Second Sunday of Advent (A)
Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalms 72:1-2,7-8,12-13,17; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12
In St. Luke’s Gospel, when John the Baptist calls his followers to repentance, they ask him, “What must we do? ” In reply, he says, ” If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one who has something to eat must do the same” (Lk. 3:10-11).
If you think that you have nothing to repent, no need to change, then think again about the opportunities you have lost to be of genuine service to other people — people in need, people who are hurting. As we move deeper into the season of preparation for Christmas, hopefully we become more and more aware of the need to put the newness of the Christmas Event into our life experience. Mere words about it will never live up to the genuine experience of doing it.
In today’s Gospel Lesson, John the Baptist is preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “and this was his message: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand'” (Mt. 3:1,2). John is baptizing penitents in the River Jordan, but when he sees many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he says to them, “Brood of vipers, who warned you to fly from the retribution that is coming? But if you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruit…” (Mt. 3:8).
John is lashing out at the Pharisees and Sadducees because their desire for baptism is not heartfelt, but conformist. His preaching and his ascetic way of life is bringing great crowds of penitents to be baptized. He is warning his followers of the “wrath to come,” unless they repent and are baptized. And the Pharisees and Sadducees, seeing what is going on, decide that they’d better get baptized too in order to shelter themselves from the potential catastrophe that John is predicting.
We are being called to turn our lives around so radically that our deepest longing, our heartfelt desire, our number one priority will be to follow the Lord Jesus Christ on the journey to fulfillment. We are being called to turn our lives around so radically that instead of conforming to the popular view of what will make us happy, we put our trust in the Lord’s promise to give us life and give it to us abundantly. “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand” (Matthew 3:2).
The Advent Message is directing us to turn off the TV, tune out the trivia, and program some serious self-reflection time. The Advent Message is directing us to think about what is really important and take time to focus on the changes we must make.
As a faith community we already know that we don’t need to change in order to be loved by God. Rather, the change occurs as we open ourselves up to receive His Divine Love. Jesus dedicated His entire ministry — Jesus gave His life — in order to convince us that God loves us infinitely, and unconditionally!
In the desert of Judea more than two thousand years ago, John the Baptizer cried out the news of the coming of the Lord. When the crowds flocked to him for baptism the people asked, “What ought we to do?” John replied in specifics. They must help feed and clothe the needy and stop cheating and exploiting the vulnerable. In other words, it was not enough to come and confess sins. To properly prepare for the coming of the Lord, they needed to be ready and willing to change in a way that would enrich their person-to-person relationships.
And now we are being called to repentance. We are being called to prepare for the coming of the Lord Jesus by radically reforming our lives.
As we move deeper into the Advent season, we are called to the newness of the Christmas Event which remind us that God’s love and power are discovered in the ordinary parts of our lives.
As we move deeper into the Advent season, may we faithfully answer the clarion call to be ready, and willing to change.
