Sunday Readings Commentary and Reflections

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Sunday ReadingsCommentary and Reflections

• 2nd Sunday of Advent B
• December 7, 2014
• In preparation for the Sunday Readings
• As aid in focusing our homilies and sharing

Prepared by Fr. Cielo R. Almazan, OFM
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1st Reading Isaiah 40,1-5.9-11

• 1 Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your
  God. 2 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.
• 3 A voice cries out In the desert prepare the
  way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a
  highway for our God! 4 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. 5 Then the glory
  of the LORD shall be revealed, and all mankind
  shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD
  has spoken.
• 9 Go up onto 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! 10 Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who
  rules by his strong arm. Here is his reward with
  him, his recompense before him. 11 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.

The focus is on preparing the WAY OF THE LORD.
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1st Reading Isaiah 40,1-5.9-11

• Commentary
• In vv.1-2ab God asks the prophet Isaiah to
  comfort the people Israel in Exile.
• The rest of v.2 talks of the reasons why they
  should be comforted
• Their sufferings, as punishment for their sins,
  are about to end.
• They have suffered more than enough. They have
  served their sentence. (v.2)
• Vv.3-4 announce the coming of the Lord, who will
  put an end to their sufferings.
• Therefore, they must prepare, pave the way for
  the coming of the Lord (valley be filled up,
  mountain made low).
• They must facilitate his coming.
• V.5 gives the reason for the Lords coming.
• To reveal his glory

• 1 Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your
  God. 2 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.
• 3 A voice cries out In the desert prepare the
  way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a
  highway for our God! 4 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. 5 Then the glory
  of the LORD shall be revealed, and all mankind
  shall see it together for the mouth of the LORD
  has spoken.

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1st Reading Isaiah 40,1-5.9-11

• 9 Go up onto 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! 10 Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who
  rules by his strong arm. Here is his reward with
  him, his recompense before him. 11 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.

• V.9 commands Zion // Jerusalem (herald of glad
  tidings // good news) to proclaim the presence of
  God in their midst.
• V.10 describes Gods coming
• with power
• rules by strong arm
• brings reward // recompense
• V.11 describes Gods purpose in coming
• to feed his flock
• to gather the lambs, carries in his bosom
  (intimacy)
• to lead the ewes with care

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Short Background of the 1st Reading

• The reading comes from the first part of the
  second book of Isaiah.
• Just for your information or reminder The Book
  of Isaiah has three parts, namely
• Proto-Isaiah chs. 1-39 (in Jerusalem)
• Deutero-Isaiah chs. 40-55 (in Exile)
• Trito-Isaiah chs. 56-66
• Deut-Is is dubbed as the Book of Consolation.
• The Israelites have been in exile for many years.
  Nebuchadnezzar brought them to Babylon,
  destroying their institutions in Judah, the
  priesthood, kingship, etc., threatening their
  identity and religion. (587 BC)

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• Now the prophet in exile, taking the spirit and
  style of Isaiah of Jerusalem 200 years earlier,
  announces the end of the exile.
• The end of the exile means the restoration of
  their legitimate institutions (worship in the
  Temple, being ruled by a good king). The author
  sees the end of the exile as the beginning of
  Gods rule over Israel / Judah (539 BC).

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Reflections on the First Reading

• Our experience is also written in the experience
  of the Israelites in exile.
• We, too, experience being defeated by our
  enemies. We are also exiled
• cast aside, taken for granted, rejected, stripped
  of our rights, forced to leave our homes, given
  unwanted assignments and thrown into unfamiliar
  situations.
• We feel we are being punished.
• The experience of exile may be as a result of our
  own doing.
• We violated some laws or betrayed our friends.
• We were not mindful of our obligations to God and
  to our community.
• We did not pay our bills.
• We did not exercise self-control.
• The Season of Advent is to celebrate Gods coming
  to restore us.

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Resp. Ps 859-10-11-12, 13-14

• R. (8) Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant
  us your salvation.
• 9 I will hear what God proclaimsthe LORD for he
  proclaims peace to his people.10 Near indeed is
  his salvation to those who fear him,glory
  dwelling in our land.
• 11 Kindness and truth shall meetjustice and
  peace shall kiss.12 Truth shall spring out of
  the earth,and justice shall look down from
  heaven.
• 13 The LORD himself will give his benefitsour
  land shall yield its increase.14 Justice shall
  walk before him,and prepare the way of his steps.

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Resp. Ps 859-10-11-12, 13-14

• R. (8) Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant
  us your salvation.
• 9 I will hear what God proclaimsthe LORD for he
  proclaims peace to his people.10 Near indeed is
  his salvation to those who fear him,glory
  dwelling in our land.
• 11 Kindness and truth shall meetjustice and
  peace shall kiss.12 Truth shall spring out of
  the earth,and justice shall look down from
  heaven.
• 13 The LORD himself will give his benefitsour
  land shall yield its increase.14 Justice shall
  walk before him,and prepare the way of his steps.

• Commentary
• The psalm is classified as a community lament.
• It expresses the message of the first reading in
  the form of prayer.
• In v.9, the psalmist expresses his love for what
  God proclaims, which is peace.
• Along with peace is salvation for the
  God-fearers. V.10
• In vv.11-12, kindness, truth, peace, and justice
  will pervade upon the earth.
• V.13 expresses Gods sense of justice to mankind
  he will make the land increase its produce.
• V.14 describes how the Lord will come.
• Justice prepares for his coming.

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Reflections on the Psalm

• Like the psalmist, let us believe that when God
  comes, he will bring kindness and salvation.
• God is he who saves and gives justice.
• His peace leads us to abundance of food.
• Our physical and spiritual well-being indicates
  that God has come to us.
• Are you ok, financially stable, spiritually
  strong?

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2nd Reading 2 Peter 3,8-14

• 8 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. 9 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.
  10 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. 11 Since everything is to be
  dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought
  (you) to be, conducting yourselves in holiness
  and devotion, 12 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. 13 But according to his
  promise we await new heavens and a new earth in
  which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore,
  beloved, since you await these things, be eager
  to be found without spot or blemish before him,
  at peace.

The focus is on the coming day of the Lord.
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2nd Reading 2 Peter 3,8-14

• Commentary
• V.8 God reckons time differently from us.
• For God 1 day 1000 years and vice versa.
• V.9 The seeming delay is a time for us to make up
  our minds (to change ourselves). God does not
  intend to lose anyone.
• V.10 The Day of the Lord is sudden and dissolves
  everything.
• Vv.11-12 Christians living in holiness and
  devotion will not be affected.
• Vv.13-14 They, who await for his coming and have
  no sin, will be in the new heavens and new
  earth.

• 8 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. 9 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.
• 10 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. 11 Since everything is to be
  dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought
  (you) to be, conducting yourselves in holiness
  and devotion, 12 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. 13 But according to his
  promise we await new heavens and a new earth in
  which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore,
  beloved, since you await these things, be eager
  to be found without spot or blemish before him,
  at peace.

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Reflections on the 2nd reading

• The reading invites the listeners to live without
  blame, in preparation for the day of the Lord.
• There is no other way to prepare for the new
  heavens and the new earth than to live without
  fault.
• Living without fault is not an accident.
• The Christian can do it if he mindfully listens
  to the prodding of God and to his warnings
  written in the scriptures.

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Reflections on the 2nd reading

• Each day, each minute is a chance for us to
  change and to reform. One must take advantage of
  this amnesty now, for afterwards, there will be
  no more second chances.
• Dont wait for the last minute. There is no such
  thing as the last minute, or last 2 seconds, for
  Jesus will suddenly come, according to the
  reading.
• Be guided by the Word of God.

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Gospel reading Mark 1,1-8

• 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ
  (the Son of God). 2 As it is written in Isaiah
  the prophet "Behold, I am sending my messenger
  ahead of you he will prepare your way. 3 A
  voice of one crying out in the desert 'Prepare
  the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.'"
  4 John (the) Baptist appeared in the desert
  proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
  forgiveness of sins. 5 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. 6 John was clothed in
  camel's hair, with a leather belt around his
  waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. 7 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. 8 I have
  baptized you with water he will baptize you with
  the holy Spirit."

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Gospel Reading Mark 1,1-8

• Commentary
• V.1 announces what is to be read a gospel of
  Jesus Christ, the son of God.
• The gospel of Mark is the first literary type of
  its kind.
• Vv.2 -3 pick up the message of the first reading
  and Malachi 3,1.
• V.4 Mark identifies the voice in the desert as
  John the Baptist. Mark interprets the message -
  prepare the way as baptism of repentance.

• Gospel
• 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ
  (the Son of God).
• Prophecy
• 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet
  "Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you
  he will prepare your way. 3 A voice of one
  crying out in the desert 'Prepare the way of the
  Lord, make straight his paths.'"
• John the Baptist
• 4 John (the) Baptist appeared in the desert
  proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
  forgiveness of sins.

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Gospel Reading Mark 1,1-8

• Conversions
• 5 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. 6
• Description of John
• John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather
  belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild
  honey.
• His message /witnessing
• 7 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. 8 I
  have baptized you with water he will baptize you
  with the holy Spirit."

• V. 5 describes the overwhelming response of the
  people in the barrios of Judaea and the
  inhabitants of Jerusalem.
• They allowed themselves to be baptized as they
  acknowledged their sins.
• V. 6 describes the simple attire and food of
  John.
• Vv.7-8 express Johns humility (feeling of
  unworthiness) and the greatness of the one yet to
  come.

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Further observations

• The very first line is very important in the
  interpretation of the whole gospel of Mark.
• The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the
  Son of God.
• This introduction announces that the gospel is a
  story of an extraordinary person.
• He is not just an ordinary person of Nazareth,
  but identified as Christ (Messiah), the Son of
  God, with a special mission.
• All the readers and listeners of the gospel must,
  therefore, take the story seriously.
• Jesus does not appear right away in the gospel.
  John the Baptist comes first.
• Johns mission is to prepare the people for the
  appearance of Jesus as the prophets had foretold.

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Reflections on the gospel reading

• The call of repentance is loud and clear in the
  gospel reading.
• Repentance is the way to prepare to meet Jesus
  Christ when he comes to begin his ministry.
• The reading suggests that without repentance we
  cannot follow the teachings of Jesus.
• What is repentance?
• To await for the coming of Jesus to teach us. We
  have been influenced by other people and by the
  world, absorbing their teachings and values.
• With the coming of Jesus, we need to stand
  prepared for the new teachings of the new
  teacher, the Christ, and assimilate his values.
• Jesus brings good news salvation.

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Tying the three readings and the Psalm

• We must prepare for the way of the Lord (1st
  reading).
• The Lord who comes is totally different from the
  worldly lords.
• He will restore his people, free them from
  sufferings and evil rule.
• The psalm gives the purpose of Gods coming
  (salvation).
• Prepare the way of the Lord. (gospel reading),
  through repentance (change of teachers, change of
  value system).
• When the Lord comes, we must be prepared (be
  found blameless in his sight) (2nd reading).

Take note of the order of the readings 1st
reading gospel 2nd reading. It is much better
if you follow this historical order as you
develop your homily. The first reading and the
gospel talk about the 1st coming of Jesus, the
second reading about the 2nd coming of Jesus.
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How to develop our homily / sharing

• We should focus on the word preparation as we
  are in the season of Advent.
• To understand the word preparation better, we
  should be able to answer the following questions
• What are we preparing for?
• We are preparing for the coming of Jesus.
• Who is this person / Lord who deserves our
  preparation?
• He is the Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah,
  sent to redeem us.

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• What kind of preparation should we make according
  to the readings?
• Preparation for the coming of the Lord is none
  other than repentance from sinful living.

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• The first reading tells us that we should
  facilitate the coming of the Lord. (Make straight
  his paths)
• We pave the way to make his coming to our hearts
  easier, through conversion.
• We dont harden our hearts.
• We must acknowledge our woundedness, our poverty,
  our experiences of sin and rejection.
• We pray for his coming to change and improve our
  life.
• Are you willing to change or you just want to
  enjoy your sins? (Wretched soul!)

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• The gospel reading tells us that the best way to
  welcome Jesus is through personal conversion
  (metanoia) and cleansing.
• As Catholics, we interpret this as receiving the
  sacrament of confession and promising God to do
  better and not to draw near the occasions of sin.

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• The gospel teaches us that we give up self-rule
  (autonomy, very secular, living independently
  from God, living according to ones tastes) and
  that we allow ourselves to be ruled by Jesus.
• We adopt Jesus as our teacher, whose teachings
  lead us to salvation, and be docile to him.

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• The second reading teaches us that the second
  coming of Jesus Christ is sudden.
• The conversion that is asked of us is living
  blamelessly in the Lord, day after day.
• We make sure that at any time of the day we are
  disposed to meet Jesus.
• We can now begin living as if we were in the new
  heavens and new earth.
• We should not delay our conversion.

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• The eucharist is for those who are converted.
• When we receive the eucharist, we are telling the
  Lord and the congregation
• that we have submitted ourselves to God and
• that we are ready to meet the Lord on Christmas,
  today, and at the end of time.
• Our prayerful and active participation in the
  holy eucharist is itself our preparation for his
  coming.
• In the eucharist, Jesus assures us of our
  salvation.

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Our Context of Sin and Grace

• Still living in un-freedom
• Living as if nobody is coming.
• Self-righteous
• No spiritual values
• Misguided preparations (more on externals)
• No conversion (cant follow Christ)

• Conversion
• Cleansing from sin and evil, goes to confession
• Keen to the voice of the prophet
• Sees connection between listening to the Word of
  God / receiving Holy Communion and the coming of
  the Lord.

The End
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Suggested Songs

• Make Straight the Path
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vXWlq2ouoEMg
• Prepare Ye
• Halina, Hesus, Halina
• O Come O Come Emmanuel