2nd Sunday of Advent, Year C
PAPAL MESSAGESTHIS WEEKCRUX NEWSCWR-DISPATCHMONTHLY INTENTIONS
Pope Francis
March 13, 2013 – Present
DECEMBER 9, 2018
How to Make Concrete Our Journey of Conversion
To prepare the way of the Lord’s coming, it is necessary to take note of the requirements of conversion to which the Baptist invites us.
Last Sunday, the liturgy invited us to experience the Season of Advent and of anticipation of the Lord with an attitude of vigilance and also of prayer: “be mindful” and “pray”. Today, the Second Sunday of Advent, we are shown how to give substance to this anticipation: by undertaking a journey of conversion, how to make this anticipation concrete.
As a guide on this journey, the Gospel presents the figure of John the Baptist who “went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Lk 3:3).
To describe the Baptist’s mission, the Evangelist Luke refers to the ancient prophecy of Isaiah which says: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low” (vv. 4-5).
SOURCE: The Holy See Archive at the Vatican Website © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
DECEMBER 6, 2015
Removing obstacles that impede conversion
We must always convert and have the sentiments that Jesus had.
On this second Sunday of Advent, the Liturgy places us in the school of John the Baptist, who preached “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”.
Perhaps we ask ourselves, “Why do we have to convert? Conversion is about an atheist who becomes a believer or a sinner who becomes just. But we don’t need it. We are already Christians. So we are okay”. But this isn’t true.
In thinking like this, we don’t realize that it is precisely because of this presumption — that we are Christians, that everyone is good, that we’re okay — that we must convert: from the supposition that, all things considered, things are fine as they are and we don’t need any kind of conversion.
SOURCE: The Holy See Archive at the Vatican Website © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
2nd Sunday of Advent, Year C
Pope Benedict XVI
April 19, 2005 – February 28, 2013
DECEMBER 9, 2012
John the Baptist’s Voice
In the consumer society in which we are tempted to seek joy in things, the Baptist teaches us to live in an essential manner, so that Christmas may be lived not only as an external feast, but as the feast of the Son of God who came to bring men and women peace, life and true joy.
In the Season of Advent the liturgy highlights in a special way two figures who prepare for the coming of the Messiah: the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist.
Today St Luke presents the latter to us and does so with characteristics that differ from those of the other Evangelists. “All four Gospels place the figure of John the Baptist at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and they reveal him as the one who prepared the way for Jesus.
St Luke presents the connection between the two figures and their respective missions at an earlier stage…. Even in conception and birth, Jesus and John are linked together” (Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, p. 14).
This setting helps us to realize that John, as the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, both from priestly families, is not only the last of the prophets but also represents the entire priesthood of the Old Covenant and thus prepares people for the spiritual worship of the New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus (see ibid., pp. 18-19)…
SOURCE: The Holy See Archive at the Vatican Website © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
DECEMBER 6, 2009
John’s Space-Time Coordinates
Luke writes “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, in the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came upon John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness” (Lk 3: 1-2).
Two things attract our attention. The first is the abundance of references to all the political and religious authorities of Palestine in A.D. 27-28. The Evangelist evidently wanted to warn those who read or hear about it that the Gospel is not a legend but the account of a true story, that Jesus of Nazareth is a historical figure who fits into that precise context.
The second noteworthy element is that after this ample historical introduction, the subject becomes “the word of God”, presented as a power that comes down from Heaven and settles upon John the Baptist….
SOURCE: The Holy See Archive at the Vatican Website © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
2nd Sunday of Advent, Year C
Pope Saint John Paul II
October 16, 1978 – April 2, 2005
DECEMBER 7, 2003
Prepare the Way of the Lord
We consider this cry also in our present day, as humanity continues its journey,,,
“Prepare the way of the Lord, clear him a straight path” (Lk 3: 4). This invitation of St John the Baptist resounds strongly on this Second Sunday of Advent. It is a prophetic cry that continues to resound through the centuries.
We consider this cry also in our present day, as humanity continues its journey in history. To the men and women of the third millennium in search of serenity and peace, he indicates the necessary path to take.
SOURCE: The Holy See Archive at the Vatican Website © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
DECEMBER 7, 1997
Re-echoes of the Baptist’s cry
We must “straighten” injustices, “fill” the void with goodness, mercy, respect and understanding, “bring low” pride, barriers and violence, and “make smooth” all that prevents people from living a free and dignified life.
Today we are celebrating the Second Sunday of Advent, a favourable time for allowing the Word of God to illumine our hearts and minds more deeply, so that the Holy Spirit may prepare us worthily to welcome the Lord who comes.
In today’s liturgy the figure of John the Baptist appears, the prophet sent to prepare the way for the Messiah. His voice cries out “in the wilderness” where he had withdrawn and where, as the Evangelist Luke says, “the word of God came to [him]” (Lk 3:2), making him the herald of the divine kingdom.
How can we fail to accept his powerful call to conversion, recollection and austerity at a time — like our own —ever more subject to dissipation, to inner fragmentation, to the cultivation of appearances?…
SOURCE: The Holy See Archive at the Vatican Website © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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