2ND SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YR B
By: Fr. Jude Nnadi
Readings: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11; 2 Peter 3: 8-14; Mark 1: 1- 8
Brethren, in our gospel reading today, Jesus is announced by the voice that cries in the desert… because salvation comes from the desert as Saint Eusebius of Caesarea says: “joy is embodied in the desert of my humanity and consoles the sad heart of those who have lost all hope.” The Message of the second Sunday of Advent is clear: we must collaborate with the Grace of God. John the Baptist reminds us… prepare the way of the Lord, as Isaiah repeats in the first reading: make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low (Isaiah 40.1-5).
“God does not create man without man and does not save man without man” saint Augustine says. In our liturgy today we are invited to be collaborators, God’s collaborators in His project of hope and liberation. Like John the Baptist, we must make our voices heard, they must resonate like evangelical trumpets that carry the good news of the Gospel. We are invited to bear witness that only Jesus Christ can restore hope and give meaning to our wounded humanity. The Word was made flesh and pitched his tent among us, (Jn 1:14), and this entails closeness, solidarity and sharing.
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The flesh of Christ (sarx) expresses all the weight of the human drama God takes upon himself to save us from sin and death in a wonderful exchange of love, God in man and man in God. In this wonderful exchange lies our joy and the meaning of the Good News, the Gospel. We have a single habit that distinguishes us: faith. Our world is in dare need of faithful and courageous men and women like John the Baptist to tell with their lives that God exists, that loving is possible always and not just at Christmas. Preparing the way for the Lord who comes is not an attitude of anxiety or fear of imminent judgment but that of desire and waiting. We must focus more on Christmas, made not just of lights and beautiful decorations but of concrete gestures of peace and solidarity.
Sisters and brothers, our world still needs Jesus Christ, our Savior who, to reach everyone’s heart, needs to find our footprints. We must be mediators of hope like John the Baptist, bridges of understanding and mercy, we must be baptized in the Holy Spirit to make people fall in love with the Truth. How wonderful it is to prepare the way of the Lord in name and profession. The way of the Lord is the way to heaven where everyone walks, where there are no obstacles and accidents. Let us go prepared to meet Him who comes to save us. Come Lord, Jesus!
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