Cycle C - Year I:  

9 December 2018: Second Sunday of Advent

(Liturgical Color: Violet)

Readings:

First Reading:        Baruch 5:1-9

Second Reading:   Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11

Gospel:  Please Read  Luke 3:1-6

Prepare the way of the Lord!

One of the beautiful and cherished Filipino traditions is coming home on Christmas for family reunion or just for vacation. In spite of hardly inspiring news of what is happening in our country, the bitter division in society, the so-called EJKs (or extra-judicial killings) and the difficult times economically, it seems overseas Filipinos are not to be cowed from coming home to be reunited with their loved ones during this joyous of seasons.

And so just few more days before Christmas, many of our overseas Filipinos must have arranged their homecoming by now, and their loved ones and families are preparing for their homecoming.

Preparing for the great event of Christmas is also the theme of this Sunday's liturgical readings. The forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ, his name is John the Baptist, is introduced to us this second Sunday of Advent.

Who is John the Baptist and what is the significance of his message for our lives today?

John was a prophet, which means a spokesperson for God. He was called from an early age to devote himself to prayer and to the word of God. It is said that God taught him in the solitude of the desert and prepared him for ministry and for spiritual warfare. We can say that John bridged the Old and New Testaments. He is the last of the Old Testament prophets who point the way to the Messiah. He is also the first of the New Testament's witnesses and martyrs for Christ.

It was throughout the whole region of Jordan that John performed his ministry, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He exhorts his hearers to prepare the roads of their hearts and their lives to receive the Messiah, the King of kings and Lord of lords. People came in large numbers to listen to him and to be bathed in the Jordan river.

What then is the significance of John the Baptist's message for our lives today?

John's preaching of the coming of the Lord is a key theme of the Advent season. We are reminded this Sunday that the time has began to prepare for the coming of our Lord Jesus and His heavenly kingdom. We prepare ourselves by conversion --turning heart and mind from sin and rebellion and submission to God's word and will for our lives.

This is the same message that John proclaimed. And we respond to John's message by repentance and reform of our lives. Thus, we are called to be also prophets of Christ, who announce by our authentic Christian living the coming of our Lord Jesus on Christmas day. In other words, we are called to make straight the way of the Lord in our own day, in our moment in history.

So let us pray for grace to listen to John's invitation and prepare the way of the Lord by acknowledging our sinfulness and pride that block the Lord's coming in our lives. Because repentance of our sins is really coming to God, our Father, especially this Christmas time.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!