Reflection for the Second Sunday of Advent - Dec. 8, 2019

Now at the 2nd week of Advent, we get introduced to one of the important players in the preparation for Christ’s coming, not as a child, but this time as He is getting ready to start His public ministry as the Son of God. It is John the Baptist. He’s out in the desert proclaiming that we all need to prepare: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” Our opening song, “On Jordan’s Bank” gets us ready to hear about him:

On Jordan’s bank, the Baptist’s cry
announces that the Lord is nigh;
Awake and hearken, for he brings
glad tidings of the King of Kings.
Then cleansed be every soul from sin;
make straight the way of God within,
Prepare we in our hearts a home,
where such a mighty guest may come…
Shine forth, and let thy light restore
our souls to heavenly grace once more.

And once again, we hear of all of the important aspects of Advent that I wrote about last week: light, darkness, preparing our hearts for His coming. These ideals tie the season of Advent together.

With this being the first week that we hear of John the Baptist, our offertory song also tells us his story, “A Voice Cries Out”. If you didn’t get the message during the reading of the Gospel, maybe you’ll get it while singing this song. Prepare. He’s coming.

We also close our mass with another version of the Gospel message: “Every Valley”. With multiple renditions of this week’s Gospel, hope-fully, as you’re preparing for Christmas, you’ll be able to remember John the Baptist’s message too: Prepare. He’s coming.

Every valley shall be exulted and every hill made low.
And all God’s people shall see together, the glory of the Lord…
Behold your God.

On another note, normally today we would be celebrating the Holy Day of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, patronal feast of the United States of America. Because this feast falls on a Sunday during Advent, the Sunday of Advent takes precedence over the feast day – that’s why we celebrated the 2nd Sunday of Advent this weekend. This year the feast day will be celebrated on Monday, December 9. It is not a holy day of
obligation this year because it was transferred to a different day, and transferred holy days are never obligatory, but it is still holy! We will be offering Masses at 6:15am, 8:15am and 7:00pm. Please come to celebrate Mary’s Immaculate Conception and to pray for her intercession in and for our country.