The Second Sunday of Advent, December 10, 2023

Mark 1:1–8

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.  As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”  John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. And this is what he proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

We might wonder why the Church chooses to use the beginning of the Gospel of Mark during Advent.  This is because the message proclaimed by John the Baptist was addressed not only to the Jews of his time but to the Christians of this age.  The Church also presents us with his example to follow so that we may go to the places where the Gospel is unknown to spread his words.  In a word, he preached the necessity of repentance, for the Kingdom of God was approaching.  Though the Jewish world at that time trembled expectantly for the arrival of the Messiah, as is clear from their writings, and even the Gentile world felt uneasy, to John alone was granted the grace to see that the Son of God had come to earth in human form, and he pointed to him when he came.

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”  In ancient times people prepared for the visit of a king by cleaning up their city and its environs, even leveling hills to make his journey on horse smoother.  This leveling also signified the obeisance of his citizens for they made even nature bow before him.  They would also straighten their roads, which tended to follow the the local geography.  All of this meant heavy labor.  To smooth our “hills” for the Son of God we must learn and practice humility.  One of the key elements of humility is to admit to adherence to to the idea that we must all follow the laws and local ordinances, that we cannot excuse  ourselves from observing them, that there is nothing special about any of us.  Even the Son of God submitted to the laws and did not exempt himself, even paying the Temple tax.

It is through humility that we shall see him and rejoice in him when he comes.  If we bask in our pride and wealth we shall miss him as surely as did Herod and his court.  But if we learn humility and service, imitating John the Baptist, we shall joyfully greet him in the stables at Bethlehem.