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The Lord Is My Chef Advent Sunday-2B Recipe, 10 December 2017
Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11//2Peter 3:8-14//Mark1:1-8
Last Sunday at the start of Advent we reflected that it is the season to look inside, outside, and beyond. On its Second Sunday today, our readings tell us that in the same manner Advent is the time to listen inside us so we could hear better the world outside, and most especially, hear God coming. People usually say Christmas is in the air when Christmas carols are heard playing as early as September; but, not all Christmas carols speak of the birth of Jesus Christ and its meaning except the likes of “Silent Night” or “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. Try imagining “what o’ fun” “Jingle Bells” bring and you can’t help but be naughty instead of being nice and kind. Or, have you ever thought about the havoc “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” would bring to every family on Christmas Day, especially if that Santa Claus is a neighbor?! But the most misleading sounds of Christmas are the love songs masquerading as Christmas songs that beg us to give love on Christmas day when the love they speak of is not really love but selfishness, self-centeredness.
Christmas happens when we heed the voice within us, a voice for a long time “roaring like a lion in the wilderness,” calling us to repentance and conversion to truly love like Jesus. Observe closely the simple yet solemn opening line of St. Mark’s gospel account that captures the spirit of Advent: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.”(Mk.1:1)
So beautiful! And that is truly Advent – Jesus comes to us, Christmas happens the moment we listen and accept the gospel of salvation of Christ! To listen to the gospel means to heed the “voice of one crying out in the desert” like John the Baptist“proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mk.1: 3,4) We are the new John the Baptist and that desert is right within us, in our hearts! So many times in our lives we have felt like shouting, even freaking out the roaring voices of discontent within us, of how fed up we have been in all of our series of lies, of wearing masks, of faking just everything to be “in”. Deep within us is a desert where we have always wanted to straighten up our paths of infidelity and insincerity to self and with others. We all groan in pain within us as St. Paul noted in one of his writings because we all know something is not right in us, especially when we have been enslaved by our tasks and jobs, imprisoning us and preventing us to love free and truly be ourselves. This is now the time to straighten the paths of our lives, for us to repent and change our ways because Jesus is come and wants to stay in our hearts. It is the new beginning we are all hoping for that Advent offers being the new year of our liturgical calendar.
When St. Mark wrote that opening line “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God,” he was inviting every disciple of the Lord to always begin anew – every day – his or her own version of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is now giving us the perfect gift to listen inside us and be who we really are. Like the Israelites in the first reading, Isaiah announced their coming liberation from 70 years of Babylonian captivity, and that soon they were coming home to Israel. Advent is a coming home inside us where Christ speaks to us. Listen.
When we are able to listen inside us, then we hear the outside world better. Again we go back to St. Mark’s opening line, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.” Here we find that when we listen inside, we become more open to the outside world, to the rhythm and flow of life. Advent is a microcosm of our universe: of how everything in this life is interconnected in one big reality called time. St. Peter tells us in the second reading that “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day.” Our Church calendar offers us a unique view about being and time. Authentic living happens when we have a good sense of time wherein we are aware of the one big reality of God with us. When we are attuned with our inner selves, we could literally hear the world moving and humming in a rhythm so that we learn to respect and be kind with others because we are not alone. The past, present, and future are altogether true and a reality. Problem with us Filipinos is our lack of sense of time and history that leads to our lack of respect to others. Exactly what “Filipino time” is all about – we ignore time, we ignore people. Only the present matters to most of us while the past and the future are both non-existent. Look at how we destroy old buildings in total disregard with its historical and cultural values. In other countries, people and authorities painstakingly try to preserve their cultural heritages while we here discard them all. In politics, corrupt and inept politicians stay in power because people without sense of history reelect them. On the other hand, we refuse to prepare for the future because it is something not existing yet; no disaster or accident had happened yet, so why prepare? Thanks to “Ondoy”! Worst, we will not rectify things not until somebody prominent had died or have been inconvenienced because it is a policy of our country to wait for accidents to happen first before we do something. Our lack of sense with future is best seen with our attitude with reserved seats for PWD: chances are, despite the notices that these are for PWD’s and elderly, able-bodied people would still take those reserved spaces claiming there are no elderlies or disabled persons around yet. They do not care because the PWD’s have not come yet.
How can we truly wait for the Second Coming of Jesus if we cannot listen inside and outside us to be aware of the presence of everyone, especially the weak and the sick? When we could not listen to the rhythm and passing of time within and outside us, it is impossible for us to hear Christ’s coming inside and outside us. Only when we can listen inside our own desert of discontent and darkness, sins and weakness can we listen to the Lord who comes not only on December 25 but daily to anyone attuned with the past, the present, and the future. Jesus had come, would come again and is always coming to those willing to listen to His gospel which is the beginning of our new life in Him within and with others. A blessed week to everyone!
Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II,
Parokya ni San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista,
Gov. F. Halili Ave., Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan 3022
