Breaking Dawn (II Advent B)

The beautiful Bella (Kristen Stewart) of the vampire romance box-office hit Breaking Dawn died delivering her mysterious baby who sucked the life out of her as the baby grew extraordinarily fast in her womb.  On her death, she was terribly emaciated, her beauty was gone.  Edward (Robert Pattinson), the perplexed father of the baby, was forced by the incident to attempt turning Bella into a vampire if only to save their love for each other—a love they promised to keep forever and ever in quite a literal way.  But Bella died.  At the final scene, all who loved Bella were mourning, when suddenly her wounds and bruises healed, her youth and beauty restored.  Finally, as her last act in this episode, she opened her eyes. And they were now different kind of eyes! Watch and see for yourself what kind.

Bella’s opening of her eyes, I think, signals the breaking dawn, the new beginning of a life with Edward and their mysterious baby who is herself a promise of a new beginning. But what is this beginning? What kind of life awaits her? Will it be in the dark, as normally associated with the life of vampires? Should we, the viewers, allow ourselves to be led into this adventure and feel good about it? Aren't we lulled into romanticizing some dark aspects of our lives and begin to accept them uncritically?

The image of a breaking dawn has an advent import.  It allows us to understand that the season of advent ushers in the light which we so yearn for, having been in the darkness of sin.  Advent is a season of new beginnings.  For us Christians, these new beginnings can only mean rejecting the darkness of sin and embracing the light of God's grace.

The gospel today (Mk. 1:1-8) presents once more the great Advent figure, John the Baptist, the herald of the new beginning in the life of humankind as he calls for radical conversion and points us to Jesus Christ the source of new life.  Let us reflect on three related points that spell new beginnings for us today inspired by John’s message and life as presented in the gospel reading.

First, the call to prepare a straight path for the Lord is a call for social transformation.  John the Baptist is presented in Mark’s gospel as the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah.  John is the voice in the desert crying out: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths” (v. 3).  John announces a new beginning for which all has to prepare.  And the preparation entails levelling and making smooth the uneven roads through which the Lord will come.

It’s easy to find resonance between John’s call to make straight paths for the Lord and the campaign of President Aquino’s regime for the “Daang Matuwid.”  PNoy’s campaign is rightly the order of the day; our society has now been known for its crooked ways.  Corruption has crept into almost every fiber of our social existence. One could only cringe at the knowledge that even the Sangguniang Kabataan all over the country has been effectively introduced to corrupt practices particularly in politics. And they are our future leaders!  

The chain of corruption has to be broken if we are to see a new beginning.  Social change, then, has got a lot to do with making straight paths. Whatever this regime is doing to pave a righteous path for Philippine society can well be seen as a moral response to the challenge put forth by the voice crying out in the desert.  We ought to support, then, measures for transparency, accountability, and good governance.   The campaign for “Daang Matuwid” is certainly a gargantuan task.  It’s impossible to assign the responsibility of transformation to one leader.  But the path of righteousness can begin to be realized when everyone heeds the call of the voice in the desert and share the responsibility for change.

Second, the new and hopeful beginnings are wrought by personal change of heart.  Social change requires personal conversion.  John the Baptist, in today’s gospel, knows what is needed in preparing the way of the Lord. He calls for repentance.  He invites people to change their hearts by submitting themselves to baptism, wherein the symbol of the water effects an interior cleansing.  An integral part of John’s baptism is the acknowledgement of sins. Hence, we read that “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” (v. 5).  When one confesses his/her sins, the person names his/her sins thus gaining control over its power while at the same time accepting the responsibility.  

Personal conversion involves our decision to be open to God’s power to cleanse us of our sins through his mercy so that we gain the strength to turn away from the ways of this world and to turn to the path of righteousness which is the way of our Lord.  Personal conversion indeed brings new beginning.  Hence, it is an important ingredient of our advent preparations.

Third, the new beginning is towards a life that proclaims the greatness of the Lord. All too often, we claim for ourselves the glory of our achievements. This is the way of the world.  We glorify ourselves with our success, with our skills and talents, with our power, with our wealth.  We struggle to see God as the center of our lives and to see ourselves as humble unworthy servants.

John the Baptist, despite his growing fame and the admiration of his followers, never sees himself as greater than Jesus, the One who is to come.  He assumes a posture of a humble servant or even lower than a servant as he claims unworthiness even to untie the Lord’s sandals. He steadfastly fulfils his mission, which is to prepare for the coming of Christ and to point people to Him.

This advent, we can ask the grace of humility, the kind which inspires us to point to the greatness of God and to live our lives in such ways as to glorify God’s mighty name.

The season of Advent is a season of new beginnings in our lives.  We are invited in this season of grace to open our eyes and get ready for the adventure of a new life, one that is inspired by the message and life of John the Baptist, the great herald of the authentic breaking dawn.