (Mk 1:3). Jesus wants to make His home in us and Advent is a good time to do a bit of spring-cleaning and refurbishment in preparation for our honoured guest. A helpful way of preparing for the birth of Jesus is to check out our image of God. Sometimes we have a wrong or inadequate image of God that prevents us from welcoming Jesus fully into the home of our hearts. We could begin to bring our image of God into focus by reading and meditating on the mercy of God in the parables of: "The Prodigal Son, the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin". These stories reveal not merely a loving and compassionate God, but a God who loves us so much that He continues to seek us until He finds us.

May the Lord show us His love and grant us a steadfast faith! Amen!! Stay safe and save life, happy Sunday!!!

Revd Fr Samuel Frederick