God's Word for the 2nd Sunday of Advent B

 "I have baptised you with water;
he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit."

Gospel Mk 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 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 of the whole Judean countryside
and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem
were going out to him
and were being baptised 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 this is what he proclaimed:
"One mightier than I is coming after me.
I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.
I have baptised you with water;
he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit."

Shout without fear, Here is your God.

Let us see O Lord your mercy.

God is being patient wanting everyone to be brought to change their ways.

I have baptised you with water. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.

Discover the path he walks

God approaches us constantly but we miss him. Why is that? We have not grasped how humble God is. No human on earth is as humble as God. He makes himself less than the least. That is why so few recognize him.

We see this revealed in Jesus. In him we discover that the words of the prophets are fulfilled; “I offered my back to those who struck me..neither did I shield my face from blows, spittle and disgrace” (Is.50:6).”He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and familiar with grief” and “with nothing attractive in his appearance, no beauty, no majesty” (Is. 53:3.2). On the Cross we see him humiliated and tortured; “I am a worm and not a human, scorned by everyone, despised by the people” (Ps.22:7). Yet “His nature was divine” (Phil 2:6). Because he is humble “He does not shout or raise his voice. A broken reed he will not crush, nor snuff out the light of a wavering wick” (Is. 42:2). Why is he humble? It is his love for us. He kneels and washes our feet. He is a lamb among wolves and never opens his mouth. Even with his friends he humbly stands outside, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door then I will come in and we will dine together” (Rev.3:20). Today we see him hidden in the Eucharist at the mercy of his disciples, to be ignored or loved but always longing for us to come. This is the God of whom the prophet speaks today; “Here is your God. He is the Lord coming with power”. He is everywhere but we do not see him because we look in the wrong direction. Look in the small and insignificant. You will find him there – the silent host, the widow in tears, the homeless man at the street corner, the young mother dying of cancer, the folks you work with. He is everywhere.

True, he will come in glory and will set everything right; “the new heavens and the new earth, the place where righteousness will be at home”. But now he is here silently as ever suffering in those who suffer, rejoicing with those who rejoice, ever waiting for us in the Eucharist. To live “holy and saintly lives” is to recognize him in all his disguises and serve him with love.

The Church stands in the place of John. She calls us to repent. “Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight”. Can you find Jesus nearby and will you straighten out his path? When you did it to the least you did it to me.  Are you going to create a new earth where people around you can live in happiness?

Father, may I find Jesus in my life and make smooth his path.