The Second Sunday of Advent traditionally gives focus on the figure of John the Baptizer. As Jesus’ precursor calling on the people to prepare the way, he is of special relevance to us in our own time (Luke 3:1-6).
Salvation in Jesus for all humankind
For Saint Luke the setting for the coming of Jesus is human history benchmarked by the “fifteenth year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea…,” explicitly tying up the history of salvation with secular history. It is the coming of salvation to humanity in history. And John turns the world around him toward the advent savior. The quotation from the prophet Isaiah (40:5) emphasizes the universal dimension of what is to happen: “All flesh shall see the salvation of God.” The full realization of the mission of Jesus means that all humankind shall see salvation.
And all need to make the necessary preparation for the one who comes. “The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.” A prophet has been summoned, a vocation given out. And John’s ministry is to be “a voice crying out in the desert,” according to the description by Isaiah. His task is to remind and challenge all to be sensitive to the will of God, to share in the approaching time of fulfillment by reforming their lives. Facilitate the coming of the savior. Remove whatever hinders His approach. What is crooked must be made straight.
Making straight his paths
Then “every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth….” Change and conversion are irreplaceable if betterment is to begin to happen. The apocalyptic language of the sun failing to shine and the stars falling off the heavens simply means that, at the coming of Jesus, things cannot just continue as before without upheavals and radical changes. Where and when the reign of God begins, things can really get upside down.
John the Baptizer is immediately concerned about the first coming and manifestation of Jesus who comes right after him to inaugurate the Kingdom of God that must be responded to with transformation. This first coming is to be followed by the second at the end of time in full glory and power. In the meantime Jesus comes to humankind in history here and now in the mystery of his mystical body, the Church, in her life and mission as especially expressed in her sacred liturgy. That is why we celebrate particularly the Season of Advent in cycle, because we need to persevere and work regularly on our conversion to Jesus and His Gospel.
Alálaong bagá, we are on the way to that salvific end of what was begun in us Filipinos 500 years ago when we accepted the Christian faith—the salvation of all of us in Jesus Christ. May the call of the voice in the desert, John the Baptizer, lead us to that path of conversion and moral renewal so urgently needed by our people. We cannot just go on careening from one crisis and excess to another. We should not stand anymore on the wayward politics of vested interests and institutionalized corruption. We must stop the drug culture and the endless violence that make mockery of human life. Let us renew our baptismal consecration as God’s sons and daughters. Let us seek more integral obedience to God’s commandments. Let each of us honestly strive to follow the Gospel way in the family and in the public and private spheres of life. Let us make straight the path of the Lord!
Join me in meditating on the Word of God every Sunday, from 5 to 6 a.m. on DWIZ 882, or by audio streaming on www.dwiz882.com.