The Institute for Christian Formation
Follow us on Facebook to keep up to date with our news and newest resources!
Second Sunday of Advent
December 4, 2016
Today is the Second Sunday of Advent. When you light your Advent Wreath today, and each day this Second Week of Advent, you will light two violet candles.
Our Gospel for today, Matthew 3:1-12, features one of our major Advent personages, John the Baptist. This Gospel quotes the prophet Isaiah, and makes the connection between Isaiah’s prophecy and John the Baptist as the messenger fulfilling this prophecy.
 | ||||||
St. John the Baptist
Michael Damaskinos
16th Century
John the Baptist is an interesting Biblical character. As a prophet preparing the way for Jesus, he acts a a bridge, as it were, between the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures.
John can also be viewed as an eccentric character, as he is described in Matthew 3:4 today as wearing clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His diet consists of locusts and wild honey. Children, especially, love these details about John the Baptist. Let children create their own artistic depiction of the Baptist. In honor of John the Baptist, enjoy some honey today, perhaps with a biscuit at dinner or in a cup of tea during the afternoon or evening.
Loyola Press, as part of their Intergenerational Advent Event, has materials for a John the Baptist activity center, which includes a script for a simple play about John the Baptist, a simple John the Baptist song for young children, a John the Baptist coloring page, as well as a recipe for “grasshopper” (think locust!) cookies. You can access these pages at the Loyola Press web site here.
In your prayer today, include the hymn, "On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry." You can download this hymn here.
Our First Reading today is Isaiah 11:1-10. We heard this Gospel proclaimed this past Tuesday, November 29. This reading is about the shoot, or root, of Jesse. On our page for November 29, we talked about the Jesse Tree Advent activity. Revisit this page today. Is a Jesse Tree part of your Advent Season this year? It is not too late to create a Jesse Tree beginning today!
As December 4 is on a Sunday this year, in our liturgy we celebrate the Second Sunday of Advent. But December 4 is also the feast day (optional memorial) of Saint John Damascene. You can find out more about this saint by downloading our John Damascene handout on this page. It is fitting on this feast of Saint John Damascene to pray for the people of Syria. Here is Prayer for Peace in Syria from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. For a talk about Saint John Damascene given by Pope Benedict XVI on May 6, 2009, click here. And here you can read the text of Saint John Damascene on Holy Images. In honor of Saint John Damascene, if you have any icons or icon holy cards, place them prominently in your home today. All the better if these are Advent images and/or images of Mary!
Saint John Damascene
Click on image above to download our ICF handout on Saint John Damascene.
