Today we celebrate the Second Sunday of Advent. In todays Gospel,1 we have moved on from the joys of Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem to His last supper with his Apostles. Christ starts the gospel reading with these words of comfort: “Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me.” And He goes on to paint a picture of what He will do before returning. He promises that He will go to prepare a place for us. And when He has done so, He will return to take us there. And He ends this by saying “you know the way where I am going.” Now, this passage continues after our reading with these words by Thomas (v.5): “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” And Jesus answers (vv.6-7), “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him.”
The way, then, is Christ Himself. We look not to our own thoughts, words, or deeds but to His promises. And that is the point of advent. Advent is not merely a “countdown” to Christmas. Yes, we do look forward to Christmas, where we celebrate and commemorate the coming of God in the flesh, but advent is just as much an eschatological commemoration of Christ’s second coming, when He returns to make good on His promises by taking us home. And we know this not because we are clever but because it has been revealed to us, chiefly by the hope given us through baptism and faith. As it says in our second reading, from Hebrews 6, we have this hope “as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain.” And note that this is not just something that will happen; it is something we participate in now, albeit on the other side of the curtain. The hope exists now, and it extends beyond the curtain now.
Whenever we celebrate the Divine Service, the Mass, the Divine Liturgy, or whatever you call it, we participate in a very real way in what happens in that inner shrine. We participate in divine worship, we participate, yet again, in the Divine Light foretold by the prophets of old, who told us that one day the One would come to save His people and bring peace. And we cling to it in hope, not by our own strength, but through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us in Scripture and in the sacraments. As it says in our first reading, from Psalm 33: “Let thy steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in thee.” Let that be our focus today.
Let us pray:2
Lord Jesus, light of the world, the prophets said you would bring peace and save your people in trouble. Give peace in our hearts at Christmas and show all the world God’s love. Amen.
We are currently on Year I (of III) in the Church of Norway and the readings for Advent 2 are Psalm 33:18-22; Hebrews 6:13-19; and John 14:1-4. As usual, unless otherwise noted, when quoting Scripture, I will use the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition (RSV-2CE), corrected to British spelling.
This prayer is for Advent 2 and is found on the Church of England website.