SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (B)
Preparing for the Lord’s Coming
Pioneers And Trailblazers
Greeting (See First Reading)
“Here is your God” among us in this celebration.
He is like a shepherd feeding his flock,
embracing us in his love
and bringing us mercy and consolation.
May this God among us, the Lord Jesus, be always with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
- Preparing The Lord’s Coming
In difficult times like ours people often complain that, though many things are changing as never before, basically there is little change after all on the human level. Wars are still fought, and injustices remain or even increase, for now the means to commit them are more powerful. There is little love and compassion among people. Yet, Jesus came long ago… The question asked of us today is: what have we done about Jesus’ good news of love and justice and peace? Have we built for one another roads of integrity and faithfulness, of trust in God and in one another? Can we say “Here is our God” in whose name we make this earth new? That is our task. We ask Jesus to help us carry out this mission.
- Pioneers and Trailblazers
For today’s world it is typical that networks of roads are being built to make communications and exchange easy, fast, and safe. What efforts have we made to construct roads that lead to God and one another? As Christians we are supposed to be a pilgrim people, a people constantly on the way to God and to one another. Today the voice of the prophet tries to wake us up. He calls us to prepare the way of the Lord, make your paths smooth and straight, that they may be roads leading to God: roads of conversion, justice, and freedom.
Penitential Act
We now ask the Lord to forgive us
for not loving and following him more closely.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, you have the words of eternal life:
to whom else shall we go?
Lord, have mercy.R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you have kept inspiring us t
hrough the faith of those who have gone before us:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you strengthen our faith
through the teaching and living example
of the community of the Church:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Forgive us our sins, Lord,
keep renewing us and grow in us
and lead us to everlasting life.R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray to our Father in heaven
to give us the rejuvenating Spirit of Jesus
(pause)
God of the covenant,
through the prophets of the past and of today
you call us to live up to the challenge of the Gospel
if we want to be your people.
Stir us up from our comfortable, self-satisfied ways.
Make us restless to hasten
the coming of your Son and your kingdom
and fill us with the fire of his Spirit
to bring the warmth of his love and integrity
into this cold, selfish world.
Give us the lasting peace of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading • Is 40:1-5, 9-11: Prepare The Way Of The Lord!
When his people have suffered in exile, God consoles them through the prophet: God remains faithful to the covenant. He is ready again to lead his people once more to freedom.
Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
the rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Go up on to a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.
Responsorial Psalm: PS 85:9-10-11-12,13-14
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD—for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and prepare the way of his steps.
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
Second Reading • 2 Pt 3:8-14: Awaiting New Heavens And A New Earth
Let us actively prepare for the day of the Lord’s coming and cooperate with him to create a new and just world.
Do not ignore this one fact, beloved,
that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years
and a thousand years like one day.
The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,”
but he is patient with you,
not wishing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief,
and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar
and the elements will be dissolved by fire,
and the earth and everything done on it will be found out.
Since everything is to be dissolved in this way,
what sort of persons ought you to be,
conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion,
waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God,
because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames
and the elements melted by fire.
But according to his promise
we await new heavens and a new earth
in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, since you await these things,
be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.
Alleluia: LK 3:4, 6
Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
All flesh shall see the salvation of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel • Mk 1:1-8: Prepare The Way For The Coming Of Christ!
John the Baptist prepared the coming of Christ by his preaching and his life. We prepare to welcome him by the conversion of our hearts.
Gospel: MK 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.”
Intercessions
Let us pray to our Lord Jesus Christ that he may help us to prepare the way for his full coming among us and in the world, and let us say: R/ Come, Lord Jesus, come.
- That the Church may be loyal to the Holy Spirit and implement the reforms demanded by the Council, that God’s people may show to the world of today the true face of Jesus Christ, let us pray: R/ Come, Lord Jesus, come.
- That the leaders of nations may listen to the voice of the Spirit at work in the world and look with wisdom and in dialogue for solutions to end wars, civil strife, and exploitation of nations by nations and of people by people, let us pray: R/ Come, Lord Jesus, come.
- That in the Church and in the world there may be prophets to wake us up from our indifference and complacency; that they may give a voice to the voiceless and open the eyes of all to one another’s needs, let us pray: R/ Come, Lord Jesus, come.
- That in our Christian communities we may be concerned about the poor among us and that we may treat them and everyone as sisters and brothers in Christ, let us pray: R/ Come, Lord Jesus, come.
- That all of us here may be open to change and renewal and that we may live our faith without cowardice or compromise, let us pray: R/ Come, Lord Jesus, come.
Lord Jesus Christ, make us open to the Spirit of wisdom and courage who was active in you. Convert us to you and to your good news, that you may truly live among us, now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Prayer Over the Gifts
God of our future,
we wish this bread and this wine to say
that we are waiting for Jesus your Son.
Give him to us now,
let him stay with us and journey with us,
that he may warm our lukewarm hearts
and help us to transform this barren earth
into a token and promise
of your own love and unending joy.
We ask you this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
Our offering of this Eucharist says that we want Christ our Lord to be with us. We thank the Father for giving him to us and ask him to let Christ be our food on our journey through life.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
God does not delay his promise.
With all trust, we pray to him
the prayer of Jesus our Lord: R/ Our Father…
Deliver Us
Deliver us Lord, from discouragement
when our little plans do not succeed.
Let our faith grow deeper roots
as it is tested in our struggles
and in the pains of renewal.
Keep us from regretting the safe past
or condemning the confusion of the present.
Make us look forward to a better world
and accept the tensions of change,
as we prepare with hope the full coming
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom…
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Happy are we if we prepare the way
for his coming among us. R/ Lord, lam not worthy…
Prayer after Communion
God of the promise,
the poverty of the disinherited
and the disgust of the over satisfied
cry out for someone to hope in.
Show your Son to the world, Lord,
as you have given him to us
here in this Eucharist.
Let him go ahead of us,
on the road to one another
and to you, our God for ever. R/ Amen.
Blessing
In this Eucharist the Lord himself
has reminded us in his Word
of his mercy and faithfulness.
Let his faithfulness spring from our earth
and his peace and justice dawn on us:
this is how we will make Christ present
in our world this Advent
and how we will console and hearten one another.
May Almighty God strengthen and bless you:
the Father, and Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go and prepare in hope
the way for the Lord’s coming to all. R/ Thanks be to God.
Reflection
December 10
Mark 1:1-8
Make Room
In this passage, we encounter the opening of Mark’s Gospel, which serves as a powerful introduction to the ministry of John the Baptist and the imminent arrival of Jesus. Mark begins boldly by declaring Jesus as the “Son of God,” setting the stage for the overarching theme of divine authority and power throughout the Gospel.
John the Baptist emerges as a central figure, fulfilling the prophetic role of preparing the way for the Messiah. Mark vividly portrays John’s wilderness ministry, emphasizing his call for repentance and baptism for the forgiveness of sins. The act of baptism becomes a symbolic cleansing, a turning away from sin and a readiness for the transformative work of the coming Messiah.
The wilderness setting holds significance, echoing the Israelites’ journey and the prophets’ encounters with God. John’s unconventional attire and diet highlight his separation from worldly distractions, emphasizing his role as a herald with a message of urgency.
The baptism administered by John foreshadows the sacrament of baptism within the Christian tradition. It becomes a visible sign of repentance and a spiritual rebirth, a theme that will be further developed in Mark’s narrative.
John’s humility shines through as he declares, “One mightier than I iscoming after me.” This acknowledgment underscores the hierarchy of authority and the recognition that the true source of transformation and salvation is Jesus Christ.
The imagery of John baptizing with water contrasts with the promise of Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit. This points to the transformative and empowering work of the Spirit in the lives of believers, symbolizing a deeper, more profound cleansing.
As we reflect on Mark’s opening, we are reminded of the ongoing call to prepare the way for Christ in our hearts and lives. John’s message resonates across time, urging us to embrace repentance, turning away from sin, and making room for the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. Just as John prepared the way for Jesus, may we, too, actively participate in preparing hearts for the continual coming of Christ in our world and in our lives.