Year B
Discover the deeper meaning and connections found in this week's readings, through these great commentaries written by our priests.
Explore this week's readings and hear what God is saying to us through His Word.
Find out more about how we can mark this special day in our liturgy.
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Introduction
First Reading:
The majestic poetry of this text (Isaiah40:1-5.9-11), and the implications of symbolic content, initiates a new era for the sufferings of God’s people; It is a letter of consolation, that ‘speaks to the heart of Jerusalem’. Servitude is ended, and the burdens of oppression are to be lifted, as sins are forgiven, and God’s people are restored to their lost innocence.
It is a time for regeneration, renewal, and transformation expressed in a form of language that offers hope and new beginnings. This regeneration is to be experienced, not in Jerusalem but in a desert, a place of receptivity, reflection, and prayer. The symbolic content of Isaiah’s ‘preparation time’ is that of a straight road running through this desert, a place where one’s vision of God’s coming is visible and reassuring. All that distorts the vision of this coming will be cast aside, mountains will become a plain, and ridges a valley.
Second Reading:
The Old Testament longings and yearnings for God to reveal himself is implicit in the second letter of St. Peter, where the anticipation for a ‘new heaven and a new earth’ will be realised. The need for preparation and a ‘change of heart’ in the waiting time, will be enhanced by living holy and saintly lives’ in the present moment, with anticipation for the joyful welcoming of the saviour.
Discussion:
Isaiah’s imagery, depicts a joyful messenger who has been charged with proclaiming this good news of God’s coming. The messenger is to ‘shout with a loud voice’ and ‘without fear.’ The content of his message is ‘here is your God’ and ‘here is the Lord coming with power.’ He, the God of your fathers, will come with the might of a commander and the reputation of a leader of high repute - ‘his trophies will all go before him, but also he will appear with a tenderness as he gathers his people in his arms and holds them‘ close to his breast’.
In this morning’s gospel, John appears preaching repentance, and in his life and ministry reflects and preaches about the one on whom ‘the spirit of the Lord rests’. John is the voice that cries in the wilderness, preaching restoration through baptism ‘for the forgiveness of sins.’ John’s task is to prepare the way, and be the forerunner for Jesus, who is to be the long expected one.
2nd Sunday of Advent
Catholicism of the Catholic Church References:
CCC 522, 711-716, 722: the prophets and the expectation of the Messiah
CCC 523, 717-720: the mission of John the Baptist
CCC 1042-1050: a new heaven and a new earth
Adventus, the Latin term which this liturgical season derives from, translates to ‘coming to’. During this season we are ‘coming to’ two realities. Initially, the first‘ coming to’ recalls the past event of the coming of the Son of God to humanity, being incarnated and becoming man. “For he assumed,” as the first Eucharistic preface of Advent states, “at his first coming the lowliness of human flesh, and fulfilled the design [God] formed long ago, and opened for us the way to eternal salvation.” Through Christ’s incarnation, the way to eternal life, fullness of life, true peace, and happiness has been opened. However, the second ‘coming to’ recalls our devoted and expectant delight in his coming in Glory. Our minds and hearts are led to look forward, with joy, to Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time. For as the preface continues, “…when he comes again in glory and majesty and all is at last made manifest.” We are, therefore, currently in this ‘in-between period’ of holding on to the past event of Christ’s coming at the Incarnation but also holding out to the future promise of his Second Coming. What does the liturgy instruct us to do during this period? The preface tells to “we who watch for that day may inherit the great promise in which now we dare to hope.” We need to watch in hope. Although all may seem dark around us, we need to keep our gaze on the light that will come, knowing that our hope in never in vain. We may take inspiration from the Psalmist during this season – “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him…delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps 37:7,4). Likewise, we may listen to Mendelssohn’s Elijah (Op.70, MWV A25): “O rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him.”
Hymns have been chosen from the Laudate Hymnal:
Hark! a herald voice 92
On Jordan's banks 94
The Voice of God 108
Do you have questions about the liturgy and how we are called to participate in it? Explore how the Church councils, saints, and popes have answered this key question and many more.
Every movement of the Mass is rich in meaning but we can become over-familiar with it. Rediscover the Mass and explore how it relates to the Exodus story, where many of its rituals come from, and how it makes Jesus present to us today.
