Second Sunday of Advent

Baruch 5 or Malachi 3: 1-4 Luke 3: 1-6

We are now well into the season of Advent for another year. How is it being observed? Looking around we see many pointers all reminding us of the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. In the commercial world shops and stores have been full of Christmas promotions. For some months now we have been tempted to buy Christmas goods, ornaments, lights, the list goes on. The aim is to sell goods and to raise profits and income. Coming closer to home we just need to venture out in the evening to see how the sales have progressed. Some of the gardens of houses are crammed full of Christmas decorations all lit up, some of them moving. The Advent observance often spills out to continue to twelfth night. In all of these observances it could be argued that they are “Preparing the way of the Lord, making his paths straight.” In putting all of the decorations out and lighting them up they are helping others to realise that the day is coming. The time for their atonement is approaching. The meaning of Advent is reinforced.

In addition the Advent observance can include the Posada. Here Mary and Joseph are paraded from house to house, looking for a place to stay, as it were, for the birth of Jesus. Each household hosts the holy family for one night before they are passed on to the next home. The meaning of Advent is being acted out in a very real way as the family move from place to place looking for a room to settle.

Advent, then, is a time for preparation. We prepare our homes for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. In some homes the decorations do not make an appearance before Christmas Eve. In others they are there almost the whole year round. The key word has to be preparation. We are making our homes ready. It is good too if, at the same time, we are making ourselves ready.

Spend a few moments of time reflecting on the past week or month. Have you always put the way of the Lord first? Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbour. These are the two laws that govern everything else. If we can look back and see occasions where we may have slipped up in our observance then we need to seek atonement for our misdeeds. In cleansing our soul, we are making ourselves ready to receive the Lord. By this we make the way straight. When the Lord comes he will not need to clear away the debris of our misdemeanours. The way to our heart will be open waiting for him to enter.

Advent is not just a day in the calendar or a period of a few weeks when the world seems to go crazy. Advent is a time of preparation. An opportunity for us to cleanse our souls. The lights that we see around us help to remind us of what is to come. In the gardens we see figurines and animals, and we also see boxes, all brightly coloured, to make us feel excitement as we return home to find any addressed to us under the tree waiting for us to open them. It is this excitement that we all feel on Christmas Day when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the greatest gift that could even be given to us.

Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent

O Lord, raise up, we pray, your power

and come among us,

and with great might succour us;

that whereas, through our sins and wickedness

we are grievously hindered

in running the race that is set before us,

your bountiful grace and mercy

may speedily help and deliver us;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,

be honour and glory, now and for ever.