OXYGEN

06 Dec – The Second Sunday of Advent

The Joy Of Salvation
We celebrate the marvels God has worked for us in sending us his mercy and forgiveness, and calling us to share his glory. We await with joyful hope that ‘Day of the Lord’ when his work in us will be complete.

- The Sunday Missal
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Baruch 5:1-9

Jerusalem, take off your dress of sorrow and distress,
put on the beauty of the glory of God for ever,
wrap the cloak of integrity of God around  you,
put the diadem of the glory of the Eternal on your head:
since God means to show your splendour to every naion under heaven,
since the name God gives you for ever will be,
‘Peace through integrity, and honour through devotedness.’
Arise, Jerusalem, stand on the heights
and turn your eyes to the east:
see your sons reassembled from west and east
at the command of the Holy One, jubilant that God has remembered them.
Though they left you on foot,
with enemies for an escort,
now God brings them back to you
like royal princes carried back in glory.
For God has decreed the flattening
of each high mountain, of the everlasting hills,
the filling of the valleys to make the ground level
so that Israel can walk in safety under the glory of God.
And the forests and every fragrant tree will provide shade
for Israel at the command of God;
for God will guide Israel in joy by the light of his glory
with his mercy and integrity for escort.
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Philippians 1:3-6.8-11

Every time I pray for all of you, I pray with joy, remembering how you have helped to spread the Good News from the day you first heard it right up to the present. I am quite certain that the one who began this good work in you will see that it is finished when the Day of Christ Jesus comes. God knows how much I miss you all, loving you as Christ Jesus loves you. My prayer is that your love for each other may increase more and more and never stop improving your knowledge and deepening your perception so that you can always recognise what is best. This will help you to become pure and blameless, and prepare you for the Day of Christ, when you will reach the perfect goodness which Jesus Christ produces in us for the glory and praise of God.
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Luke 3:1-6

In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caeser’s reign, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judaea, Herod tetrarch of Galiless, his brother Philip tetrarch of the lands of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the pontificate of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah, in the wildernes. He went through the whole Jordan district proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah:

A voice cries in the wilderness;
Prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley will be filled in,
every mountain and hill be laid low,
winding ways will be straightened
and rough roads made smooth.
And all mankind shall see the salvation of God.
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Prepare a way for the Lord

“Make ready the way of the Lord, make God a straight path.” I sing these familiar phrases at the start of every Mass during the season of Advent, yet I have never really pondered the meaning of the words. Now I see that we are echoing the words of John the Baptist and also of Isaiah.

Those words at the start of Isaiah 40 mark the return of God’s people from exile in Babylon to Jerusalem. The Lord leads them out of their suffering, making their way easy by the levelling of mountains, and so on. John utters the same words, this time heralding the coming of Jesus to deliver us from sin into His kingdom.

The Advent season marks the start of the new liturgical year. It also serves as a checkpoint of sorts, to look back at the year that has passed, and reflect on how much we have grown in the Lord Jesus. What are the mountains, valleys, rough ways and winding roads in our lives that are obstructing our view of God? It could be a persistent bad habit, a lack of prayer time, an inability to forgive another person, or a need to seek reconciliation with others and with God.

During Christmas, I think about Jesus being born in a manger, about God giving us His only Son to redeem us, but now more so than ever I also see in this advent season the attitude we should have as followers of Christ – a kind of watchful anticipation that should influence the way we think and act. Is your path straight for the Lord?

(Today’s OXYGEN by Edith Koh)
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Prayer: In the words of St. Paul, we pray that our love will increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that we may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.

Thanksgiving: Thank you, Lord, for leading us in overcoming the obstacles in our lives.

Upcoming Readings:
Mon, 07 Dec – Isaiah 35:1-10; Luke 5:17-26; Memorial for St Ambrose, Bishop, Doctor of the Church
Tue, 08 Dec – Genesis 3:9-15.20; Ephesians 1:3-6.11-12; Luke 1:26-38; Solemnity of The Immaculate Conception of The Blessed Virgin Mary
Wed, 09 Dec – Isaiah 40:25-31; Matthew 11:28-30; Memorial for St John Diego, Hermit
Thu, 10 Dec – Isaiah 41:13-20; Matthew 11:11-15
Fri, 11 Dec – Isaiah 48:17-19; Matthew 11:16-19; Memorial for Damascus I, Pope
Sat, 12 Dec – Zechariah 2:14-17; Luke 1:26-38; Memorial for Our Lady of Guadalupe
Sun, 13 Dec – Zephaniah 3:14-18; Philippians 4:4-7; Matthew 11:16-19; Third Sunday of Advent