ADVENT: AN INVITATION TO CHANGE OUR LIVES
“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” (Mk 1: 2-3).
Now we are in the season of advent and this weekend is the 2nd Sunday of advent. Advent is a time of grace for us. It is a time of grace given to us to prepare our hearts so that we are ready receive Christ at Christmas. Advent is a time that reminds us Jesus is the reason for Christmas. The Gospel reading of this weekend is the beginning of the Gospel of Mark which reminding us of the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled in John the Baptist.
Through the gospel, like Isaiah, John the Baptist brings us the good news about the Lord’s imminent coming. He makes two explicit calls to us. The first is, a call to repent for the forgiveness of our sins. Advent is the time to reconcile with God whom we have offended through our words and actions. Repentance and reconciliation are very important conditions for us to welcome Christ worthily. This is what the prophets (Isaiah and John the Baptist), and the Apostle Peter mean by, “preparing a way for the Lord” and “living holy and saintly lives.” If we repent sincerely this season, then the salvation that Jesus brings will be ours.
If we clean up ourselves properly, we need not be afraid of the Day of the Lord. Anticipation of the Lord’s coming should not merely determine our manner of lives. Rather, it should motivate us to repentance, holiness of life, godliness, and of course, joyfulness.
The advent invitation therefore, is to come out of the wilderness and to live a life in union with the Lord. Then the question is: Has some aspect of my life become a wilderness? What am I doing to come out of it? Therefore, as we continue to wait and prepare, let us humbly pray with the psalmist: “O Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.”
Fr. Joseph Kanatt MCBS
Parish Priest
FIRST READING: (40:1-5, 9-11) ‘Console my people. Console them’ says your God. ‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call to her that her time of service is ended, that her sin is atoned for, that she has received from the hand of the Lord double punishment for her crimes.’
A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord. Make a straight highway for our God across the desert. Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill be laid low. Let every cliff become a plain and ridges a valley. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all mankind shall see it; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
Go up on a high mountain, joyful messenger to Zion. Shout with a loud voice, joyful messenger to Jerusalem. Shout without fear. Say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God.’ Here is the Lord coming with power, his arm subduing all things to him. The prize of his victory is with him. His trophies all go before him. He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms, holding them against his breast and leading to their rest the mother ewes.
GOSPEL: (Mark 1:1-8) The beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah: Look, I am going to send my messenger before you. He will prepare your way. A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight and so it was that John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confess their sins. John wore a garment of camel skin and he lived on locusts and wild honey. In the course of his preaching he said, ‘Someone is following me, someone who is more powerful than I am and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptised you with water but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’
“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” (Mk 1: 2-3).
Now we are in the season of advent and this weekend is the 2nd Sunday of advent. Advent is a time of grace for us. It is a time of grace given to us to prepare our hearts so that we are ready receive Christ at Christmas. Advent is a time that reminds us Jesus is the reason for Christmas. The Gospel reading of this weekend is the beginning of the Gospel of Mark which reminding us of the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled in John the Baptist.
Through the gospel, like Isaiah, John the Baptist brings us the good news about the Lord’s imminent coming. He makes two explicit calls to us. The first is, a call to repent for the forgiveness of our sins. Advent is the time to reconcile with God whom we have offended through our words and actions. Repentance and reconciliation are very important conditions for us to welcome Christ worthily. This is what the prophets (Isaiah and John the Baptist), and the Apostle Peter mean by, “preparing a way for the Lord” and “living holy and saintly lives.” If we repent sincerely this season, then the salvation that Jesus brings will be ours.
If we clean up ourselves properly, we need not be afraid of the Day of the Lord. Anticipation of the Lord’s coming should not merely determine our manner of lives. Rather, it should motivate us to repentance, holiness of life, godliness, and of course, joyfulness.
The advent invitation therefore, is to come out of the wilderness and to live a life in union with the Lord. Then the question is: Has some aspect of my life become a wilderness? What am I doing to come out of it? Therefore, as we continue to wait and prepare, let us humbly pray with the psalmist: “O Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.”
Fr. Joseph Kanatt MCBS
Parish Priest
FIRST READING: (40:1-5, 9-11) ‘Console my people. Console them’ says your God. ‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call to her that her time of service is ended, that her sin is atoned for, that she has received from the hand of the Lord double punishment for her crimes.’
A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord. Make a straight highway for our God across the desert. Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill be laid low. Let every cliff become a plain and ridges a valley. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all mankind shall see it; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
Go up on a high mountain, joyful messenger to Zion. Shout with a loud voice, joyful messenger to Jerusalem. Shout without fear. Say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God.’ Here is the Lord coming with power, his arm subduing all things to him. The prize of his victory is with him. His trophies all go before him. He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms, holding them against his breast and leading to their rest the mother ewes.
GOSPEL: (Mark 1:1-8) The beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah: Look, I am going to send my messenger before you. He will prepare your way. A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight and so it was that John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confess their sins. John wore a garment of camel skin and he lived on locusts and wild honey. In the course of his preaching he said, ‘Someone is following me, someone who is more powerful than I am and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptised you with water but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’