2nd Sunday of Advent   (Cycle B, Year I)

Community Word:     Disciples of Jesus prepare for His coming with watchfulness.

Theme: Disciples of Jesus prepare with watchfulness when we acknowledge our sins and reform our lives.

Promise: “The Lord himself will give his benefits; our land shall yield its increase.” (Ps 85:12)

Reflection:
The call to “prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths” (Mk 1:3) spans centuries, and is as effective today as it was at the time of Christ.  It is a fitting reminder to the faithful that to receive God’s forgiveness, we should acknowledge our sinfulness, make straight our morally crooked ways, and smooth the rough edges of our character.  We need God.  Without Him we would not even exist.  As St. Augustine wrote, “God created us without us; but He cannot save us without us.”

Advent is the most opportune time to mend our ways and commit to transforming our lives.  The Second Reading tells us He waits patiently for us for, “the Lord is patient, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance,” (2Pt 3:9).  What He wants is for all human beings to repent and be transformed that we may gain the “promised new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells,” (2Pt 3:13).  For our part as believers, we should hasten the coming of the day of the Lord with pure and blameless hearts.  The theme for the week reinforces this:Disciples of Jesus prepare with watchfulness when we acknowledge our sins and reform our lives. Let us then be prepared to welcome Him not only on Christmas, but whenever and in whatever way He may come knocking at the door of our lives.

Desiring to know God is not enough. We must develop constant awareness of God’s real presence in our life.  To do so, we need to repent and come to transformation of the heart and mind by turning away from our sinfulness and invoking God’s grace and mercy, that we may produce good fruit, as witnessed through our thoughts, words and deeds.

With repentance comes genuine conversion of heart, which assures us that God will always be present to us, through us, and in us, as we reflect Him in everything we do and say by our own witnessing.  Let us be consistently upright and righteous in our attitudes and behavior, repentant of our shortcomings and weaknesses, eliminating arrogance and pride from our lives and instead, cultivating humility, like John the Baptist who acknowledged his limitations and proclaimed Christ as mightier than himself.

God is with us and among us every time we gather for Corporate Worship, for He comes to us every time we gather in His name. The Lord comes to us when we listen to the word as proclaimed in the readings, when we do our share of work in the Community’s mission fields of spreading the Good News, addressing poverty, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, and comforting the sick and the imprisoned.  May Christ’s presence in our lives, be our source of strength, joy, and wisdom, as we surrender our lives to him and give Him our full trust.  Then we can experience the fullness of His blessings and claim this week’s Promise: “The Lord Himself will give His benefits; our land shall yield its increase.”

Prayer
Lord Jesus, at this time of the year, we are often carried away by the superficial observances of the season, overlooking the spiritual message that Your birth is meant to convey.  Help us make Advent a time for repentance, transformation, reconciliation and receiving the sacraments, a fitting time to make a way for Your coming into our lives.  Grant us the grace to give to You the gift You long for:  the gift of our commitment to draw You closer to us, and to follow and serve You with gladness and consistency.  Amen.

Reflection Questions:
1.    What obstacles keep you from living a transformed life?
2.    What must you do to prepare the way of the Lord?
3.    What should be the focus of your attention this Advent Season

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
December 7, 2014 (Sun)        Is 40:1-5,9-11/Ps 85:9-5,11-12,13-14/2Pt 3:8-4/Mk 1:1-8
December 8, 2014 (Mon)       Gn 3:9-15,20/Ps 98:1,2,3,3-4/Eph 1:3-6,11-12/Lk 1:26-38
December 9, 2014 (Tues)      Is 40:1-11/Ps 96:1-2,3,10,11-12,13/Mt 18:12-14
December 10, 2014 (Wed)    Is 40:25-31/Ps 103:1-2,3-4.8,10/Mt 11:28-30
December 11, 2014 (Thurs)   Is 41:13-20/Pt 145:1,9,10-11,12-13/Mt 11:11-15
December 12, 2014 (Fri)        Zec 2:14-17/Jdt 13:18-19/Lk 1:26-38
December 13, 2014 (Sat)      Sir 48:1-4,9-11/Ps 80:2,3,15-16,18-19/Mt 17:10-13

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ.  Read your Bible daily!”

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