HOMILY for 2nd Sunday of Advent (B)
Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11; Ps 84; 2 Pt 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8
A few years ago, I met someone who told me about his conversion to Christianity. He came from an atheist background, and he wasn’t familiar with the Gospels. But he was writing a doctorate on social justice and Marxism, and he realized that many ideas could be traced to the Gospels. So he thought that, as part of his research, he should at least open the Bible and read it. And as he read the Gospels, he said the figure of Christ was so radical, so compelling, so attractive that he knew it had to be true. So, he sought baptism as a Catholic. The Orthodox archbishop Anthony Bloom had a similar experience. He had been a skeptical young man, and after hearing a talk by a Russian Orthodox theologian, he decided he had to demonstrate to others how empty and stupid he thought Christianity was. So he went home and began his research by reading the shortest of the Gospels, Mark. But as he read it he says he encountered the Risen Christ: “I suddenly became aware that on the other side of my desk there was a Presence”. How often do we listen to the Gospel and think we know it already; we zone out. Can it be that our familiarity with the Christian story causes us to miss Christ’s presence? Or maybe our problem is that we’re not familiar enough with the Scriptures – you might think you know the story but when did you last open the Bible and actually read the Word of God? It might be that just as Anthony Bloom or my friend encountered the real and living Lord Jesus when they read the Gospel with an open ear and a willing heart, so Christ is waiting for you to do the same.
We often think that Advent is about us waiting for Christ, but in fact, the Lord has been waiting for you and for me. From all eternity, the Lord has been waiting to have a heart to heart with us, to speak words of consolation to us, to fill us with his Holy Spirit. Hence today, the Second Sunday of Advent is also called Bible Sunday, and the bishops invite us to pick up our Bibles, open them, and read them. And so, we’re invited to make room for God to speak to us; to come to us in the wilderness of our lives; to make a straight way forward through the crooked paths that we find ourselves walking along. This is what Advent is for.
So Advent began last Sunday with a call to be alert and vigilant; to be awake and attentive to God’s grace at work in our lives. And then, having woken us up, the Advent herald comes today crying out and making great declarations, getting us to sit up and listen again. For St Mark’s Gospel opens with a great announcement: “The beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mk 1:1). So much is packed into this first sentence, but we can often miss its radical newness because we’ve become too familiar with Jesus being called Christ and Son of God, and we think we know what the word ‘gospel’ or ‘Good News’ means – it’s the story about Jesus’ life, we’d say.
And yet, to an outsider in the first century approaching the Greek text for the first time, Mark’s opening sentence makes one sit up, and it’s even slightly alarming. For in the Hellenic ancient world the word translated as ‘Good News’ or ‘Gospel’, namely euangelion was a bit of political jargon. Although it literally means ‘good news’ or a ‘good proclamation’, it was a word used routinely for official news and important public declarations. Rather than just a feel-good news story, it’s more like a significant Press Release from Downing Street or the Palace of Westminster. An euangelion was used to herald a piece of news that was of public interest and significance, like news from the frontline in times of war, or used to inform people that a peace treaty had been signed, or to announce the birth of a prince. The idea is that an euangelion is supposed to announce an event that marks the transition to a new era, that heralds regime change, and an end to the status quo.
So, when Mark’s Gospel opens, we’re being alerted that there’s going to be an impending regime change. St Mark then quotes from the prophet Isaiah, and here’s the news from the frontline: “[Jerusalem’s] time of service is ended… her sin is atoned for… the Lord is coming with power”. It seems a peace treaty has been signed, and mankind, who had been bound by Adam’s sinful rebellion is no longer punished – his service is ended – and he’s been let off. There has been an amnesty. And the euangelion also announces the the birth of a great personage, no less that one who is called ‘Anointed’ and who is designated as God’s Son. To a Jew, this was a bit of political jargon too, often used of the king of Israel. So, Mark’s Gospel announced regime change. Previously, the world and its inhabitants were bound by sin, and mankind was enslaved to the Devil. But now, with the coming of Christ, the Lord comes with power, that is, with the Holy Spirit, to overthrow the prince of this world who is Satan. The Lord has come to set us free! So Jesus says in St John’s Gospel: “Now shall the ruler of this world [i.e. the Devil] be cast out” (Jn 12:31). This is why as soon as Jesus appears on the scene in Mark’s Gospel he sets about performing exorcisms, which break the power of the Devil in this world, and he heals sickness to show that God’s power is at hand.
The Gospel, therefore, begins with a declaration that God is taking charge; he himself is coming to rule the world, and to establish justice, and to shepherd his people. But are we ready for this regime change? So, John the Baptist arrives to prepare us, and every Advent we’re called, as it were, to cast our vote, to make a choice. Do we want to live under the regime of the Devil, under the reign of sin, or will we switch allegiance and choose to live under God’s rule, in his Kingdom? Thus John arrives “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mk 1:4): he’s canvassing for votes, getting us to change our ways of thinking and behaving and to come on side with God rather than stick with the rebels. For every moral decision that we make, every action that we undertake, is either for God and his Kingdom or against him.
Therefore, the Lord speaks now in this Advent season, and indeed, every day, he speaks to our hearts, calling us to listen to his voice. It is a voice that is ever new, and we should not allow a false familiarity with the Gospels to mute it. Rather, we’re challenged to turn away from our familiar habits of sin and embrace a new regime in our lives. Let Christ be king; make his paths straight so that he can enter our hearts and reign. This is what it means to be baptised by the Holy Spirit: it means that I am filled anew with the transforming power of God so that from then on it is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is the Lord of my life, my actions, my thoughts. For the two people I mentioned earlier this ‘baptism in the Holy Spirit’ came through opening the Bible and reading it. Why not try the same? Or, better still, come to church and read the Bible during a time of Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.
Today St Mark announces Good, Life-Changing Cosmic-Scale News. Let us not be passive newsreaders but be newsmakers by allowing the Lord to come with the power of his Holy Spirit into our lives to convert us. So, if you dare, say with me: “Come, Holy Spirit!” And then, go home, pick up your Bibles, open and read.
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