2nd Sunday of Advent
10th December 2023 (Sunday) Readings and Reflection
Psalter: Week 2
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
Psalm 85:9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14 (R. 8)
R/. Let us see, O Lord, your mercy and grant us your salvation.
Second Reading: 2 Peter 3:8-14
Do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.
Alleluia
V/. Alleluia R/. Alleluia
V/. . Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight: all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel : Mark 1:1-8
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptised by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt round his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
The Reflection by Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy MSFS{alertWarning}
Highlight: Be comforted!
Guidlines: The Lord is coming and our salvation is nearer. For sure, he shall comfort us{alertSuccess}
1. “Comfort, comfort my people”, says the Lord. In other words, today God is telling you, his people the very same words through us, “Be comforted, be comforted, my people”. Why? Because he is coming. For what? He comes to save, to forgive, to comfort, to rejuvenate.
2. But many times we do not experience these saving signs and effects of his coming, namely that comfort, that courage. Our lives continue often discomforted and weak and weakened. Why? Because we are not fittingly disposed to receive this grace and effect, we do not fulfill the requirements laid down by the Word of God.
3. What are they? We shall pick up some of them: believe, fear not, be humble and prepare. First, believe. Yes, believe in his saving power, that he will come with a strong hand, he will rule with his arm, that he will end our tribulation and affliction. Believe in his forgiving mercy that he will pardon our iniquities, believe in his caring love, that he will feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather his lambs with his arm, carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young. Believe in his wisdom and power which are incomparable and unsurpassable. Believe also that he brings the reward with him.
4. Second, fear not but have courage. The Lord repeatedly assures and encourages us: I am with you always. I am the Master of all the situations, and I have control over everything. All nations are nothing and vanity. He brings the princes to nothing and the judges of the earth to vanity.
5. Third, be humble and realize our insufficiency and transience. All people is grass and all grass withers and the flower fades. This realization of our human inadequacy and perishability is very important because it will guard us against our arrogance and excess self-autonomy.
6. Then fourth, prepare and act: prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness and make a highway in the desert. The world is like a wilderness with so much confusion, wild growth, and animals. So make a highway in the wilderness means to bring more clarity, order, and humanness. The world is like a desert, with much emptiness and aridity. So prepare the way in the desert is to bring more warmth, meaning, productivity and fecundity.
7. The valleys shall be raised and exalted. This means to elevate the drooping spirits. The mountains shall be made low would mean to level our pride and false heights, to humble down the mountains of ego. To straighten the crooked paths is to make straight and right what is distorted, perverted, twisted and crooked. To even and smooth the rough places is to become a little more soft, tender and smooth.
Practice: We are to prepare the way of the Lord. Walk the way and make others too to walk the same way. This alone is the way to prepare the way of the Lord!{alertSuccess}