“John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. … 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.’
Mass Readings 12.7.14 – IS 40:1-5, 9-11 – PS 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14 – 2 PT 3:8-14 – MK 1:1-8
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FIRST READING: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
The Prophet Isaiah foretells what later will be fulfilled by the arrival of Saint John the Baptist:
A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
If we reflect on what it means for God to be traversing a desert, we can think of several possibilities. What appears to be desolate can be brought to life by the loving Power of God. In addition, human earthly society can set up all sorts of false structures and false meaning to be shed by those seeking God and seeking what is actually good and true, and the desert represents a stepping away from the sinful follow of human society.
In another part of today’s First Reading, God is seen as Powerful, yet also as a Loving Shepherd:
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, and leading the ewes with care.
Lord, let us see Your Kindness, and grant us Your Salvation.
SECOND READING: 2 Peter 3:8-14
Saint Peter reminds us that the Day of the Lord, the end of the age, will come suddenly and unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.
This fact should give us added impetus to lead good and holy lives.
At the same time, we are reminded that, for God, a thousand years is like a day. So even if we feel as if there is some delay in the Second Coming, to God, who deals in epochs, the supposed delay is actually minimal. And if God waits, it is out of love and concern, to provide more time with the aim that everyone should come to repentance.
… with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but He is patient with you,
not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire….
… what sort of persons ought you to be, conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God …
Like Saint John the Apostle in the Book of Revelation, Saint Peter reminds us that the end of things will actually be a beginning, a new heaven and a new earth:
… we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.
The more time we have to wait for God’s Reign, the more we should cherish the opportunity to tirelessly seek our continued conversion and, with God’s Mercy, constantly strive for greater holiness.
While it is the Second Sunday of Advent, we begin the Gospel of Mark.
The arrival of John the Baptist heralding the coming Messiah fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah about a voice crying out in the desert, prepare you the way of the Lord.
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. … clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey.
John Baptizes people in the Jordan River as they acknowledge their sins.
Yet, like Mary, John centers his focus on God and his own humility, pointing to Christ as greater than himself, One Who will Baptize with the Holy Spirit:
‘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.’
In Advent, spiritually we have a focus on anticipation of the arrival of the Messiah, both at the end of time and in our upcoming celebration of the Nativity of the Lord at Christmas.
So focusing on St. John the Baptist fits in with that, since he was a herald of the arrival of the Messiah. And we are reminded that one important part of how we prepare for Christ is repentance and conversion.
Yet chronologically, the timing of the action in today’s Gospel is about the time that Jesus is a grown man of thirty or so. Indeed, at some point, beyond the scope of this passage, Jesus will arrive on the scene and humble Himself to be Baptized by John, only to have it turn out that it is God the Father who Baptizes Jesus with the Holy Spirit, with the Father’s Voice Present Audibly and the Holy Spirit present visibly.
In the time leading up to Jesus’ Nativity in Bethlehem, of course, when Jesus is Incarnate in the Womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, John the Baptist likewise is in the womb, being carried by Mary’s cousin Elizabeth. John the Baptist was conceived about six months prior. At the Visitation, when Mary makes in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth, they are both pregnant. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, the infant in Elizabeth’s womb stirs with joy, such that the arrival of the Messiah is heralded by a baby’s kick, by the then-prenatal Saint John the Baptist.
Today, in the spirit of anticipation, and connecting Advent with the broad sweep of God’s Plan, we jump ahead to a time when both John the Baptist and Christ are both around thirty.
