A VOICE IS HEARD IN THE DESERT

 A VOICE IS HEARD IN THE DESERT

The prophet Isaiah (Is 40, 1-5, 9-11) is quick to tell the people that there will come days when someone from God will announce the long-awaited forgiveness, peace and well-being. And this

announcement must be proclaimed with love, seeking to console a people who have suffered for their own sins. The announcement of the long-awaited Good News takes shape in the gospel (Mc 1, 1-8), when in the person of John the Baptist the arrival of the Prince of Peace is announced, the One who arrives to redeem his people and baptize them with Holy Spirit is Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Advent is the time to once again announce the promise made by God to a people who still suffer and who cry out to God for forgiveness, liberation, and justice. Advent is silence to listen to the messenger who shouts again with a powerful voice that the Day of the Lord has arrived. Advent is the time to lift our faces to God who looks at us with mercy and forgives our sins. Advent is the opportunity to repair the harm done to others and honor the One who saves us. Advent is a time of grace in which we joyfully wait for the Lord who is already coming. Advent is a time of introspection, enlivening God’s Spirit within.

Let us keep in mind what Saint Peter has already told us in today's second reading (2 Pd 3, 8-14): “we trust in the promise of the Lord and we wait for a new heaven and a new earth, where justice dwells. Therefore, dear brothers, supported by this hope, do your best to ensure that the Lord finds you at peace with him, without stain or reproach.” Once again, let us remain attentive and vigilant in the things of God, while we do well what we are meant to do. Amen.

Fr. Carlos Flores, OSA