Second Sunday of Advent (Year B)
Is 40:1-5,9-11;
Ps 85;
2Pt 3:8-14;
Mk 1:1-8
BIBLICAL-MISSIONARY COMMENTARY
The Invitation and Example of John the Baptist - The Messenger-Missionary of the Coming One
As in every second Sunday of Advent, today’s Gospel proposes that we reflect on the message and person of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. The details of St. Mark’s Gospel passage invite us to consider at least three important aspects for our lives as disciples-missionaries of Christ in this time of waiting for the coming of the Lord.
1. “A voice of one crying out in the desert”
John is presented as the prophet who takes on in himself, in his words and by his actions, the characteristics of the prophets of Israel’s tradition. His voice in the wilderness recalls the words of the prophet Isaiah who proclaimed in God’s name the beginning of a new exodus, a new exit from the exile of Babylon, as indicated by the evangelist himself (Mk 1:3; cf. Mt 3:3). In addition, such detailed mention of John the Baptist’s clothing echoes the prophet Elijah’s way of dressing (cf. 2Kgs 1:8), and the food on which he fed himself daily recall an austere and penitential manner of life, distinctive of the prophets.
In this regard, I emphasize again that every prophet of God is His special one sent to the people to always speak in his name concerning his things, God asks him to speak! He is the missionary of God. So it was with John the Baptist. He is presented as the prophet sent by God as his special messenger to prepare the way of Christ-the Son of God,. This is emphasized by the evangelist Mark at the beginning of his gospel with the quotation of the prophet Malachi (Mk 1:2; cf. Ml 3:1) (the text is considered by the evangelist Mark as of Isaiah whom he quotes at greater length immediately after). John will be praised by Jesus himself: “among those born of women, no one is greater than John”, one who was “more than a prophet,” precisely “the messenger” of God (cf. Lk 7:27-28; Mt 11:9-11). The particular mention of the “desert” as a place of vocation and the beginning of the Baptist’s activity is not just to signal the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophetic announcement (cf. Lk 3:4; Is 40:3) or to recall the experience of exodus. It makes us imagine a general spiritual picture of the time and to perceive a connection between the Baptist’s entry into the scene and the eschatological renewal of the people. God’s prophet-missionary almost always acts in the desert, even when he does so in an overcrowded city such as Shanghai, New Delhi, Lagos, or Sao Paulo! He is not particularly intimidated or deterred by this fact, because he knows that he is there not of his own will but for a mission entrusted to him by the Word of God!
2. “[John the Baptist] proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”
Portrayed as a prophet, John, however, has something special: the essence of his preaching is described with the exhortation to conversion, indeed to “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” It will be Jesus who will confirm the need for personal conversion to the gospel in His very first proclamation: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15). In this way, we glimpse, on the one hand, Jesus’ confirmation of the validity of John the Baptist’s message, and on the other, the figure of John the Baptist as a preacher of the Gospel—that is, of the good news of God, proclaimed by Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God, in the fullness of time—emerges clearly. John therefore is a special prophet, the messianic messenger-prophet who has the great honor of preparing in person the coming of the messianic kingdom, inaugurated by Christ.
On a spiritual level, the call of John the Baptist remains valid for every “baptized person” today, in the present time of waiting for the coming of the Lord. The Lord Jesus himself warned us in no uncertain terms against all hypocrisy and spiritual laziness without a true conversion from sins: Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt 7:21). All the baptized then as now are called to the serious commitment to conversion that leads to mature faith “working through love”, as St. Paul the apostle points out in Gal 5:6 precisely along the same lines as St. James the apostle (Jas 2:14-26). Such genuine and mature faith naturally leads to the joyful sharing of life in the kingdom of heaven with others, that is, to “missionary” commitment in the “messianic preaching” of the kingdom of God to all and at all times, as John the Baptist did.
3. In Preparation for the One Who “Will Baptize You With the Holy Spirit”
Despite the harshness of the language characteristic of the style of the prophets who wanted to shake the spiritually drowsy conscience of many, the messianic preaching of John the Baptist opens the horizon to a future of hope, pointing to the figure of “the one who is coming”, the messiah of God who “will baptize with the holy Spirit” (Mk 1:8). The reference of baptism in the Holy Spirit, that is, to immersion in the divine Spirit with the coming of Christ, underscores the fulfillment of the dream of the prophets in Israel for the end times, when God will pour out his spirit on every creature, according to the announcement of the prophet Joel (cf. Jl 3:1-5), later accentuated by St. Peter the apostle in his first missionary preaching on the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:17-18).
Therefore, all baptized Christians are reminded of, and called again today to the life in the Spirit they have received as a gift from Christ, in order to live deeply the Advent season, in which we are all called to conversion in view of the coming of the Lord. Let us always cherish these words from the second letter of the Apostle Peter, which we have heard today: “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard ‘delay,’ but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2Pt 3:9). Actually, returning to God, Christ-His Son and the Holy Spirit, the other Paraclete-Consoler, will always restore divine consolation to us in adversity and joy in living and proclaiming the faith. To this point, we want to quote an important passage by Pope Francis in his message for World Mission Sunday 2022: “All Christ’s missionary disciples are called to recognize the essential importance of the Spirit’s work, to dwell in his presence daily and to receive his unfailing strength and guidance. Indeed, it is precisely when we feel tired, unmotivated or confused that we should remember to have recourse to the Holy Spirit in prayer. Let me emphasize once again that prayer plays a fundamental role in the missionary life, for it allows us to be refreshed and strengthened by the Spirit as the inexhaustible divine source of renewed energy and joy in sharing Christ’s life with others.” So be it! Amen.