Rejoice that You are Remembered by God: Reflections on the Readings of the Second Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

“... because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your captives free.” (Zech 9:11, RSV 2CE). This quote from Zechariah is about the restoration of Israel, setting the captives free from disobedience to God. It is also a prophecy about the eventual coming of the Messiah, Jesus.

This Sunday’s first reading from Baruch is also about restoration, the restoration of Israel and Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity. God has not forgotten them, nor does He forget us. Like Israel, we are captives to our disobedience, our sin.

“The dungeon in which we ourselves imprison ourselves is our selves. … We forge the chains of our own bondage. ... We need a savior.” Dr. Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul, Cycle C. Jesus is coming to free the captives. We are the captives, and we have enslaved ourselves by our sin. We need Jesus in order to break those chains.

Jesus will gather us “from the east and the west at the word of the Holy One,” thus we rejoice that we are remembered by God. In a foretelling of John the Baptist in the reading from Luke, Baruch tells us, “God has commanded that every lofty mountain be made low, and that the age-old depths and gorges be filled to level ground.” This is possibly a restatement of the words of Isaiah which is quoted by John in the gospel reading.

The responsorial continues the theme of restoration and return from captivity, such as the return from the Babylonian exile. Like the culmination of Advent (Christmas), it is a time of rejoicing and laughter. It is a time of deliverance. It is a time of thanksgiving for the Lord has remembered His people and “has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.” This is why the Lord God sent His only son whose coming we are preparing ourselves for. This was His mission.

“His mission was to deliver them from a far greater bondage, namely, that of sin. All through His life people would continue to materialize the concept of salvation, thinking that deliverance was to be interpreted only in terms of the political. The name ‘Jesus’ or Savior was not given to Him after He had wrought salvation, but at the very moment He was conceived in the womb of His mother. The foundation of His salvation was from eternity and not from time.” (Fulton Sheen, Life of Christ)

Our lives are a trial. We may have gone forth weeping but, with the coming of our Savior, we “shall come back rejoicing.” God has not forgotten us.

And like many of the readings during Advent, St. Paul refers to Jesus’s second coming. However, it is important to keep strong in the good work of preparing for the Lord. As the early readings refer to Israel’s captivity, so we have been captive to sin. In preparing for Jesus, we need to repent and change our ways.

Repentance means change and that change is continuous. It is not a “one and done” situation. The Catechism tells us that this need for inner conversion is permanent (CCC 1888). If we stop our process of conversion the devil and secular society are making inroads against our spiritual welfare and can lead us into darkness making us spiritually blind. “Spiritual blindness is worse than physical blindness.” (Fulton Sheen, Life of Christ) We need the light of Christ.

As St. Paul tells us, our goal is to be “be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness.” That means overcoming our sinfulness by regular reception of the sacraments of penance and Holy Communion (Eucharist), especially appropriate for the season of Advent. We want to become more Christlike. “…[T]he Church exists for nothing else but to draw man into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy missions, sermons, even the Bible itself are simply a waste of time.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)

And the result of this transformation will be “for the glory and praise of God.”

The theme of repentance continues with the gospel. Here we learn about John the Baptist fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah as a voice crying out in the desert. This was also predicted by John’s father, Zechariah who, at John’s birth, predicted, “You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.” (Canticle of Zechariah, Luke 1:76-77)

Like the reading from Baruch, Isaiah said, “Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Note the words of Isaiah, “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Although the words were said by a Hebrew prophet, it was always part of God’s plan that all should be saved. This is reiterated in John’s gospel in the oft cited passage, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16, emphasis added).

And the message from ancient times, through John the Baptist, and from the outset of Jesus’s public ministry has not changed, “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15) The fact that the Church has selected these readings for Advent indicates that she is continuing that message. The fact that most parishes hold penance services bringing in many priests from nearby parishes to hear confessions reinforces the concept of repentance in order to “prepare the way of the Lord” and “be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” Take advantage of the opportunity Advent presents to renew and continue your path to the Lord.