Second Sunday of Advent Reflection
December 8, 2024
Baruch 5:1-9
Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11
Luke 3:1-6
A Voice Crying in the Wilderness:
All the readings of this Second Sunday of Advent are wake up calls for us to prepare to receive the Lord who is coming soon. While our first reading announces that God is ready to display the splendor of the Messiah to all nations, the second reading reminds us of “The Lord’s Day.” Obviously, this is the fulfillment of God’s promise for our salvation. This wake-up call is summed up in today’s gospel where Luke the evangelist reminds us of what we must actually do through the voice of the prophet Isaiah.
We find ourselves today in the stark and desolate landscape of the wilderness alongside John the Baptist, a figure whose voice echoed through the hills, calling for repentance and a new way of life. The Gospel passage is a powerful and timely reminder of the importance of preparation. John’s cry, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” is a call to deep, inner transformation.
We see John’s message unfold in three key elements:
1. Acknowledging Our Sin: John doesn’t shy away from the truth. He calls us to recognize our shortcomings, our failures to live up to God’s ideal. We are invited to look within; to honestly assess the ways we have strayed from the path of love and righteousness.
2. Seeking Forgiveness: John points us towards repentance, a turning away from sin and towards God. It is an ongoing process, a continual striving to align our lives with God’s will.
3. Embracing the Future: John’s message is not simply about regret. It is about hope. It is about preparing ourselves for the coming kingdom, the reign of God’s love and justice, which is already breaking into our world.
John’s words are challenging, but they are also liberating. They offer us the opportunity to break free from the chains of sin and step into a new life, filled with God’s grace and mercy. We are called to be like John, voices crying out in the wilderness. We are called to speak truth, to challenge injustice, to point the way to God’s love. We are called to be instruments of preparation, helping our communities and our world to embrace the Kingdom that is coming. Let us this week seek to be transformed by the words of John the Baptist. Let us live lives of repentance, seeking God’s forgiveness and preparing for the arrival of His kingdom. Let us be voices crying out in the wilderness, guiding others to the path of love and salvation.
Written by Mary Joel Curcio, SLW, D.Min