The Good News of Jesus
Second Sunday of Advent (B)
Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family
Mark 1: 1-8- The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way.
A voice of one crying out in the desert:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.”
John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 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. John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. 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. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
(Parent) Reread this part a few times aloud
“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.”
(Parent) Read this meditation aloud to the family
We are so used to calling the four special biblical books the “Gospels” that we might never think of the meaning of what we are saying. The word “gospel” didn’t always indicate a book. As we might already know, it actually means “good news.” St. Mark isn’t interested in writing a book here, he is interested in telling his readers and listeners the good news, the great news, about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ brings to mankind something that we could not achieve by ourselves.
Mark’s Gospel doesn’t begin with a long introduction. He has no stories about Jesus’ genealogy, origins, birth, or childhood. Instead, the Gospel starts right at the point at which Jesus begins His public ministry, where He introduces Himself widely to mankind. So we could say, in a sense, that right in this situation is the point at which we see mankind before Christ (or without Christ) and then mankind after Christ (or with Christ.) This is the situation that Mark jumps right into with his Gospel. And almost immediately, Mark is referring to the dominance of sin which has ruled all mankind since the Fall of Adam. The situation of mankind without Christ is absolutely bleak. We are called to look at the state of mankind without Christ, in darkness and sin, during the time of Advent. Life is very, very bleak without God. But there is good news, very good news: Jesus Christ has come into our situation and has transformed it by the forgiveness of our sin. And now God is with us, and we are with Him! This is “the good news of Jesus Christ the Son of God.”
As a family, pray a portion of the Rosary together (very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture passage above.(Optional: allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer.)
Reminder for Parents: Pier is just meant to be a jumping off point. The real goal is that you pray & eventually use the fruits of your personal prayer as the content of your family’s prayer. Duc in altum.
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