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Second Sunday of Advent, Year B, December 4, 2005

First reading, Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11

The Theological Background: Isaiah says that God has told him to tell Jerusalem (that is, the exiled citizens of Jerusalem and their fellow Jews) "that her service is at an end." He means, in effect, that her "sentence" is at an end. The King James Version puts it more strongly: "Cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned." However weak or strong the translation, the meaning is that the Exile is over. Isaiah is not shy about saying the Exile was a punishment for sin, but all is forgiven now.

The Poetic Images: The next few sentences describe how the exiles are to return home. The first image is of a grand religious procession from Babylon to Jerusalem. It's not just people who are making the procession, but God as well. (Other ancient people carried idols of their gods on floats in solemn processions; Isaiah, no idolator, imagines God leading the people.) To pave the way, valleys and mountains are to be leveled, and a highway created in the wilderness.

The goal of the exiles is the region known as Judah, and within Judah the city Jerusalem, and within Jerusalem the hill Zion, where their Temple had stood. The last paragraph depicts a lonely sentry who never went to Babylon but waited in Jerusalem, always looking out for the return of the exiles. He finally sees the approach of the procession described above, and he can't contain his joy. He shouts it from the highest hill, "Here comes your God with power!" Then there follows an image in startling contrast, the tender picture of a shepherd cradling lambs.

Proclaiming It: An excellent way to prepare to proclaim this is to listen to the same verses as interpreted by George Frederick Handel, in his oratorio Messiah (1742). Within the first nine short "pieces" of the Messiah, you'll hear all these verses, set to various kinds of music, each appropriate to the text of the verses.

However you prepare, reckon with the rich array of emotions and images. Pause when there's a change in emotion or image. Modulate your voice. To revisit the classical music metaphor, note that Handel didn't render these verses in a single recitative. You shouldn't either. Rather imitate the composer, who wrote several different melodies and assigned them to a wide variety of voices.

Second Reading, 2 Peter 3:8-14

Proclaiming It: Study the passage sentence by sentence so you understand the author's reasoning. Try expressing the message in your own words, even writing out your explanation if that will help. Then, if you read this slowly to the congregation, at least some members will be able to follow the logic, too.

Secondly, speak as vigorously as the author writes. There are powerful images here. Not once but twice does he predict the cataclysmic destruction of the heavens and the elements. This is not tepid prose, and the lector need not sound tepid. Afraid you'll sound like an irreverent ham? Well, know that the acoustics and PA systems in most churches muffle most of your expressiveness. What sounds exaggerated in your own ears sounds expressive to the congregation, and that's just right. If to yourself you sound "normal," you probably sound bored and boring to the assembly. Do it vigorously. Try it once and take note of the compliments you receive after mass. You won't go back to the old way.

Several other commentaries on these passages. All are thoughtful, all quite readable, from the scholarly to the popular. Links may be incomplete more than a few weeks before the "due date."
Lutheran pastor and college teacher Dan Nelson's notes for a study group. Dan explains the texts verse-by-verse, and sometimes word-by-word, with cross-references to other Bible passages. Especially useful if you're puzzled about the meaning of a word or phrase in the readings.	Father Roger Karban's 1999 column on these readings and his 2002 column Father Frank Cleary's column from the Saint Louis Review
The Text This Week; links to Lectionaries of many churches, homilies, art works, movies touching scriptural themes, and other resources on the week's scripture	Saint Louis University's excellent new liturgy site Most welcome here are Reginald Fuller's commentaries. Fuller gives more extensive treatment of the histories of all three readings and the psalm. I found John Pilch's background on today's gospel most thought-provoking. This column is always worth your reading. This site posts its pages only a week before the given Sunday, and keeps its back issues posted for only about eight weeks.

The Lectionary selections in the frame at the left, if any, are there for your convenience. The publishers of the page in that frame have no connection, except for membership in the one Body of Christ, with the publisher of this page. Likewise the publishers of the pages on the links above.

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Last modified: Sun Nov 6 17:15:51 CST 2005