Advent, being the first season in the Church’s liturgical calendar, we begin again to tell the Good News of God’s redemption through Jesus Christ. As a result, Mark doesn’t waste any time getting to the heart of his message. Mark doesn’t begin with stories of our Lord’s ancestry, or painting for us a description of our Lord’s birth, or even trying to describe the significance of our Lord’s incarnation. Mark simply opens his Gospel with the words, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” In his opening sentence, he tells us that God has come among us to bring to fruition, God’s promised redemption, his new covenant.
Whenever we discover all that God has done for us in our common yesterdays, we should realize that we have been pointed anew to the Christ who comes to us in the present to forgive our sins and make possible a new life of faith.
In essence, the repentance that John the Baptizer preached, is rooted in the ongoing grace of God, reaching out to us through the power of God’s Holy Spirit, helping us to overcome doubt and fear, by inviting us into a relationship with Christ.
May God’s Spirit so work within each of us this Advent season and throughout our lives.
