Gospel: 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."
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
A humble man with a
benevolent heart went on a mission to a place where no Christian missionary has
been through. There he catechized the people, then he built a church and when
the church was through. This good man went to the parish church and he inquired
to the parish priest if he could visit and celebrate Mass even for once a month
in the far flung community. The priest
agreed and everyone was converted to the faith. Thus, in his own little way the
humble man prepared the way for the coming of the Lord for the people of the
community.
On this second
Sunday of Advent we reflect on how John the Baptist fulfilled with humility the
prophecy of the prophet Isaiah. He preached repentance and forgiveness of sins;
he prepared the way for Jesus with humility when he said: “One mightier than I
am 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.” John perfectly knew that his role was to be a herald for the coming of
our savior Jesus.
As Christians, this
is also our role; to be messengers for Jesus with humility. To help spread the
good news. To preach about repentance, forgiveness and love which Jesus so
generously gave us.
We should not keep
to ourselves this beautiful call for repentance we must echo this call to our
friends and most specially our family members. However, this is easier said
than done, for the simple reason that it’s not easy to encourage them to humbly
submit themselves to the Sacrament of Confession. But if we would be like John
who embraced his discipleship with humility I think we would be effective
heralds of Jesus.
On this second
Sunday of Advent we are therefore being challenged by the gospel to help
prepare the way of the Lord and to respond to John’s call for repentance.
Have you done
something to prepare the way and are you prepared to respond? – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment