Second Sunday of Advent :7/12/14
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Prologue to week 2
‘Advent offers a space of stillness, a time of darkness,
a place of waiting in expectant trust.
The liturgies of Advent do not cloak our fears
but unmask themso that we may face the shadows
and yet proclaim our hope.’
….Anne Thurston, A time for waiting: images and insights, Columba Press
Gospel: Matthew 3:3
This was what the prophet Isaiah spoke of when he said,
‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight’
Reflection: The Voice of John
John’s is a strident voice, contrasting at times with what appears to be the gentle Jesus of Christmas.
John presents a tough message, and demands conversion and change.
Yet he too was the one who would preach the forgiveness of sins
and would ‘guide the people in the way of peace’.
The message of Jesus is comfort and challenge;
both are part of our waiting in Advent.
The birth of the Christ- child each year comforts us,
and presents the warmth and ease of the love of God;
we know also that the life of this child will challenge us
to take up our cross,
and to believe that in every death there is resurrection
and in every tough experience of life can be found the blessing of God.
I often think….
When I was growing up in Ireland, there was a man who sold newspapers outside the front of the church. No matter what the weather, even pouring rain, the old man would be there, selling the papers. He was nicknamed ‘Chicken,’ because he always called out, ‘Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Extra! Extra! Read all about it!’ And when he did, he sounded like a squawking chicken. Chicken sold morning papers and evening papers and almost everyone in town would buy their daily papers from him, eager to read the latest breaking news.
If there were newspapers in Jesus’ time, then surely the headline in the local paper would have read something like: ‘God has become a human’. He now lives among us!’ The reason so many people came to the desert to hear John the Baptist was to hear him declare the latest breaking news. God becoming human in Jesus Christ was the event of the decade, the century, and the millennium; it was the event that would change the world forever. Now that is not just regular news — It is good news! And it’s not just good news — It is great news!
Adapted from Patricia Datchuck Sanchez, Celebration
Prayer:
Guide us Lord in the way of peace,
guide us in ways of forgiveness and tolerance,
for then you guide us in the way of God.
Please:
Offer a prayer today for preachers and teachers, parents, siblings, grans, relatives , friends preschool, jr., sr., college, and post grad guides.
Also fellow students and work and play mates who all played their part in forming me to be the person I am today – for better or worse.
