Second Sunday of Advent Yr B

Second Sunday of Advent Yr B

10 December 2017

Homily

The opening words of both the First Reading and the Gospel form the words of the opening song from the musical “Godspell”. In all three contexts, we are being invited into a journey.

Today we start from the very beginning of Mark’s Gospel. There is no nativity, no infancy story – we go straight in to an adult Jesus. These opening words are very important – “ the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ the Son of God”; Mark is firmly nailing his colours to the mast here. Right from the start he is proclaiming that Jesus is not only the messiah, but also the Son of God. This is an extraordinary statement for a Jew to make; also extraordinarily inflammatory for other Jews! Mark is being very strong.

But also, note it is the beginning of the good news. What does this imply? It is a statement that his, Mark’s work is the start of something that is continuing in his day and ours. We are still in the story of the good news of Jesus Christ. It is not something that occurred once, in the past. It is happening now, in our own lives and actions. Which raises the question – what kind of news is the life we are living? What news do our actions create. We hear a lot today about “fake news”; of course, this is actually better described as “lies”. Do our lives and actions demonstrate “good news” or “fake news”.

We cannot just jump into the good news. We must prepare for it. Prepare ourselves for change, knowing that change always causes repercussions.

Where is the good news in our lives?

#AdventYearB #Godspell #Gospel #Mark