Sunday December 10 Second Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 40:01-5.9-11
Psalm 85 Let us see, O Lord, your mercy and grant us your salvation.
2 Peter 3:8-14
Mark 1:1-8
The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in the prophet Isaiah: Look, I am going to send my messenger in front of you to prepare your way before you. A voice of one that cries in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight. John the Baptist was in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him, and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan, they confessed their sins. John wore a garment of camel-skin, and he lived on locusts and wild honey. In the course of his preaching he said, ‘After me is coming someone who is more powerful than me, and I am not ?t to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.’
Re?ection
Another excellent reflection from St Paul’s, India.
John the Baptist is ‘his Master’s voice’. One way the Baptist becomes Jesus’ voice is through his simplicity of life. The ?rst eye-catching similarity of the Baptist to Jesus is his simple life. It is through his simplicity of life that he is expected to bear witness to the Divinity. Jesus, living an ascetic life, has no place to “lay His head”. The Baptist proclaims his Master’s message through his simple life. The Baptist and Jesus encounter similar groups of people – Pharisees and tax-collectors. Therefore, they use similar vocabularies in their teaching. On hearing the Baptist one gets the impression that he was given the script of Jesus’ teaching in advance. The Master’s voice is the master voice in the Baptist’s life. We ?nd the Baptist expressing spiritual, social, and moral concerns that we also ?nd in Jesus’ teaching. How can I be Jesus’ voice?
ST. PAULS (58/23RD ROAD, TPS III BANDRA, MUMBAI 400 050 INDIA).