St. Francis of Assisi

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

Today’s beautiful Advent readings are all about anticipating the coming of the Messiah. First, the Hebrew prophet, Isaiah, prophesies this event in one of the most imagery laden and colorful passages in the Scriptures, and then in the gospel, we hear the words of the New Testament prophet, John the Baptist. And so, this first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, marks the beginning our church year, one devoted to the readings of Mark. Right from the first line of the Gospel, we are let in on the secret of Who Jesus is: “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God!” Mark pulls no punches; he tells us straight on that Jesus is the Son of God. So, for Mark, the anticipation is the wonderful discovery of Who Jesus is, and Mark does not begin with any more history lessons, but gets right to his focus and jumps directly into the beginning of the Jesus ‘public’ life. We meet John the Baptist at the beginning of the Gospel, prophesied by Isaiah as the messenger of God, sent to announce the Messiah and prepare the people for His coming. And what was John supposed to be doing? According to Mark, he was first of all, to proclaim the message and vision of Isaiah: getting people ready and fixing up the road, so that God had a straight path to us. Secondly, John was to ask us to ‘turn ourselves around’, the actual meaning of ‘repent’ and look at our lives and ask for forgiveness, so that we too, would be on this straight path to receive the Lord. In the first verses of Mark, John the Baptist did not know who the Messiah would be, but that he would be someone much more powerful than himself, and who would baptize not only with water, but with the Spirit, as well. Let us look at the first reading from Isaiah more closely. God, seen here, is a God of comfort who wants only to speak tenderly to us, to forgive our sins. Isaiah wants the messenger of God to stand on a high mountain and announce the coming. And although he notes that God is a mighty God, we are not to fear Him because He is more like a shepherd than a warrior, and He will gather us in his arms and carry us next to His breast, and gently lead us where we need to go. These are the images of God that we need to hold dear, that give us hope, that allow us to anticipate the Second Coming and not be afraid of the world being “dissolved” by fire, as Peter describes today in the second reading. Instead, we have to be filled with peace, and we will be comforted and held in the arms of our God. And that is the anticipation we should be thinking about as Christmas approaches. The Christ Child is that image of peace, and so, in the next few weeks of hectic preparation, we need to put aside some time to center ourselves, breathe a little, repent for anything getting in the way of that peacefulness and feel God’s arms around us, comforting us and helping us on our journey.

I wish you all a blessed advent journey.

~Fr. Edison Bernavas I.C