Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Missal November-December 2021

2nd Sunday of Advent (C)
2nd week of the Psalter

FIRST READING

From the book of the prophet Baruch (Bar 5:1-9)
Take off your mourning and misery, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the splendor of the glory that comes to you from God. Wrap yourself in the cloak of God's justice, place on your head the diadem of the glory of the Eternal One, for God will show your splendor to every creature under heaven. You shall be called by God forever: “Peace of justice” and “Glory of piety.” Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the heights and look toward the east; see your children gathered from the setting of the sun to its rising at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them. They left you on foot, driven away by enemies; but God will bring them back to you in triumph, as on a royal throne. For God has decided to level every high mountain and the everlasting cliffs, to fill the valleys by making the ground level, so that Israel may advance securely under the glory of God. Even the forests and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel at God's command. For God will lead Israel back with joy, in the light of his glory, with the mercy and justice that come from him. - The word of God.

Commentary on the first reading

The prophet Baruch imagines the city of Jerusalem as a person who has seen her children go away from her, fleeing because of the enemy invasion, and now ready to return triumphantly to reclaim their place and be a light for the whole world, “splendor to every creature under heaven.” The history of Jerusalem, like our individual lives, is a continuous story of departure and return: God asks us always to remain in grace, purified before him, but if there are infidelities, they will bring periods of darkness, sadness, and exile. God's call will then become even more powerful: he will lower every mountain and fill every valley so that the return to him may be easier and joyful. We are those children, and it is the Lord Jesus who calls us, in this season of Advent, to return to him, the true light of the world. The comet is the powerful symbol of this season: looking at it and following it means setting out again to leave behind our wrong habits and seek that Child, before whom we can lay down the gift of our will and our life.

SECOND READING

From the letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Philippians (Phil 1:4-6, 8-11)
Brothers and sisters, every time I pray for all of you, I do so with joy, because of your cooperation in the Gospel from the first day until now. I am confident that the one who began this good work in you will bring it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Indeed, God is my witness of the affection I have for all of you in the love of Christ Jesus. And so I pray that your love may increase ever more in knowledge and full discernment, so that you may distinguish what is best and be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, for the glory and praise of God. - The word of God.

Commentary on the second reading

Saint Paul speaks to us of a journey, a path of conversion. Baruch first, and then the Baptist (in the Gospel), invite us to rise and walk, to move from a state of distance (sin) to one of closeness (grace). Saint Paul is no different and, addressing the Christians of Philippi, urges them to walk along the path they have begun, because the Lord will bring the work that was started to completion. This journey of conversion is always made by two: the human being is accompanied by Jesus; alone, he gets nowhere. The believer contributes good will, the desire to please God, to seek what is good, and to coope-
rate in the salvation of the world by elevating himself, while Jesus contributes all the power of his grace, his love, and his infinite mercy. The journey thus becomes marvelous and consoling, even amid life's inevitable trials and difficulties. It is the pilgrimage of the heart: from the surface to the depths, from outward appearances to what is essential, from solitude to companionship, from darkness to light. Advent is a time of grace and a journey. They say that whoever stops is lost. And it is true.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Luke (Lk 3:1-6)
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip, his brother, tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the desert. He went throughout the region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one crying out in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight! Every valley shall be filled, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God!” - The word of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

The reading from the Gospel shakes us and invites us to take our lives back into our own hands, to set out again on the true path, the path of conversion. John the Baptist speaks to us today, although we have already come to know the Lord, whose face we may have forgotten, distracted by life's many worries and the world's false doctrines. For the Baptist, conversion means above all preparing the way, clearing the heart, throwing away everything that hinders Jesus' coming, and hurling old things out the window. Conversion means looking upon the face of Christ and recognizing salvation in him, the only way and the only reality. We do not have to go into the desert, but remain at our occupations and return to him with all our heart, beginning again a life of grace, because sin never brings joy, but rather restlessness and sadness. Conversion is not a past act, valid once and for all, but a daily event, something for today, because we are never converted enough. “Be silent, my soul, be silent,” writes Silesius; “if you were silent, God would speak continually within you.” Today we listen to his voice once again, calling us into his divine intimacy!