A Second Sunday of Advent Thought About Waiting, John the Baptist, and the Messiah

It's the Second Sunday of Advent and we continue to wait for the coming of Christ. Last week we talked about the freshness, the newness that comes into our lives with the First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the Church's Liturgical Year. With our renewed energy and enthusiasm, our yearning now increases as the Gospel introduces John the Baptist, he who preceded the Lord, who prepared the way for Him.

In the Novus Ordo, our gospel reading this year (it changes every year) is taken from the beginning of Mark's gospel, which harkens back to the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. Mark identifies John the Baptist as the one sent to prepare us for the coming of the Messiah:

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.

When I turn to my Pius X Missal and the gospel for Mass in the Extraordinary Form (which does not change from year to year), I find the passage from Matthew with John already in prison, sending his disciples to Jesus to ask Him : "Are you He Who is to come, or shall we look for another?" Our Lord's answer let's them know in no uncertain terms that, indeed Jesus of Nazareth is He Who is to come:

"Go and report to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise, the poor have the Gospel preached to them."

Having told us Who He is, Our Lord now wants us to understand exactly who his cousin John really is:

"What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, those who wear soft garments are in the houses of kings. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who shall make ready Your way before You.'"

Now that we know, what else can we do today but resolve to listen to John, to make time for special prayer and penance, so that Our Lord will find us ready for His Coming? As the days of Advent pass, we remember the passing of the days of our own lives. He draws closer to us even as we draw closer to Him. He waits for us as we wait for Him.

Renewed in our resolve, we pray the prayer which calls upon Him: O come, O come Emmanuel! Last week we listened to this beautiful prayer sung in English. Now, as we read the gospel of the traditional right of our Catholic Church, we turn also to our Holy Mother's traditional language, Latin, and call upon the Lord: Veni, Veni Emmanuel. Here a variation on the original chant that also scrolls the original Latin words.

Divine Infant of Bethlehem, come and take birth in our hearts!