Texts taken from the Missalette “On Your Word” November-December 2023

2nd Sunday of Advent (B)
2nd week, alternate cycle

FIRST READING

From the book of the prophet Isaiah (Is 40:1-5,9-11)
“Comfort, comfort my people - says your God -. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and cry out to her that her time of servitude is ended, her guilt is expiated, because she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.” A voice cries out: “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, every mountain and hill made low; the rugged land shall become a plain, and the rough country a broad valley. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Go up onto a high mountain, you who bring good news to Zion! Lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good news to Jerusalem. Lift up your voice, do not be afraid; announce to the cities of Judah: “Here is your God! Here comes the Lord God with power, his arm rules. Here is his reward with him, his recompense before him. Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.” - The word of God.

Commentary on the first reading

The announcer of good news must climb a high mountain so that everyone can see him, and must raise his voice greatly so that everyone can hear him. The period of deportation is over and at last everyone is returning home. This is the long-awaited announcement that arouses great joy among the people, as one can well imagine. The context of the reading is historical: it proclaims a return to the homeland that actually takes place, but it can also be read as referring today to true liberation, which is liberation from evil and sin, announced by Christ and the Church. We are called to go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel (Mt 28:19), like sentinels addressing weary, disappointed, and disheartened people. We must feel and recognize this responsibility, because the truth about God and the world is found precisely in the Church and in the Christian message. Can we perhaps remain silent? No, we would become accomplices of evil. Even if we do not shout or climb the mountain, may our Christian voice speak constantly to everyone about God, because everyone must hear his voice, know him, and love him.

SECOND READING

From the second letter of Saint Peter the apostle (2 Pt 3:8-14)
Do not lose sight of this one thing, beloved: with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some consider slowness. Rather, he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. The day of the Lord will come like a thief; then the heavens will pass away with a great roar, the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of lives should you lead in holiness and devotion, as you wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire! But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, strive to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace. - The word of God.

Commentary on the second reading

Peter’s letter is the only one among the writings of the New Testament to describe the end of the world as a great fire that will burn everything. Can you imagine the entire earth burning in one huge, awe-inspiring bonfire that melts all the elements? That is what is written. And in the face of this vision, what will all human glory amount to? What will become of all its achievements? They will end. The Apostle reminds us how good it is always to keep this image before our eyes so that we may put the things of the present in perspective and give absolute value to eternal things. Since this final mega-fire could break out this afternoon or tomorrow morning, what should be our overriding concern? To be at peace, that is, without guilt and without blemish. Let no one say that this is impossible (to be without blemish), because Jesus has given us all the means and instruments, in the Church, to live without guilt and without blemish: the sacraments, prayer, penance. We have the so-called “travel kit” that we received on the day of Baptism: let us use it.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Mark (Mk 1:1-8)
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah: “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,” John the Baptist appeared in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People from the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him. They were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. And he proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie his sandal straps. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” - The word of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

John the Baptist is highly successful. In fact, today’s Gospel says that people come to him from the entire region and are baptized. The expectation of the Messiah was feverish, and now at last the moment has arrived: all the people understand that they need a kind of ritual bath to follow him. They are thinking of liberation from the yoke of Roman slavery, and the Baptist is the right figure: austere, heroic, a true ideological leader. To avoid misunderstandings, however, he insists that his role is only temporary, pointing toward something else, and that the liberation would be much broader. The misunderstanding can also occur for us today if we think that the herald (the Church) promises liberation of the world from the various “Roman empires,” from the various human and social oppressions of today. Jesus presents himself as meek and humble, but his baptism is a thousand times more awe-inspiring: it is the life of almighty God entering the human heart. The Roman Empire remained standing in Jesus’ time, but everything was overturned in the inner world. That is where everything happens! “The kingdom of God,” Jesus will say, “is within you” (cf. Lk 17:21).