PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD
INTRODUCTORY RITES
Gather as a family/ community; create an environment appropriate for prayer (dress appropriately - switch off your phones...).
We are conscious that Christ is present not only in the Blessed Sacrament but also in the Scriptures and in our hearts. Even when we are on our own, we remain part of the Body of Christ.
Place lighted candles, a crucifix, and the Bible on a covered table. These remind us of the sacredness of our time of prayer and could help us feel connected with our local worshipping communities.
You may sing or play an appropriate hymn. For instance:
The Sign of the Cross
Greeting and Introductory Words
L: The Lord invites us to the table of his Word: let us bless him for his goodness.
A: Blessed be God forever.
L: On the first Sunday of Advent, the call of the liturgy was to stay awake and to wait for the Lord with hope. On the second Sunday, the call is to PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD: to create a path for Jesus to enter our world and to remove the obstacles we place, both as a community and as individuals, to his coming into our lives and our world. We ask for his grace that we may prepare the way for him.
Penitential Rite
L: Let us prepare for his coming in our midst now and at the end of time in glory by asking him to pardon us for not waiting in hope!
Pause
L: Lord Jesus, you invite us to repentance: Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Christ Jesus, you have shown us the way to the Father: Christ, have mercy.
A: Christ, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, you gather us in your arms and care for us: Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
Opening Prayer
L: With tender comfort
and transforming power
you come into our midst,
O God of mercy and might.
Make ready a way in the wilderness,
clear a straight path in our hearts,
and form us into a repentant people,
that the advent of your Son
may find us watchful and eager
for the glory he reveals.
He lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
A: Amen.
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
Readings
The readings are those assigned for the day in the Lectionary.
Preferably use a Bible/ Lectionary for reading.
Reading 1 Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
Psalm Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19
Response Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
Reading 2 2 Peter 3:8-14
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths:
all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Gospel Mark 1:1-8
Reflection on the Readings
Use one of the following ways to reflect on the readings.
Lectio Divina
Imagine you are one of the people of the Judean countryside or an inhabitant of Jerusalem, who hears the message of John the Baptist. What thoughts and feelings do his appearance and his words evoke?
Sunday Snippets
Isaiah, in the first reading, assures the exiles in Babylon that their desperate wait for freedom is almost over; God will lead them, like a shepherd, back home. The exiles have a two-fold task: to prepare the way of the Lord and to proclaim the glad tidings that God is coming to lead his people home.
Mark, in his gospel, has the same message and task. John the Baptist invites the people to straighten the pathways of their lives to prepare the way of the Lord. This was not an individualist cleansing of sins. John’s emphasis: salvation is corporate, forgiveness is corporate, and the new way of living is corporate; it is all rowing in a lifeboat together rather than having individual lifebelts.
Peter urges his Christians to conduct themselves “in holiness and devotion” and to “be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him”.
In the second week of Advent, the liturgy challenges us to put the C’s (cribs/carols/cakes/cards) on the back-burner and focus on the S’s: be silent in the “wilderness” of our lives; straighten the pathways in our hearts; and share the glad tidings that our God is coming.
Will I spend time in the wilderness?
What areas of my life and our lives need straightening: what are the valleys that need filling; which are the mountains that need levelling?
How and with whom will I share the good news of the Lord’s coming?
A collegian failed all his college work. He texted his mother: “failed everything; prepare papa.” His mother texted back: “papa prepared; prepare yourself.”
This is our Advent task: we need to prepare ourselves for the coming of God. Our “Papa” is prepared… with his loving mercy.
Questions to Ponder
Reflect on some (or all) of the following questions:
Reading 1: Do I believe that God has been walking on the roads of world history? Have I experienced God walking with me in the present “rugged country”?
Reading 2: The Lord “is patient with you.” Am I patient with others and with myself? How do I react as the pandemic makes more and more lives very difficult?
Gospel: List all the reasons Jesus is Good News. What is so compelling about John’s ministry that people abandon city life, however briefly, to spend time with John in the desert?
The Creed
Prayer of the Faithful
L: We ask the Lord to help us prepare for the coming of his Son, and we pray: Lord, hear our prayer.
R: For the Church: that God will comfort, nurture, and care for us, and lead us to a new day that is free of the coronavirus, we pray…
R: For our world: that God may lead us to honest dialogue, greater respect for one another, and a deeper commitment to the truth, we pray…
R: For all who are experiencing deep loneliness: that God may help them recognize a purpose for their life through the deepest desires that God has planted in their spirits and give them a vision as to how to live their life more fully, we pray…
R: For deeper respect and appreciation for the created world: that we may be good stewards of the earth that God has provided for our well-being and that of future generations, we pray…
R: For ourselves: that we may turn from the wastelands of violence, deceit, and greed and dedicate ourselves to promoting faithful, honest, and loving relationships, we pray…
L: Lord our God, keep us from regretting the safe past or condemning the confusion of the present. Make us look forward to a better world and accept the tensions of change, as we prepare for the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
A: Amen.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
The Lord’s Prayer
Spiritual Communion
A: Jesus, I know and believe in your real presence in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is you I desire to love and receive above all things. As I am unable to receive your sacramental presence now, come and be with me in heart and soul. Let my entire self be united with you as I welcome you again and know your loving embrace. Amen.
Post Spiritual Communion Reflection
“Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God!”
Lord, in the sorrows of life,
who does not long for comfort?
But what is comfort?
Sometimes what we want
is what the good shepherd gives his lost sheep:
we want you to carry us;
we don’t want to walk along the road of our life to you.
But, Lord, a child that is carried all the time
will never learn to walk, to leap and run.
That child,
weak enough already to have to be carried,
will get only weaker as the carrying goes on.
Comfort isn’t a matter of giving weakness.
It’s a matter of giving strength—
strength for walking, even over very rough roads.
Lord, strengthen us in our journey towards you;
comfort us as we wait for you.
CONCLUDING RITE
Concluding Prayer
L: God of the covenant,
through prophets of the past and of today
you call us to live up to the challenge of the gospel
if we want to be your people.
Stir us up from our comfortable, self-satisfied ways.
Make us restless to hasten
the coming of your Son and your kingdom
and fill us with the fire of his Spirit
to bring the warmth of his love
into this cold, selfish world
Through Christ our Lord.A: Amen.
Blessing
L: The Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and lead us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
L: Go in the peace of Christ.
A: Thanks be to God.
Conclude with a hymn. For instance:
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