Second Sunday of Advent: John the Baptist tells of ‘more to come’

BISHOP DAVID M. O'CONNELL, C.M., HAS SHARED THIS MESSAGE for the Second Sunday of Advent.

John the Baptist is truly a remarkably important figure in the story of Advent and beyond.  As a prophet and preacher, he is the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New.

St. Mark’s Gospel, proclaimed on the first and second Sundays of Advent, is the considered the earliest of the four Gospels written.  And yet, it does not contain any specific reference to the story of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. For that, we need to read the first chapters of the Gospels of St. Matthew (1:1-2:23) and St. Luke (1:5-2:52), what Scripture scholars commonly describe as the “infancy narratives.”

St. Mark’s Gospel begins by introducing us to St. John the Baptist, foretold by the Old Testament prophet Isaiah as the precursor 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.’”

His presence and preaching drew quite a crowd. St. Mark writes,

“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.”

Read the full message HERE.