First reading: Is. 40:1–5,9–11

Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. 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.

A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! 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. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Go up on to 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! Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who rules by his strong arm; here is his reward with him, his recompense before him. 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.

Second reading: 2 Pt. 3:8–14

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. 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. 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. 

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

Gospel: Mk. 1:1–8

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” 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. John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. 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. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In other words

by Fr. Lino E. Nicasio, SVD (The National Shrine of Saint Jude Thaddeus, Manila)

Once I went home to my hometown, the city of Calapan, for a brief visit. As soon as I entered the city proper I noticed the deployment of police and soldiers at every major intersection. Upon inquiry I learned the reason for the heightened security: the president himself was arriving the next day for a political meeting with provincial officials. Passing by the provincial capitol, we noticed a lot of activities going on. It turned out that the head of the president’s security was issuing orders to prepare for the chief executive’s arrival. Things were being moved around, areas cleaned up, and welcome décor was being set up—all under the supervision of the president’s forerunner.

In the Gospel, we encounter a similar happening. Jesus the Messiah was about to make his entrance into the world scene to begin his salvific mission. But his coming needed to be announced and prepared. Hence the need for a forerunner, a messenger in the person of Saint John the Baptist. His task was to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus the Savior by preaching repentance of sins and straightening one’s life by the grace and mercy of the Lord. The people listened to John and repented. As messenger and forerunner, the Baptist did well.

What does this mean for us? First, through the Gospel God calls on us to prepare for the coming of Jesus this Christmas and on the last day through repentance of sins. This is an invitation to confess our sins, do penance, and do good works as befits conversion. Second, it is a call for us to help others prepare for the Lord’s coming by inspiring, encouraging, and leading them humbly to pray, participate in the Holy Mass, and do charitable things to others. When we do these, the Lord will easily find his way to our hearts and lives, for we have “prepared the way of the Lord and made straight his paths.”