SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Luke is very concerned to place his Gospel in its wider context – that of the Roman Empire and the ‘political’ and ‘religious’ background of the Holy Land. It is upon this scene that the ministry of John the Baptist breaks open with the quotation from Isaiah. This is a renewed return from Exile (Luke 3:1-6). The vision of Baruch is of Jerusalem no longer destroyed and broken but once again the magnetic force for all (Baruch 5:1-9). St. Paul in prison prayers for the increase of the faith of the Philippians as they prepare for the Day of the Lord (Philippians 1:3-6. 8-11).

Divine Revelation always has to be transmitted by the preaching of the Apostles (and by extension John the Baptist), expressed in the written Scriptures, and their successors, the Bishops. The Tradition and Scripture flow from the same well-spring as there is one source of Revelation, the Word of God (DV 7-10).

Canon Mervyn Tower