December 10, 2017

 2nd Sunday of Advent B Isaiah 40: 1-5, 9-11; 2 Peter 3: 8-14; Mark 1: 1-8 What do I want from the Lord? What do I need from the Lord? Have I asked Him? Do I feel that, like the kids with Santa, that I have to be good, before God can be good to me? Does God work on a timetable…first come first served? Does it seem that way to me? Do I feel I can’t ask for big things from God?When I was a kid I went all out in my letter to Santa. I checked catalogues for additions to my Lionel Train set…I went after the best bike…and ball gloves and bats…I didn’t miss asking for everything. My list was enormous. Being the youngest of five, many times my parents were on a tight budget. They were loving and kind and we were a close family. Kids are involved in material things… God is about the spiritual, each person and love. This concept still is evolving in my life. Now I understand that God continues to send messages and messengers in my life to clear the paths that lead to Him. Am I listening as much as I should? Today’s readings help in this. “Comfort, give comfort to My people, says your God.” These first words from Isaiah today shows the prophet’s excitement. The Israelites have been in exile in Babylon for many decades following the collapse of Jerusalem. Many were imprisoned. I’m sure that many were discouraged, panicked even and had given up hope. Where was God? Why didn’t He step in and help? They weren’t bad people, why did God punish them and bring them to this foreign, pagan place? God why don’t You love us? I’ve echoed some of these words in my life when things weren’t going the way I wanted. The same sentiments carried over when I was a child when I didn’t get ALL I wanted and expected. Isaiah is giving a message guaranteed to lift the people’s spirits: they are going home, wow! The second part of the reading says that their relationship with God has been restored. Isaiah compares it to the joy of lovers on their wedding day. Now they are to be God’s representatives of peace, justice and love to the world. They are not ‘nobodies’ they are God’s children, God’s people, loved and cherished. The second reading from second Peter actually was written as late as 140 AD The Christian believers fully expected that Jesus was going to come soon and it hadn’t happened. So many of the apostles and first believers had passed on to the Lord. Many of the present community hadn’t seen Jesus nor had their parents. Their faith had been secured with these first eye-witnesses, now who was left? Persecutions had begun in various areas, some were fierce, others not so, but all were dangerous. It wasn’t good to be one of the followers of Jesus. It was prime time for many to wonder and worry. Christians were turning from their faith, urged on by what people are saying; Peter shares this in his previous paragraph. “Know this first of all, that in the last days scoffers will come to scoff, living according to their own desires and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For the time when our ancestors fell asleep, everything has remained as it was from the beginning of creation. They deliberately ignore the fact that the heavens existed of old and earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God…” We count by days, God does not. The followers of Jesus were impatient for God’s promises of a “…new heaven and new earth…” Peter is assuring them that God always lives up to His promises…God does not lie. Everything happens in God’s time. Peter encourages them to use their time the best they can before God’s fulfillment time comes. His new creation of love is always a word in progress as is loving the loved, unloved, difficult to love is in our lives. The Gospel of Mark does not begin with an infancy narrative as do the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. John begins his Gospel with a beautiful poetic song. Instead, Mark begins with a one sentence profession of faith. “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.” This says it all. God has sent Jesus for our salvation. The footnote in the Catholic Study Bible says: “The gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God: the ‘good news’ of salvation in and through Jesus, crucified and risen, acknowledged by the Christian community as Messiah and Son of God,“ Do I live this? If I made a statement of my faith, would I include any of Mark’s thoughts? Mark tells us that everything is placed in the context of the Old Testament prophecies. John the Baptist is a prophet…he did not pop out of nowhere. He is the last of a very long list of prophets each one preparing the people for the coming promised Messiah. He tells us that John the Baptist proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Now this was not like our baptism…it was not a Christian baptism. It was a Jewish form of preparation for the coming of the Messiah encouraging, even commanding the people to change their lives. They have been living for themselves. They were not living the commandments. They knew the way they were to live and pray, so start doing it! Why did John attract so many people? He spoke the truth…they knew that they had messed up…they knew it was time to live the commandments. John was pointing to what was coming…what will happen… actually Who is Coming, “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worth to stoop and loosen the thongs of His sandals.” John’s message to me and all of us is that we still have time to change our lives. So on this second Advent Sunday I reflect on: • How can I change the things in my life that keep me away from God…from loving…from forgiving…from caring? • How can I become closer to this God who loves me every moment, even when I don’t feel that I am lovable? • Do my words and actions show that God’s love is alive and active in my life? • Do I realize that each day I am a teacher of love for all those who see me? Am I living love? • The more I remain open to the Spirit to lead me and help me, I will transform my life even if I don’t notice it. • Do I realize that I bring about God’s kingdom of love by caring for those in need and working to bring about justice and peace? • God is always with us, leading us on and welcoming us into even a closer relationship with Him. Do I allow this to happen? Why not? What holds me back? Sacred Space 2018 says: “Imagine yourself witnessing this scene, perhaps standing in the shallows with the water flowing around your ankles. Allow the scene to unfold. What is it like? The young man from Nazareth joins those waiting for John’s baptism: a symbol of purification but also of birth—coming up out of the waters of the womb into a new life as God’s beloved child. Lord, when I realize that You love me, it is like the start of a new life. As I hear Your voice, I know that I have a purpose and a destiny.”