Second Sunday of Advent

First Reading

Bar 5:1-9

Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery;
    put on the splendor of glory from God forever:
wrapped in the cloak of justice from God,
    bear on your head the mitre
    that displays the glory of the eternal name.
For God will show all the earth your splendor:
    you will be named by God forever
    the peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship.
    
Up, Jerusalem! stand upon the heights;
    look to the east and see your children
gathered from the east and the west
    at the word of the Holy One,
    rejoicing that they are remembered by God.
Led away on foot by their enemies they left you:
    but God will bring them back to you
    borne aloft in glory as on royal thrones.
For God has commanded
    that every lofty mountain be made low,
and that the age-old depths and gorges
    be filled to level ground,
    that Israel may advance secure in the glory of God.
The forests and every fragrant kind of tree
    have overshadowed Israel at God’s command;
for God is leading Israel in joy
    by the light of his glory,
    with his mercy and justice for company.

Second reading

Phil 1:4-6, 8-11

Brothers and sisters:
I pray always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, 
because of your partnership for the gospel 
from the first day until now.
I am confident of this,
that the one who began a good work in you
will continue to complete it 
until the day of Christ Jesus.
God is my witness, 
how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer:
that your love may increase ever more and more 
in knowledge and every kind of perception, 
to discern what is of value, 
so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 
filled with the fruit of righteousness 
that comes through Jesus Christ 
for the glory and praise of God.

Gospel

Lk 3:1-6

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, 
when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, 
and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee,
and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region
of Ituraea and Trachonitis, 
and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, 
during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, 
the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.
John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, 
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 
as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:
    A voice of one crying out in the desert:
    “Prepare the way of the Lord,
        make straight his paths.
    Every valley shall be filled
        and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
    The winding roads shall be made straight,
        and the rough ways made smooth,
    and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

Sermon

Dear sisters and brothers in faith,
Most of the Sunday Gospels begin with the familiar opening phrase “In those days”. However, this does not correspond to the biblical original, where the individual passages are linked by short but more precise transitions, which place the following scenes in a specific spatio-temporal context, such as: “When evening had come” or “The following day” or “As they approached Jerusalem”. The liturgical introductory formula “In those days” is therefore not only unbiblical, it also robs the scene or story that is then recited of its historical and concrete anchoring and transports it too far into a time that has somehow long since passed. We might as well start our Sunday gospels with the “Once upon a time” that we have known since childhood.

In any case, the Gospel passage we have just heard is different. Right at the beginning we have a whole wealth of historical references to places, times and even names. And if the editors of our liturgical textbooks do not withhold this information from us this once, then they obviously attach particular importance to it. So let's take a closer look at these details: Tiberius, emperor of the Roman Empire at the time in question and therefore also lord of Palestine, which was under Roman rule at the time, is mentioned first. The historians of the time describe Tiberius as a suspicious, cruel and pleasure-seeking ruler. The southern part of Palestine was administered by Pontius Pilate: also known in other contexts as ruthless, violent, corrupt and at the same time cowardly.

The local politicians - Herod, Philip, Lysanias - were powerful only by the grace of the emperor and therefore forced to be quite favorites and court cronies. We know from historical sources that the spiritual authorities mentioned, the high priests Annas and Caiaphas, were able to hold on to power for years unchallenged, but by no means undisputed, thanks to ice-cold opportunism and slick diplomacy. And then - alongside a few other geographical names - Galilee is mentioned in particular: at that time the poorhouse of the entire region with many social problems.
But this is precisely where the word of God went out: not in some holy halls, but in the midst of a blatant mixture of abuse of power, corruption, violence and social tensions of all kinds. Not in a quiet corner of the world, but where things are really difficult, where someone proclaims in the name of God:

“Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight his highways! Every ravine shall be filled in and every mountain and hill removed. What is crooked shall be made straight, what is uneven shall become a level path, and all people shall see the salvation that comes from God.”
It is essential to hear this word in such a concrete historical context so that its visionary contrast becomes clear. It would be like John saying today: “Israelis and Palestinians should work peacefully to build a common state, the USA and China should become leaders in world climate policy, the Taliban should lift the veils from the faces of their girls and women and take them to the schools they want to attend. And in Germany, political goals and content should not be discussed for the sake of transparent electoral and clientelist motives, but out of genuine concern for peace, justice and a sustainable path into the future.

If we take a closer look at the words of John the Baptist in this way, we may also become more aware of the visionary nature of these proclamations.
The former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt is sometimes quoted as saying: “If you have visions, you should see a doctor.” But it's not that simple!
Even if the vision of a good and hopeful future may have something unreal, something nebulous about it, it can still be a driving force for action and faith. It can become a force that can also change things that are no longer considered possible.
That is why it is also important for visions of faith that they do not ignore reality or simply want to gloss over it. That would be cheap consolation! That is why it is so important for the evangelist Luke to let John's visionary words resound in a very concrete setting: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius; Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea”.

So if you have visions, you don't need a doctor, you need a concrete situation where visions can become reality.
Visions are not something rigid, they carry a dynamic that keeps us alive. As we take the next step towards the celebration of God's incarnation on this second Advent, we should also ask ourselves what we hope for and long for by seeking God and His salvation not outside or above this world, but in the midst of it? Why do we not simply seek Him everywhere where - to use the wonderful images from the Gospel once again - mountains and hills can be removed and uneven paths can become straight roads!