Sunday Mass for the 2nd Sunday of Advent 2020 - Year B

Welcome to St. Ignatius Chapel. Today we celebrate the 2nd Sunday of Advent. Our celebrant today is Jesuit Fr. Russell Pollitt SJ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. [Amen.] The grace and the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. [And with your spirit.] Our Advent Wreath reminds us that we are in this sacred season preparing for the incarnation, the coming of our God among us. And this week we are on the second Sunday of Advent.

01:09 - And on this Sunday we hear John the Baptist calling us to repentance in the Gospel. For those areas of our lives that we bring before the Lord, knowing there is weakness, there is sinfulness, knowing that we need the Lord’s mercy, let’s pause, and bring them before him asking for the healing we desire. Lord Jesus, you are Son of God and son of Mary, Lord, have mercy. [Lord, have mercy.] Christ Jesus, you are Word made Flesh and Splendour of the Father, Christ, have mercy. [Christ, have mercy.] Lord Jesus, you will come again in glory to judge both the living and the dead, Lord, have mercy. [Lord, have mercy.

] 01:57 - May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to life everlasting. [Amen.] And let us pray: Almighty and merciful God, may no earthly undertaking hinder those who set out in haste to meet your Son, but may our learning of heavenly wisdom gain us admittance to his company. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. [Amen.] A reading from the Book of Isaiah Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

03:01 - A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Behold, the Lord comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs to his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. The word of the Lord. [Thanks be to God.

] 04:11 - The response: Let us see O LORD your mercy, and grant us your salvation. [Let us see O LORD your mercy, and grant us your salvation.] I will hear what the LORD God speaks; he speaks of peace for his people and his faithful, and those who turn their hearts to him. His salvation is near for those who fear him, and his glory will dwell in our land. [Let us see O LORD your mercy, and grant us your salvation. ] Merciful love and faithfulness have met; justice and peace have kissed. Faithfulness shall spring from the earth, and justice look down from heaven. [Let us see O LORD your mercy, and grant us your salvation.] Also the LORD will bestow his bounty, and our earth shall yield its increase. Justice will march before him, and guide his steps on the way.

05:12 - [Let us see O LORD your mercy, and grant us your salvation.] A reading from the second Letter of Saint Peter Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming day of the LORD, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire! But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

06:49 - Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. The word of the Lord. [Thanks be to God.] Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight: all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! The Lord be with you. [And with your spirit] A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark. [Glory to you, O Lord.] The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

08:05 - As it was written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way; the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight—” John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, and had a leather belt around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” The Gospel of the Lord. [Praise to you, Lord, Jesus Christ.

] 09:30 - There are many great and interesting figures that we are introduced to in the Season of Advent. We meet, of course, Mary and Joseph and Elizabeth and the Shepherds, and the wise men, and Simeon, and Anna. But today we’re introduced to another key player in the events that unfolded around the birth of Jesus, John the Baptizer. We know very little about John. We know he was a bit of a weirdo, I mean who lives in a desert with camel hair and eating honey and wild locusts. I think most of us would accept the honey, but we would have a problem with the wild locusts.

10:22 - We know that John did not mince his words. He got right to the point and said what needed to be said. And I suspect that he would talk as straight-forwardly with us today as he did to the people of his own time. Words which would focus in on the weaker areas of our lives. John was a credible preacher of repentance because he had come to love God’s Word. A Word that he heard in the midst of his own life. Notice, I’m not saying John was credible because he was perfect, but John was credible because he came to love God’s Word. John heard, and experienced God’s liberating Word in the desert. And was thus able to preach it to others effectively because his life and his message were one. One of the most discouraging things, perhaps, that we all have to deal with in our own lives, is duplicity.

11:44 - How often our words and our thoughts and our actions are not coherent. The true prophets of Israel help us in our struggle against all forms of duplicity. Notice, that John was in the desert. A voice, we’re told, crying in the wilderness. Throughout biblical history leaders and visionaries have gone to the Desert: to see more clearly; to listen more intently to God’s voice; to discover new ways of living their lives. The Hebrew word for wilderness is ‘midbar’ (מִדְבָּר) which is derived from the Semitic root that means, “to lead flocks or herds to pasture.

” 12:44 - ‘Eremos’ (ἔρημος) is the Greek word used to translate ‘midbar’, and it denotes a sparsely populated area, a place which is perhaps slightly desolate. In a strict sense, one could say a desert or a wasteland. And so, the word ‘wilderness’ has two different yet related meanings. Referring to something being judged as wild or bewildering, and also a place that is uncontrolled. But there is another way of understanding desert or wilderness. Because if you look carefully at the root of the Word ‘midbar’ (מִדְבָּר), you will find the word ‘dabar’ (דָּבָר), which means “word” or “message.” And so the Hebrew notion of “desert” or “wilderness” is that holy place where God’s word is completely free and unbound. It is completely free to be heard, to be experienced and to be lived. Just look back over the scriptures and notice how many people encounter God in a profound way in the wilderness. We go to the desert to hear God’s word which is unbound and completely free.

14:23 - John the Baptist shows us that there is a way of being unbound from that which enslaves us. Or unbound out of the darkness and sadness of the world and of our human condition. And John points to that unbounding who is Jesus himself. And so Advent is a season that is inviting us to discover that same freedom. The freedom that the messiah brings, the freedom that the messiah offers us. I want to invite you to ponder three simple things this week ahead, during this second week of Advent. Perhaps, things that help us to have our own desert experience. The first one is John’s life and his message are one. He preached and practiced what he was preaching. I don’t know about you, but I struggle with that.

15:33 - Often my words and my actions don’t meet up. We become aware of times, probably daily, where these are not coherent. And maybe Advent is inviting us to become aware of that disconnect. To help ourselves work on ensuring that our words and our actions are coherent. This does not mean that we have to beat ourselves up, because we all struggle with this.

16:10 - But with John as our example we are invited to step back in Advent and to see how we can ensure that our lives are more congruent, in other words, what people see, is really what people get. The second thing we can ponder perhaps is, the question, what holds us back from hearing God’s Word unbound and completely free. You see, Advent invites us to open ourselves completely to the Lord. So often, perhaps, we find that we struggle with that. God’s Word may be bound because of doctrines we’ve been taught, or God’s Word may be bound because of circumstances that we find ourselves in.

17:03 - Maybe the Second Week of Advent invites us to step back and simply ask ourselves what would enable me to be free? How can I unbind myself so that I can hear God’s Word in my heart with clarity and confidence. That same clarity and confidence that John the Baptist shows us in his own life of preaching. And finally perhaps, St Ignatius Loyola teaches us something else that we can do in this Second Week of Advent. In his Spiritual Exercises he invites the person who is doing the Spiritual Exercises to enter into the scene of the Gospel. To become one of the characters. To watch, to listen. And so, get caught up in being present in the account that we read.

18:08 - And, Ignatius asks us to talk to the Lord as we would to a good friend about our experience of being present in that Gospel scene. And perhaps, in this time of Advent the Lord is inviting us to live more deeply, to enter into these Gospel accounts. We want to live and hear John’s words in such a way that he helps us to see our world through his eyes. To look at the world in which we live, as John looked at his world. To look at the people around us, our families, our community, our country, and ask the question, How does God feel about what God sees? Because John had this ability to feel what the Lord felt by looking at the world around him.

19:17 - We may not have the luxury of entering into the wilderness of Judea during this time of Advent, and many people do not have the privilege of going on a retreat in the Sinai Desert, however, we can each of us carve out a little desert or wilderness in the midst of our own activity in this time of Advent. Where we can go to that sacred space and allow the Word of God to speak to us, so that, like John, our lives can be re-orientated, like John, we can be led towards the Christ, like John, we can point him out to others by the congruency of our own words and actions. And so, with John as our guide in this Second Week of Advent, let’s not be afraid to let go of that which binds us, and seek the freedom that the Christ we await offers us, the freedom that John points us towards. So let’s together now make a profession of our faith as we say the Apostle’s Creed. I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

21:32 - I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. [Amen.] We have heard God’s Word spoken to us. And we respond to that word now by bringing our own needs before the Lord, asking the Lord that we too would be unbound so that we might serve Him freely. For all of us in this sacred season of Advent: that our journey through Advent would give us a deeper appreciation of God’s presence to us and God’s love for us. Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us.] For those who hold public office: that they, like John the Baptist, would lead lives of sacrifice and integrity for the greater good. Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us.] For all those people especially our parents and caregivers who sacrifice themselves for us: that the Lord would bless them for their efforts, and through their example, inspire us to live lives of self-sacrificial love. Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us.

] 23:22 - For all those who live on the margins and are often forgotten by our faith community and society –the blind, the deaf, those in advanced years, the terminally ill, those who grieve and those who are lonely: that they would know through us the love and presence of God in their lives. Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us.] For our families in their various guises: that God would bless those with whom we share our day-to-day lives. We ask the gift of peace, understanding and mutual support for one another. Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us.] For our own special needs in this time of Advent. Lord, hear us. [Lord, graciously hear us.] Almighty, ever-living God, we present you these our prayers, those we speak out loud, but the prayer too that rests within the heart of each one of us.

24:46 - Answer them as you know best, through Christ Jesus your Son and our Risen Lord. [Amen.] Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have this bread to offer: fruit of the earth and work of our human hands, it will become for us the bread of life. [Blessed be God for ever.] Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have this wine to offer: fruit of the vine and work of our human hands, it will become for us our spiritual drink. [Blessed be God for ever.] Let’s pray, sisters and brothers, that our sacrifice and the sacrifice and efforts of all our lives, may be acceptable to God the almighty Creator. [May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of God’s name, for our good and the good of all God’s holy Church.

] 26:19 - Be pleased, O Lord, with our humble prayers and offerings, and, since we have no merits to plead our cause, come, we pray, to our rescue with the protection of your mercy. Through Christ our Lord. [Amen] The Lord be with you [And with your spirit.] Lift up your hearts. [We lift them up to the Lord.] Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. [It is right and just.] It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord. For he assumed at his first coming the lowliness of human flesh, and so fulfilled the design you formed long ago, and opened for us the way to eternal salvation, that, when he comes again in glory and majesty and all is at last made manifest, we who watch for that day may inherit the great promise in which now we dare to hope. And so, with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominions, and with all the hosts and Powers of heaven, we sing the hymn of your glory, as without end we acclaim: [Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.

27:38 - Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.] You are indeed Holy, O Lord, and all you have created rightly gives you praise, for through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power and the working of the Holy Spirit, you give life to all things and make them holy, and you never cease to gather a people to yourself, so that from the rising of the sun to its setting a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name. Therefore, O Lord, we humbly implore you: by the same Spirit graciously make holy these gifts we have brought to you for consecration, that they may become the Body and Blood of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose command we celebrate these mysteries. For on the night he was betrayed he himself took bread, and, giving you thanks, he said the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT, FOR THIS IS MY BODY, WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU. In a similar way, when supper was ended, he took the cup, and, giving you thanks, he said the blessing, and gave the cup to his disciples, saying: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT, FOR THIS IS THE CUP OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT, WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR ALL FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME. The mystery of faith.

29:31 - [Save us, Savior of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.] Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of the saving Passion of your Son, his wondrous Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, and as we look forward to his second coming, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice. Look, we pray, upon the offering of your Church and, recognizing the sacrificial Victim by whose death you willed to reconcile us to yourself, grant that we, who are nourished by the Body and Blood of your Son and filled with his Holy Spirit, may become one body, one spirit in Christ. May he make of us an eternal offering to you, so that we may obtain an inheritance with your elect, especially with the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with St Joseph, her Spouse, with your blessed Apostles and glorious Martyrs and with all the Saints, on whose constant intercession in your presence we rely for unfailing help. May this Sacrifice of our reconciliation, we pray, O Lord, advance the peace and salvation of all the world.

30:38 - Be pleased to confirm in faith and charity your pilgrim Church on earth, with Francis our Pope, Buti our Bishop, Duncan his assistant, the Order of Bishops, all the clergy, and the entire people you have gained for your own. Listen graciously to the prayers of this family, you have gathered before you: in your compassion, O merciful Father, bring to yourself all your children scattered throughout the world. To our departed brothers and sisters and to all who were pleasing to you at their passing from this life, give kind admittance to your kingdom. There we hope to enjoy for ever the fullness of your glory through Christ our Lord, through whom you bestow on the world all that is good. Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honour is yours, for ever and ever. [Amen.

] 31:52 - With courage, let’s pray now in the very words that the Lord Himself taught us: Our Father, [who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.] Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, and graciously grant peace in our days. That by the help of your mercy, may we be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. [For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and for ever.

] 32:39 - Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your Apostles: Peace I leave you, my peace I give you, look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will, who live and reign for ever and ever. [Amen.] The peace of the Lord be with you always. [And with your spirit.] Let’s spend a moment now praying for peace in our own hearts, in our families, in our society, and indeed, across our world. And we pray together: Lamb of God, [you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.] Behold Jesus, the Lamb of God, Behold Him who takes away the sin of the world, how blessed are we who are called to share in this supper of the Lamb. [Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.] May the Body and Blood of Christ bring all of us, our family, our friends, and all people, to life everlasting. Although you cannot receive physical communion with us now, we invite you into a moment of spiritual communion. The great medieval theologian, St.

Thomas Aquinas, defined spiritual communion as: “an 34:36 - ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Holy Sacrament”, and “a loving embrace as though we had already received him.” His words are echoed by the great mystic, and fellow doctor of the church, St. Teresa of Avila, who wrote: “When you do not receive Communion, and do not attend Mass, you can make a spiritual communion which is a most beneficial practice. By it, the love of God will be greatly impressed on you.” At this moment we invite you to focus on Christ, and your longing for union with him.

35:15 - Express your desire to feel his grace coursing through you, giving you strength and courage, particularly in these difficult times. In your desiring union you are united with us, and to Christ. In this moment we experience the reality that is already here. Let us pray: Replenished by the food of spiritual nourishment, we humbly beseech you, O Lord, that, through our partaking in this mystery, you may teach us to judge wisely the things of earth and hold firm to the things of heaven. We ask this through Christ our Lord. [Amen.] The Lord be with you. [And with your spirit.] May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. [Amen.] Go now in the peace of Christ. [Thanks be to God.] .