SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight,
and all mankind shall see the salvation of God. LK:3:4, 6

ISAIAH 40:1-5,9-11 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Why am I so weak, so fearful, so ready to lose my serenity when trouble comes my way or the people I love are in distress? Not only does all of salvation history prove that our God is a God of love but I too have experienced it. Yet O Lord, yet, I have such little faith that no sooner does trouble approach, no sooner is a cross laid on me, I fall to pieces. You speak to me in Your Word, You console me, You assure me that You will never leave me nor forsake me because I am Yours not only in time but in eternity.

Yes Lord I have sinned. Yes, I am a sinner and so too have those I love sinned and just like me, often and grievously. We have been punished time and time again because we strayed from the path of righteousness but we keep falling over and over again. The ones I love have wandered far away from that haven of rest which is Holy Mother Church and I ache for their return to her but I also know that our heavenly Father longs for their return and waits for them with longing like the father waited for his prodigal son's return.

We are truly humbled O Lord by the Father's love for us. God loved us so much that He sent You, His only Son into the world to save and redeem us. Not just that O Lord, You ensured that You would remain with us by making us members of Your mystical body, the Church. You gave us Your Mother for You know that earthly mothers are tainted with the sin of Eve and Adam. You sent Your Holy Spirit to abide in us and help us in our weakness. 

This Advent as we wait with longing to celebrate the day of Your birth, we also await with greater longing for Your coming again in glory and majesty to establish a new heaven and a new earth, when sin will be no more and You will wipe away every tear from every eye. 

Here is the Lord coming with power,

his arm subduing all things to him.
The prize of his victory is with him,
his trophies all go before him.
He is like a shepherd feeding his flock,
gathering lambs in his arms,
holding them against his breast
and leading to their rest the mother ewes.

Abba Father, hasten the second coming for Your Son in glory so we may come into Your Presence and worship You endlessly with the entire hosts of angels and saints. Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus. Maranatha!

PSALM 84(85):9-14 ©

I will hear what the Lord God has to say,

a voice that speaks of peace,
peace for his people.
His help is near for those who fear him
and his glory will dwell in our land.

Mercy and faithfulness have met;

justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven.

The Lord will make us prosper

and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps.

Let us see, O Lord, your mercy, and give us your saving help.

2 PETER 3:8-14 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

I keep asking You to hasten the time of Your return, but St. Peter reminds us today that with You, ‘a day’ can mean a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not being slow to carry out his promises, as anybody else might be called slow; but he is being patient with you all, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to change his ways. If You did come today, Beloved, how many of us would perish eternally. The world seems to drift further and further away from all that is right, true, good, holy, noble, and beautiful. The ugly truth is that sin abounds everywhere but we can be comforted with the words of St. Paul that where sin abounds grace abounds all the more. While it may seem to us that the world is spiraling frenziedly into the very pit of hell the truth is that You are at work, the grace of the Holy Spirit is at work and there is hope because of the work of salvation wrought for us on the Cross. The fruit of Calvary is Your glorious Resurrection. You conquered sin and death and we share in Your victory and Your triumph.

So while we wait, Beloved, grant us the grace to wait fearlessly with faith and hope, and while we wait let us pray unceasingly while we work out our salvation with fear and trembling as we wait for Your return. The Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then with a roar the sky will vanish, the elements will catch fire and fall apart, the earth and all that it contains will be burnt up.

The end will come for all created things will decay, disintegrate, and die. While we wait let us take the word of St. Peter, the head of the Church seriously and live as he exhorts us to do: You should be living holy and saintly lives while you wait and long for the Day of God to come, when the sky will dissolve in flames and the elements melt in the heat. What we are waiting for is what he promised: the new heavens and new earth, the place where righteousness will be at home. So then, my friends, while you are waiting, do your best to live lives without spot or stain so that he will find you at peace.

MARK 1:1-8 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Your Word O Lord in Sacred Scripture is alive and is sharper than a two-edged sword. Every time we read it, meditate on it, or hear it taught and preached something new is revealed - it is always fresh and it always, always bears good fruit when we keep it in our hearts and ponder on it as Mary did.  

St. Mark the evangelist was the companion and secretary of St. Peter, the Rock on which You built Your Church. He received a first-hand account from Peter of his life with You as one of the Twelve and also as one chosen by You to belong in the inner circle with John and James forming with You a closer friendship and a deeper bond. He begins his account of the Gospel announcing the Good News with a bold proclamation stating that You are the Son of God. He wants us to keep this in mind as we read his account of the Gospel.

He then goes on to recall the prophecy of Isaiah which was fulfilled in John the Baptist  

Look, I am going to send my messenger before you;
he will prepare your way.
A voice cries in the wilderness:
Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.

John the Baptist encountered You while You and he were still in the womb and when Your Mother Mary's voice reached Elizabeth's ears John was filled with the Holy Spirit and he leaped with joy. You are always fully present to Your Mother as she is to You. When we go to Mary we also come to You. She leads us to You and points us to You. Her motherly instruction to us always is, "Do whatever He tells you to do."

John stayed true to his mission all his life and until his martyrdom. He teaches us to see ourselves as we are and not have exaggerated ideas about our importance. To discern our mission, and our vocation and then do it humbly and obediently and above all with love. To understand our place in the divine scheme and to act accordingly. To recognize who God is and to reverently proclaim and witness to His goodness and faithfulness. To stay true to Holy Mother Church and to live the Gospel in every season of our lives authentically, with conviction, knowing that God is the same, today, and always.  

‘Someone is following me, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit 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.’