2nd Sunday of Advent B

Jeff Bagnall • 8 December 2023

The first reading is a well-known passage, set to music so elegantly by Handel – just listen to it and reflect! The text originated at the time of the ending of the Babylonian captivity of the chosen people of God, as the prophet announces hope and consolation from God as the time of their exile draws to an end. The way back to the promised land is either a huge detour or is a way across the desert – they have felt deserted even by God but now see a way ahead – there is always a way for us to return to God when we have strayed and lived away from Him. The prophet interprets the exile as a time of punishment for all their previous neglect of their religious practices and lack of faithfulness to God. The voice puts it the other way round: God is coming to them. It is about setting things right so that God can come cutting through all the obstacles that we have which prevent His engagement with us; if we can do that then we can envisage God’s glory – His presence – not as individuals but as a community of people together. The symbolism and allusions of this passage to growth in our spiritual lives are remarkable and should not be overlooked. The voice announces the glad news (the word ‘gospel’ means good news) for God cares for us like the ideal shepherd. The deeper meanings behind this passage are eminently relevant to us at this time of Advent – of preparation.

The seco nd reading is from a letter attributed to Peter, but addresses a much later situation, about 100 AD, The message is for those who are worried about the Second Coming of Christ and the day of Judgment which seems to have been unduly delayed way beyond their expectations. Don’t worry that people are dying before the end comes, the reading argues, alluding to Psalm 90 ( especially verses 3 and 4 ). The important thing is repentance – moving from our old ways to living within the life of God. Through Christ we can do this but we must start now (as we in Advent prepare) to be eager to free ourselves of any spiritual blemish.

The gospel is the opening words of the Gospel of Mark and may be taken in three different ways because of the ambiguity of the little word “of” before “Jesus Christ.” Firstly, it can mean that the message which the gospel is about to present is the very message that Jesus Himself came to deliver to us- it is the good news from Jesus. Secondly, it may be taken to imply that Mark is going to tell us the good news about Jesus – he came to save humanity and by his death (and resurrection) he did. And thirdly, “the Good News of Jesus” can mean that Jesus is Himself good news for us. I think we might think on these three, but accept them all as meaningful to us. This goes beyond what the author had in mind, but this kind of development for a deeper understanding is the way Scripture is used; the next part of our reading shows the author developing the words of Isaiah in the first reading. The voice in the Isaiah reading calls for preparation to be made in the desert; it is a voice that says, “in the desert prepare the way of the Lord.” To apply this to the preaching of John the Baptist in the desert by the river Jordan, the text has been punctuated differently – “a voice in the desert cries out: prepare the way of the Lord.” Throughout history, God comes to us in various ways at different times, and we must prepare to let Him into our lives. We must apply to our situation the message of John, calling out “repent” which means “change your way of thinking!” What we must do as we prepare in Advent for a renewed coming of Christ to us is to let Him into our life, for He shows the way to live for the good of others and consequently for our own good too.

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Jeff Bagnall was a lecturer for many years at Craiglockhart College teaching RE to many future Catholic Primary teachers.

4th Sunday of Easter 2026 - Year A

by Jeff Bagnall • 21 April 2026

The first reading repeats the introduction from last week so as to make sense, for there follows a continuation of the previous words spoken to the crowd by Peter. The people have been moved by the accusation of putting Jesus to death, and they want to know what they can do. Peter calls upon them to be baptised. As John the Baptist seems to have preached to his listeners, Peter begins with the need for repentance and the need for baptism. You could feel sorry for the past but this repentance means ‘change your attitude to life.’ Baptism is a washing symbolic of starting with a clean sheet; here it is for starting a new life caught up in the life of the risen Christ. In his life our past is transformed; those baptised will have the forgiveness of past sins. The words translated ‘forgiveness of’ could equally well be translated as ‘release from,’ meaning a freedom from the debilitating affects of past sins. Those baptised will share in the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit of God. God wants people of all kinds to come into this communion with Him.

3rd Sunday of Easter - 2026 - Year A

15 April 2026

In Luke’s Acts of the Apostles, today’s first reading is the first sermon from Peter after the resurrection. The literary style is not that of a Galilean Jew, but the content is believable as a very early expression of the initial preaching about Jesus. In this first century account of the beginnings of Christianity, Peter is a key figure in the growth of the early church, together with Paul, the missionary to the Gentiles. It is significant that it is a Jewish audience in Jerusalem that Peter is addressing. Jesus is referred to as the Nazarean and there is uncertainty whether this means a man from Nazareth or one specially dedicated to God, as for example, Samson in the Old Testament, called a Nazirite. The understanding of Christian beliefs develops over time, so Peter speaks about God working through Jesus where we might be clear that Jesus is Himself God; but he does see Jesus as the fulfilment of the hopes of the Old Testament and quotes Psalm 16 verses 8 to 11, which was a song originally about someone faithful to the Lord, maybe king David, being looked after by Him; (it is used for the responsorial psalm this day). In the sermon Peter accuses the Jews of engineering the death of Jesus in an anti-Semitic way; this attitude was decried by the Church most noticeably in the 20th century in the Second Vatican Council initiated by Pope Saint John XXIII, with the words: “Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any person, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.” (The Church and non-Christian religions, Nostra Aetate, Oct. 1962). But for us the positive message from Peter’s sermon is that the Spirit of God is now poured out into creation because of the resurrection of Jesus destroying the deadliness of death and the power of evil in our lives. The second reading is part of an address to early Christians, probably Gentile converts. It is about what it means to be a Christian, noting that it is brought about by Christ – the writer uses the word ‘ransomed’, but no words can really capture the mystery of it. The mystery is that the final age has been initiated thanks to the work of God in Christ, through His life and death. The imagery of the sacrificial lamb which is used is derived from the bloody sacrifices of the Jewish Temple which at the time of this letter had been destroyed. And those addressed are living like people in exile and are urged to conduct themselves reverently in this situation; this reflects how the Jews were when they were in exile in Babylon, they had to work at it to keep themselves true to their calling. So, though we are elevated in our being through the work of God in Christ, we are for the time being in this world and must live here in a way becoming of our status.