2nd
Sunday of Advent (Year A)
First
Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10 Second
Reading: Romans 15:4-9 Gospel
Reading: Matthew 3:1-12
“PREPARE
THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE STRAIGHT HIS PATHS.”
Once,
when a conference of ministers was held in a certain town, a certain
old preacher had sat quietly through it for a number of days until,
toward the end of the conference, he was suddenly and unexpectedly
called upon to speak. He arose thoughtfully and almost stumblingly
fumbled for his words. Finally, his thoughts took form, his words
fell in the rhythm of a marching column, and his impassioned oratory
beat down upon the upturned faces of his audience until, as he arose
to his peroration and reached his climax, the whole sedate conference
broke into a spontaneous applause that shook the room, according to
an item in Printer's Ink.
He
had delivered the master oration of the conference. When finally the
applause subsided, a cocky young Doctor of Divinity strolled up to
him. "That was a masterly address you delivered
extemporaneously. Yet you must have had some preparation to have done
it so well. How long did it take you to prepare it?"
The
older man looked gently for some time at the younger one before he
answered. And then he said: "Sixty years, young man, sixty
years!”
We
are in the Holy Season of Advent and today is the second Sunday.
Every year, on this day, as preparation
for Christmas, the Church leads us on pilgrimage to the Jordan River,
so that we might enroll in the school of John
the Baptist,
hear his message, and put it into action in our lives. At first
glance, it seems like a strange choice to meet him at the Jordan, 30
years after
Christ’s birth, millennia before
his Second Coming. But the reason why the Church always visits John
at the Jordan is because he was the one chosen by God the Father from
all eternity to get His people ready to receive His Son, who was
already walking toward the Jordan River to inaugurate his public
ministry. The Gospel Reading of today from St. Matthew presents John
the Baptist as our model for Advent preparation;
he is the precursor who announced the Lord's coming and who prepared
the people by preaching them the 'baptism
of repentance.' In
the First Reading of today, we hear that Isaiah prophesied him as “A
voice
of one crying out in the desert; Prepare the way of the Lord, make
straight his paths."
A
MESSIANIC PROPHESY:
The
First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is a Messianic
prophesy. To a distressed people languishing in exile, the prophet
offers words of comfort and hope. He sees a new beginning for the
royal line of David. In
the wake of the Babylonian exile only a stump of the Davidic dynasty
remains. From this "stump
of Jesse"
will spring forth a shoot, that of the Messianic King. Jesse was the
father of King David from whom the Judean kings descended. The
prophet says that the spirit of the Lord will rest upon him. Here,
the prophet is providing a picture of a Messianic era when paradise
would be restored. The new reign will be marked by peace, justice,
and knowledge of God that extends to all the nations. The fascinating
image of animal enemies living together in peace is a powerful
presage of the world as God would have it – marked with serenity,
harmony and the fullness of joy. Isaiah warns us
that the Messiah will judge us by his righteousness and with peace he
will rule the earth. He is filled with the wisdom and insight,
counsel and power, knowledge and fear of the Lord.
Isaiah concludes the
passage of today by saying, “On that day,
the root of Jesse” - the one who comes from Jesse, that
is, Jesus - “will be raised as a signal
for the nation. The people from everywhere will come in search of him
thus making his dwelling place glorious.” In Jesus, the
incarnate word and wisdom of God, this oracle of Isaiah has become a
flesh-and-blood reality. Jesus came to be a sign to all the nations
of what could happen. To bring peace into our world. His reign of
peace has indeed begun but has yet to be appropriated and accepted by
all. Isaiah was his herald but we are the ambassadors of his reign;
as such, we are reminded once again today, that the fullness of his
peace and justice will come only when all the people of the earth are
led to seek him, to turn from
evil and know him.
EXHORTATION TO LIVE IN PEACE AND HARMONY:
In
the Second Reading of today from his Letter to the Romans, St. Paul
calls for reconciliation among the different factions in that
community. Aware of the differences which characterized the Roman
communities and in order to safeguard against a splintering of their
tenuous union, he calls for peace, harmony and mutual acceptance. For
their edification and inspiration, he tells the believers in Rome
that they could avail themselves of two main resources, viz.
the Scriptures and Christ himself:
The Scriptures are filled
with instructions and patient encouragement “that
we might have hope.” These scriptures prepared them to
receive Christ and tell them that Christ has become a servant of the
circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might
confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the
Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.
Another resource is the
example of Christ himself who welcomed and accepted everyone,
regardless of race, gender, class, or degree of holiness. Paul talks
about how Jesus brought reconciliation and Peace. He talks about how
Jesus came to serve Jew and Gentile alike. He talks about how
Jesus...the Savior...came so all might live in peace and harmony.
So, in order to realize
personally this hope of saving glory in Christ, we are to live in
harmony with one another and thus glorify the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ. In this Advent season then,
let us resolve to walk on the just path. Following St. Paul’s
exhortation, let us welcome one another and be kind to one
another, in imitation of Jesus Christ, the hope and object of our
Advent expectation.
“REPENT,
FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND!”:
The
Gospel Reading of today presents us with John the Baptist who
appeared in the wilderness to give the wake up call. When
the great prophet Isaiah prophesied a forerunner who would be “A
voice of one crying out in the desert,”
he was clearly making reference to John the Baptist. The introduction
of John the Baptist in the Gospel of Matthew is quite abrupt, lacking
details as to who he was. The reason for this is because John was a
great and well-known figure in the early days of the Christian
community. There was no need for any lengthy introduction.
John the
Baptist was the predicted forerunner to the Messiah. He was
considered a prophet by many Jews and even by Jesus himself. His
message was accompanied by an austere life of penance and
self-denial. His
apparel of camel’s hair and leather portrayed him as a prophetic
figure like Elijah who 'wore
a garment of haircloth, with a belt of leather about his loins,' and
whom
it was believed would return to herald the Messiah. The diet of
locusts and wild honey recalled the wilderness period when the newly
escaped refugees from Egypt were being formed as a people by God in
the Sinai. But locusts were also a symbol of divine judgment in
scripture, as honey was a sign of promise and blessings. Perhaps
John’s diet signaled that the coming reign and its emissary, Jesus,
would bring both judgment and promise upon the earth, a
fact that is borne out in the rest of the gospel.
John the Baptist
was a blazing personality with strident voice and flashing eyes. He
was sent by God to prepare the hearts of the people to receive the
message of salvation from the Savior. His message was one of
repentance
in preparation for the imminent coming of “the
Kingdom of Heaven,”
which is the spiritual restoration of David's empire by Jesus the
Messiah. It is the same message that Jesus proclaimed when he began
his ministry in Galilee, "Repent,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."
Many people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around
the Jordan came to him and with the
baptism of repentance,
he opened their eyes to see the Lord who had come to save them and
give them hope. In essence, what John was
saying is not so much to prepare the world for the coming of the
Messiah because he was already there, but to get the world to see the
Lord who stood in their midst unnoticed and to listen to the Good
News that he brought. John’s message is simple: Jesus cannot be
recognized and received because the path to our life is full of
roadblocks: hills, valleys and crooked curves.
But John the Baptist must
have had some charisma - something which did draw people to him, and
not just the other crazies. In fact, today we learn that he drew even
the Pharisees and Sadducees to him. John seems to recognize them
immediately for what they were and what their motives were. “You
brood of vipers!” he yells at them. His
words are harsh. And then he gets right to the core of
the problem he has with the Pharisees and Sadducees. They
were people of privilege who applauded social justice, helping
others, but only insofar as it applied to them. But they did not
really repent of their sins. They thought they had God on their side
just because they were Jews. They boasted that they had Abraham as
their father. But God would demand something more, says John. They
needed to repent and reform their lives, undergoing ' metanoia'
(conversion), a complete change of mind and heart. He thunders
judgment against the complacent, contented and powerful. He proclaims
that the messiah - the Christ - who is coming after him will winnow
the good from the bad and throw evildoers into the fire. The
forceful image of a rampaging John the Baptist warning about 'the
coming wrath' and the burning of 'the
chaff with unquenchable fire'
complements Isaiah’s idyllic vision of the Messianic
Kingdom. Isaiah and the Baptizer are really not working at odds with
one another. The first is looking at the final enduring results of
his coming, while the second has his eyes on the preparation that is
needed.
Towards the end of
today's Gospel Reading,
we have the following words of John the Baptist,"I
baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful
than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He
will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."
In these words, John alludes to the coming of the Holy Spirit in
tongues of fire on Pentecost Day. John's
baptism needs to be distinguished from Christ's. John's was a visible
token of repentance and preparation for the Messiah. The
administration of water was only a sign of purification. However,
Christ's baptism infuses the Holy Spirit who effects forgiveness and
regeneration leading to formal adoption into
God's family. We have received Christ’s Spirit and fire, but in
Advent we look at it again.
CONCLUSION:
Advent
is fascinating -
a beautiful season of the Liturgical Year. In it we experience
transforming newness. Through the liturgy of the 2nd
Sunday
of Advent, we are invited to tread the path of repentance
and conversion
– the just path that leads to hope and the heavenly kingdom that is
the goal of Advent expectation. We therefore listen attentively to
the word of God 'that
we might have hope'
and that 'the
divine reign of justice and peace'
might come upon us.
Today
the Church chooses John the Baptist as the personification of the
Advent theme as he preaches repentance, transformation of the heart
and reform of our lives and invites us to reflect on his prophecy as
a preparation for the celebration of the birth of the Savior.
Christmas is a worldwide feast that many people prepare for in
different ways. For many it is a time for family reunions, for others it
is a time of increased business when people travel more and shop
more. We too join the world to prepare to celebrate Christmas as a
social event. But the best preparation for the event is the spiritual
preparation. We prepare ourselves to celebrate the event when God
assumed our nature to take our sins away and to enable us to share
in his divine nature. There is no better preparation than that of
conversion, of repentance.
If we look at today’s
gospel, we can see John calling people to reform their lives. He
wants them to free themselves from those things that turn them away
from God. However, if we look at this as a static process, then we
miss the point. John is not only announcing the coming of the
Messiah, he is also announcing the coming of the next stage of the
salvation process. Humanity has evolved now to the point where the
process can begin. So he is calling his listeners to reform their
lives that the Kingdom of God is at hand. As
John the Baptist told the people in his day, so he tells us today. He
makes the same call to us. Either repent and turn more to the Lord or
walk away and follow other paths. The choice belongs to each of us,
each and every day. And this is the Good News of today.
* ****************************
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