Voice to The Word!

 (Homily for the 2^nd Sunday of Advent Yr. B)

          On this second Sunday of the holy season of Advent the Liturgy of the word gives us a programmatic statement “prepare the way of the Lord”, and thus, the pivot around which revolves the word of God is on the invitation “prepare”. And an in-depth perusal in the first reading and the Gospel reveals that in the invitation to prepare, we are concretely called to be voice of and to the Word. It is this mission of voice that dovetails in the readings. Equally in the second reading we are invariably called to be a voice to the reality of Christ’s second coming. In a nutshell, this Sunday the steps to follow are: repent, prepare the way and make his path straight.

          The First reading (Is. 40:1-5.9-11) presents what I may call the most interesting part of the prophecies of Deutero-Isaiah. In the context of this passage, one can see that in his prophecies this exilic prophet was not directly thinking about Christ and his event, rather his prophecy was on the Restoration of Israel from the Babylonian exile. However, his message envisaged the coming of the Messiah. But at the tenth verse, he assured the people: “Behold, the Lord God comes with might”. In his prophecy, Isaiah envisaged this return from exile as a second exodus, where miracles similar to the first exodus are repeated, in his words: “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain” (v.4). Besides, the exodus event is considered as an eschatological event, for it is likened to the event of Christ in the New Testament. It is in this context that we can understand profoundly the programmatic cry of John the Baptist in the wilderness: “prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God”.

          The passage opened with the Lord’s announcement: “console my people, console them” (v.1), he assured the Israelites in exile of the fulfilment of the promise of the Messiah. This reveals that God knows his people’s pains more than they do. The Prophet brings comforting words to the suffering Israelite in exile in Babylon. God assured them that salvation will come, for he loves and forgives his people. In the midst of their mourning and insecurity, he reassured them that God has not abandoned them, that their period of slavery is over. Indeed, this passage summarizes the theology of exile. It gives reasons why there was exile at all. Of course it was not because of God’s lack of power, love and protection. Rather it was in response to the people’s negligence of their faith in God.  But in the long run, God intervenes and says that their punishment is over, and truly, this is a Good News. The phrase “good tidings” emanated originally from Hebrew, and it is the verb that later brought forth the noun “gospel” (euangelion) in the New Testament. The good tidings been referred to by the prophet is the impending Good News of Divine intervention in the history of the chosen people, basically the return from exile.

            The passage of today’s Gospel (Mk. 1:1-8) presents the introductory part of Mark’s Gospel, which sets the stage for Jesus’ ministry. In the second Gospel, unlike in the first and the third, the primary concern of the Evangelist is the person and figure of Jesus Christ, his self-proclamation and the advent of the messianic time, long awaited by the Jews. Little wonder, already from the beginning of his Gospel, Mark captures the specific role played by the Baptist, that of, pointing to the person of Jesus and his salvific mission. Mark expressed the fact that John the Baptist was the forerunner of the Messiah, in fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies.

          Today we read the beginning of a Good News. The beginning of a good tiding, a Good News – that is Jesus himself; Mark indeed captured it well when he said “The beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God”. For Jesus is Good News personified. He tells us about the unfolding identity of the man Jesus as “the Son of God”, which is ultimately pronounced by a pagan soldier at the foot of the cross saying, “He is truly the Son of God” (Mk. 15:39). The “One mightier than I”, to say it with John the Baptist. Jesus is mighty and powerful not necessarily because he is Omnipotent, but because he is All-loving, to the extent of giving his life.

          In the periscope of today’s Gospel, we encounter in the Word of God, one of the most popular and important figures of Advent- John the Baptist. He inaugurated and launched the awareness for the coming of Christ, the gospel and Christ’s event. In today’s gospel, St. Mark talks about the “gospel of Jesus Christ”. This Marcan phrase, could be considered from two dimensions: first, from the subjective dimension, therein, it means the gospel that Jesus preached (cf. Mk. 1:14); second, it could also be considered objectively, as in the gospel about Jesus, the gospel preached about Christ. As a matter of fact, the subjective consideration is historically more enriching. Indeed, it is without doubt that the mission of Jesus was an offshoot from that of the Baptist. We could therefore, opine that one is the continuation of the other, if not for any other thing, for the themes that formed the very backbone of their various missions. While John insisted on judgment (pointing vehemently on repentance), Jesus was emphatic on Salvation. The parable of the children in the Market square presented the difference in a more glaring way (cf. Mt. 11:16-19).

          John the Baptist emerges here as the immediate precursor of Jesus. “Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you ….Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths”. Here the first reading forms the background of the gospel. John the Baptist's preparation for the coming of Jesus was not aesthetic or physical beautification. He calls for a spiritual preparation. And the people responded to his call for conversion with the confession of their sins. John further teaches us how to wait by what he wore and ate, and also by his Humility as a Voice, he is not the Word, and he was very much aware of it. For a voice without the Word will only make empty noise. Interestingly, we could say that the question Isaac asked his father Abraham in the book of Genesis (22:7): “But where is the lamb?”, was answered by John the Baptist in the gospel of John: “Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world” (1:29). He is the voice of the Lamb. The preaching of John as a voice hinged on two aspects: ● His preaching of repentance and baptism and the forgiveness of sins. ● His declaration of the advent of One stronger than him, who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.

          The passage latently underlines a distinction between Jesus and John. John himself remarked that he is totally subordinate to Jesus. He says: “One mightier than I”. The term “power” in biblical terms is an attribute of God (cf. Dt. 10:17; 2Sam. 22:32; Jer. 39:18). The phrase “more powerful” is a pointer to the mission of the One that comes after him.

          In the second reading (2Pt. 3:8-14) a deep and wider reflection brings to our consideration that from the context and tone of this letter, it does appear the author had to grapple with false teachers of gnostic conviction, who seemed not to believe in the second coming of Christ. The Gnostics tend to lay much emphasis on the present reality, at the expense of the eschatological event (the “already” and the “not yet” respectively). And in the bid to respond to their disbelief on the second coming of Christ, the author made reference to Psalm 90, to draw home his point: “A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night” (v.4).

          Therein, while the author sought to reaffirm the fact that God’s time is different from ours, he reinstated hope in the Parousia. The uncertainty as regards the time He will come, is a spiritual motivational factor for holiness and good living. Be that as it may, the Second reading is a reminder that as we await the Lord, whether he comes early or not, we must not relapse into sin or take advantage of his delay to do evil. Here are still some veritable and plausible points emanating from the letter, still valid for us today:

►We are called as Christians to live as if the end is imminent, and can take place any moment. As such, we have to adopt the value of watchfulness.

►We are reminded always that our hope on the Parousia should spur us on to lead a good and holy life.

►We have to come to terms with the veracity that nothing can change the Christian faith in and of the Second Coming of Christ.

          Above all, the overriding theme that dovetails into the readings of this second Sunday of Advent, is the mission of the Baptist as Christ’s forerunner. Indeed, John the Baptist should not and cannot be considered as one of those personages of the past, for his relevance in the church is still visible today. He continues to interrogate every authentic Christian with his cry of repentance, and the impending judgment. He continues to be the voice that cries in the desert. The whole Church needs to put her voice together to that of John the Baptist in crying for repentance, for without repentance, the Savior will not be known. For repentance, knowingly or unknowingly reawakens in us the consciousness of our “createdness”. It helps us to realize and accept that we cannot save ourselves, but God can, and He does, in and through His Son! We are called therefore to be a voice that cries, a voice that expresses the Truth, the Good News, the Child of Bethlehem. All the three readings speak about real life situations: for the Jews in Babylon; for the early Christian community longing for the Second Coming of Christ and being threatened by persecution for their faith; and for the people of Jesus’ time who were listening to his precursor.

          Are we willing today to go and listen to John the Baptist at the riverside, the riverside of the Church, the riverside of those suffering, the riverside of our hearts? Are we ready to accept the Christmas hopes that he expresses in the name of God, asking us to change our way of life? On the other hand, we are called to be prophets. Every generation, every people needs its prophetic voices. However, at the beginning such voices may sound like a cry in the wilderness. Though we risk being shut down, dejected and rejected, even in the midst of these anomalies we are called not to lose our prophetic role, bestowed on every Christian by virtue of the Sacrament of Baptism. Our Christian prophetic role does not allow us to keep silence and wash of our hands when things go wrong; we cannot be spectators in the drama of life. We have two great role models today to look upon: Isaiah and John the Baptist.

          Brethren, today the message of hope locates us from the prophecy of Isaiah saying that “slavery has ended and sins are pardoned”. Mark starts his gospel with “the beginning”, which means that the coming of Jesus is the beginning of a new era, new creation, the end of slavery of sin and the beginning of salvation. Advent therefore, is a time of preparation, not a conventional thing (of the way the society does), it is the Waiting of the Mighty One. Advent has to introduce us to the knowledge of the One who is to come, how far do we know him? Come Lord Jesus, even though sometimes our human weaknesses do not allow us to make adequate preparation for your coming, yet our heart aches for You, Come Lord Jesus! Amen!

 (Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)