Mass Reflection: Sunday, 06th December 2020

 IS 40:1-5, 9-11; PS 85:9-14; 2 PT 3:8-14; MK 1:1-8

Today’s readings on this Second Sunday of Advent can be summed up as equal parts comfort and warning for the Christian steward. We serve a merciful and patient God — in His kindness, He warns us that we will be called to make an account one day for the way in which we made use of the gifts He has given us. 

The most precious gift He has given us is His own Son, Whose birth we are preparing to celebrate.

Our First Reading from Isaiah is filled with messages and images of the Father’s tender love for us. “Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end.” In other words, Israel’s time of exile and captivity is over and freedom is coming. Our freedom from the captivity of sin has come as well, through the saving power of Jesus. 

In this passage we also read this description of the Father. “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.” What tender love He has for us. And it is out of this love that we are told to “prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!”

St. Peter reiterates the loving kindness of the Father in our Second Reading today. He says that God “is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” Yet, in the same passage we receive this warning: “The Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar... and the earth and everything on it will be found out.”

How are we to assimilate these two truths — the merciful love of God and the responsibility that comes with the privilege of living as His disciple? St. Peter tells us we should conduct ourselves “in holiness and devotion” and that we should be “eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.” Indeed, this is the goal of our Advent “reset” — to return to (or intensify) living lives focused on Christ, in gratitude for all He has done for us. 

Our Gospel passage from Mark takes up the cry of Isaiah from the First Reading, this time through the prophet John the Baptist. John instructs us just as Isaiah did to “prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” In practical terms, this means that we Christian stewards must make good use of the gift of time we have been given this Advent season. Let’s be sure to get to Confession, prioritize a daily reading the of Scriptures, and reach out to someone in need with a word of comfort or an act of service. 

In this way, we will honor both the mercy and justice of our God, and we will be prepared to celebrate the birth of Christ and give account for all His gifts to us.

Mass Reading: Sunday, 06th December 2020

FIRST READING

A reading from the prophet Isaiah 40:1-5. 9-11

Prepare a way for the Lord.

‘Console my people, console them’

says your God.

‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem

and call to her that her time of service is ended,

that her sin is atoned for,

that she has received from the hand of the Lord

double punishment for all her crimes.’

A voice cries,

‘Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord.

Make a straight highway for our God

across the desert.

Let every valley be filled in,

every mountain and hill be laid low,

let every cliff become a plain,

and the ridges a valley;

then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed

and all mankind shall see it;

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’

Go up on a high mountain,

joyful messenger to Zion.

Shout with a loud voice,

joyful messenger to Jerusalem.

Shout without fear, say to the towns of Judah,

‘Here is your God’.

Here is the Lord

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 ewe.

The Word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 84

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

1. 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.

2. Mercy and faithfulness have met;
justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven.

3. The Lord will make us prosper

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

SECOND READING
A reading from the second letter of St Peter 3:8-14
We are waiting for the new heavens and new earth.

There is one thing, my friends, that you must never forget: that with the
Lord, ‘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. 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.
Since everything is coming to an end like this, 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.

The Word of the Lord.

Gospel Acclamation Lk 3:4.6

Alleluia, alleluia!

Prepare a way for the Lord,

make his paths straight..

and all mankind shall see the salvation of God

Alleluia!

GOSPEL
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 1:1-8
Make his paths straight.

The beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It

is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah:

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.

and so it was that John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness,

proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All

Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him, and as

they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins.

John wore a garment of camel-skin, and he lived on locusts and wild

honey. In the course of his preaching he said, ‘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.’

The Gospel of the Lord.