Second Sunday of the Advent, Year B, Mk.1:1-8

Mk.1:1-8
The other day while I was breaking my head over the story that I wanted to attach to the reflection of this week, I got a message from my friend, containing a story. It touched me deeply and I believe it is a message for all of us… One day one old man was traveling on a train. He was inspired by the Spirit and got up from his seat and proclaimed to the passengers: “Jesus is coming soon…!” The woman who was sitting close to him shouted at him: “Shut up! you don’t know anything; Jesus doesn’t even exist.” The old man was embarrassed and sat down. But the Spirit was prompting him to proclaim again and so he obeyed: “Jesus is coming back; we need to repent for our sins and accept him today.” Then the woman, who shouted at him earlier, got up with a child beside her and started to attack the old man. As the lady continued her attack on the old man the child told her: “Mommy, stop hitting him; he is sent by God.” All of a sudden she fell on her knees and started to cry. The old man asked her: “Why are you crying?” The woman told him: “My son was dumb and now he is speaking!”
Does this season of advent bring any transformation to your life especially in your relationship with God and fellow brethren? The answer is known to all of us that all the renewal that we wanted to have in our life depends on the preparations that we undertake during this season of advent. The readings of the day present to us how John the Baptist prepared the people of Israel during the first advent season of history.
First and foremost John himself prepared well to receive the Messiah. He had only one focus in life, to prepare the way of the Lord. He embraced an ascetic form of life as part of his preparations to welcome Messiah. He lived a solitary form of life in the desert, his food was locust of honey, and wore camel skin. It depicts his spirit of detachment to get attached to the Lord so that he may be effective in his mission. When John started his proclamation people flocked to him because they were convinced of John’s authenticity. John exhorted them to repent and receive the baptism of repentance so that they may be able to recognize the Messiah and believe in Him.
After two thousand years even today, John the Baptist calls us to repentance through his witness of Christ. Are we able to listen to his voice crying out in the wilderness of our hearts? We witness in our time, the tendency to separate the spirit of Christmas and make it a winter festival. Today Christmas means a time for shopping festivals and carnivals. There is a hidden conspiracy to eliminate Jesus from all the symbols connected to Christmas by way of being secular and it happens in countries wherein civilization was built on Christian values. At times, we too get lost in the pomps and glory of these external celebrations of Christmas. We either tend to postpone or completely avoid this preparation aspect of Christmas to receive Jesus into our hearts. Christmas has become an occasion to attend the beautiful midnight Mass, listening to the carol songs, Christmas party, etc. The Christmas story tells us that Child Jesus revealed himself only to those who prepared themselves to receive him…Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Magi, Simeon, Anna, etc. As we continue our advent journey let us pause and look into our interior life and see whether we are serious about our advent preparations? I am not intending a blind following of an ascetical practice by way of preparations rather a convincing gesture of love with an intention of growing in communion with Jesus so that we may be ever ready to welcome him…