12/10/2023 (Sunday) Today’s gospel reading: Mark 1:1-8

1 The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way.
3 A voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’”
4 John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
5 People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.
6 John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey.
7 And this is what he proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.
8 I have baptized you with water; but he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

12/10/2023 (Sunday) Today’s gospel reflection / sermon / homily: Mark 1:1-8

The gospel of Saint Mark is thought to be the first of the four gospels to be written. Saint Mark is also considered to be the first to use the word “gospel”, meaning good news. The first verse (Verse 1) says “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God” and it is a fitting title to Mark’s story of Jesus. In verse 2, he quotes Isaiah, the Prophet of the Old Testament which means he wanted to weave a story that is not just a beginning but a fulfillment of a promise, something that the Jews have been waiting for.

Saint Mark begins the “Good News” by introducing John the Baptist, the messenger who is sent to prepare the way of the Lord of whom he is “not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals”. This John performed “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” and in verse 8, he proclaims that Jesus “shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit”.

As we await the celebration of the birth of Jesus this Christmas season, let the gospel above be a great reminder that Jesus Himself is the Good News. It is fitting and a refreshing news amid all the negative news we hear every day. Yet the gospel passage also reminds us to ‘prepare the way of the Lord” and to “make his path straight”.

Most probably, we have contributed to the negativities of this world. Most probably, we have become the topic of bad news or the instrument of it. Most probably, we have made many paths crooked. We are indeed the reason why God has to send His Son to earth. Let us therefore undergo some sort of baptism of repentance as the best preparation we can make for the coming of the Lord.