Second Sunday of Advent

 Lectionary: 5

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.

Beginning -- the word -- carries multiple meanings in Saint Mark's opening sentence, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.”

Saint John's appearance in the Jordan Valley is a beginning, as is the baptism of Jesus. The enthusiasm of the crowds who heard John's announcement and rushed to be baptized heralded something new and unexpected; the start of something big.

However, this cascade of baptisms and conversions of sinners  was not welcomed by the Roman occupiers and their quisling Herodians. Empires want docility, not enthusiasm. They prefer a bland conformity to common standards. They don’t want to hear about  a preferential option for the poor or justice for the oppressed; much less sorrow for sin. Nor does a consumer economy want the public to do penance. You should Shop til you drop and sacrifice nothing. 

Our life, the life of grace, begins with penance. Advent, the Gospel, Good news signal our penance as we own our sins and turn back to the Lord. This is why we begin every Mass with a penitential prayer; it’s why we declare our unworthiness before approaching the altar. It’s why we approach Christmas and Easter with prolonged periods of fasting, abstinence, prayer, and sacrifice. There is no prayer without penance. 

Penance is accompanied by an awareness of guilt; feelings of sadness, remorse, and disappointment in oneself, but it does not stop there. Penance sees a dawning hope and a rising sun, and in God’s daylight, the road ahead. We can live a good life. 

Beginning is what we do each day as we practice this new way of life. We do not forget that the old ways are still open. At any time we might turn off the Lord's highway and wander into trouble. 

When I was a boy the best way to get from Louisville to Cincinnati was US-42, which was considered one of the most dangerous highways in the United States. Occupied by semi trucks, Mennonites in horse and buggy; farm tractors with cultivators, harvesters, and wagons, it offered little space to my day with a family car full of children. 

The federal government finally opened the new Interstate 71 in 1970, a faster, safer, easier route to the same destination. A three hour trip takes only two.  But the new highway also gets congested at times; traffic may come to a full stop. Some intrepid drivers might remember the old route and decide to take their chances on it. 

Likewise, some Christians, meeting the ordinary challenges of life – like death and taxes and disappointment – sometimes turn away from the Gospel to the old, familiar ways of past sins. 

Advent wants a new beginning every day, even if it requires a recitation of the same prayers and a repetition of yesterday's good deeds. It might not be exciting. There's no reason it should be exciting; and if someone tells you it is exciting, they're selling something; and that something is not the truth. When you hear the word exciting, change the channel!  

Kneeling down is not exciting; the rosary is not exciting.  Apologizing for your bad behavior is not exciting. Repeating your good intentions each morning, and then examining your conscience at night  are not exciting. But they are good, and we have begun to live a good life in the Lord. 

Advent – the Coming of our God – is a new beginning for those who believe in the Lord, and for everyone who knows us. It’s a new beginning for people who don’t know us, and even for our enemies.  As Saint Paul said, 

“For creation waits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation – the world God created and the world we re-created – was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of God’s children. We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now… (Romans 8:19-22)

Our faith in Jesus Christ is something the world has never seen and does not expect. We ourselves can hardly imagine that future. We only know the Lord is coming for us, and we are ready to go with him. We, the Church -- we are “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.”