Daang Matuwid

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

Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.

A voice cries out:

In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Go up on to a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news! Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah: Here is your God! Here comes with power the Lord GOD, who rules by his strong arm; here is his reward with him, his recompense before him. Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14

Second Reading:   2 Peter 3:8-14

Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be found out.

Since everything is to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be, conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire. But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.

Gospel: 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.”

Reflection
By Pietro S. Albano

Even before Noynoy Aquino became president, "daang matuwid" has already been the battlecry of John the Baptist. An austere man who calls a spade a spade, he exhorted his contemporaries to turn away from their sins, to make straight the path for the coming Messiah.

A path that is straight has its obvious benefits - ease in mobility among them. 

Imagine if all roads in the metropolis and in the outskirts are all made straight, produce from the provinces would been easily transported to the city, emergency assistance wouldn't be a struggle. Our country would have been economically rich! 

Imagine if all roads in our hearts are all made straight and cleared of all hindrances, the Gospel of Jesus would have been welcomed and upheld, no one would be treated less favorably.  Our country would have been spiritually rich!


Lest we get mired in the empty and often stressful hustle-bustle towards Christmas, why not prepare that straight path in our hearts for the Lord?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, forgive us for making the path in our lives so messy, so complicated. Help us to keep it clean and simple so Your Son could easily pass. In His Name we pray. Amen.