Lectionary 5: God’s Gracious Offer of Relationship and How to Respond

Key:

What these passages tell us about God

What these passages tell us to do

Reading 1 IS 40:1-5, 9-11

Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.

A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Go up on to a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God! Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who rules by his strong arm; here is his reward with him, his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.

Responsorial Psalm PS 85:9-10-11-12, 13-14

R. (8) Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
I will hear what God proclaims; the LORD—for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him, glory dwelling in our land.
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss. Truth shall spring out of the earth, and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
The LORD himself will give his benefits; our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him, and prepare the way of his steps.
R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

Reading 2 2 PT 3:8-14

Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. 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.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out.

Since everything is to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be, conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire. But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.

Alleluia LK 3:4, 6                                                                                           

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths: All flesh shall see the salvation of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MK 1:1-8

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: "Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths."

John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean country side and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. And this is what he proclaimed: "One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

1.   God is awesomely powerful. He has great glory, so much that even someone of such great statute as John the Baptist—who showed no fear of powerful earthly leaders—felt unworthy of anything but the most menial of relationship with Him.

2.  Yet this awesome, inconceivably powerful, God loves and is tender with us. He longs to be in relationship with and to bless us. He goes to great lengths to make that relationship work. He sends prophets to put us at ease and tell us how to interact with Him. He offers His very Spirit to help us understand and live with Him. He is patient while we delay/struggle in accepting  and living this relationship. The very first paragraph of the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it like this:

God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man (emphasis added).

3.   How to we respond to that?  Again, the first paragraph of the Catechism puts it well: “[God] calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength.”  The first, second, and gospel readings suggest some ways to do that:

a.    Intentionally, actively, work to eliminate the things in our lives that get between God and us, that hinder our relationship with Him (first reading, gospel). It might be wise to focus on the “desert” areas of our lives, the areas where we have most separated ourselves from/ignored God. Some ways to do that include building examens into our days and taking advantage of the sacrament of confession/reconciliation.

b.   Do things that facilitate our relationship with God, “conducting [ourselves] in holiness and devotion” as the second reading puts it. Some ways to do that are spending time with the Lord meditating on scripture and spending time with Him in adoration.

c.    The second reading also tells us that we should be “at peace.” That suggests that we be part of healthy Christian community, and that we should strive for peace in all our interpersonal relationships.