Before we fast forward to the joy of Christmas, we need to repent.

 

Second Sunday of Advent  A  2022

We light the second candle of the Advent season today. 

In the first Scripture reading, the prophet Isaiah promises that the Savior will usher in a new era of relationships.  Then the wolf shall be the guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together…There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain.

In my way of thinking, the lamb and the wolf shall lie down together – but the lamb won’t get any sleep.

We haven’t yet arrived on the Lord’s holy mountain in which there will be no harm or ruin.  This points to the need and the meaning of the Advent season.

The countdown to Christmas is moving on.  The media, and especially advertisements, remind us constantly that the time is drawing short.  Of course, the reminder is too often in terms of how many shopping days till Christmas.

Today’s Scripture readings give us a different point of view.  John the Baptist is clear and direct: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.”  There is passion in the words of John the Baptist; not the passion about the number of shopping days left but a passion about us preparing for the coming of the Lord into our hearts and our world.  The passion of John was a call to repentance.

In today’s Gospel, we are to enroll in the school of John the Baptist, hear his message and put it into action.  John the Baptist is our model for advent preparation preaching a baptism of repentance.  John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness to give us a wake-up call.  Before we fast forward to the joy of Christmas, we need to repent.

 

What does this say about the human condition?  Do we really need to hear the call to repentance in this advent season?  In truth, all of us are flawed pilgrims on a journey through life, doing our heartfelt best to love God and neighbor.

The Advent question I have for myself and for all of us is do we have the passion of John the Baptist in recognizing our need for repentance and conversion in our lives?  What are the habits, the addictions, the sinfulness that we need to confess?  Humbly may we seek the grace of God to help us leave behind all that keeps us from putting Christ at the center of our lives.  All of us, including and especially myself, need to seek the conversion of our lives whereby God is our true North Star in all we say and do.

We need to more aware of the wilderness that is in our lives and in our world.

 The repentance we seek is a fundamental change of heart which results in leaving sin behind and embracing God’s freely shared life and love.  Advent has more to offer us, however, than that.  Advent has a Savior for us.  Beyond our own efforts to recognize sin and failure in our lives, beyond our confessions and admissions that lead us to repent, Advent presents us with what we truly need – a Savior.  For if we’re honest with ourselves we will admit that we cannot deal with sin, repentance, and conversion all on our own.  We can’t manage our lives all by ourselves.

The Advent season calls us to be a disciple of Jesus.  He is the true teacher, the authentic “life coach,” the personal mentor we ought to seek.  We seek to revisit the meaning of our baptismal vocation to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus.

I invite you to consider the first three steps of the famous Twelve Steps in Alcoholic Anonymous.   Of the twelve, the first three are the most vital and critical.  They deal with what John the Baptist is talking about in the call to repentance.  So, substituting the word sin for the word alcohol the steps are:

1 – We admit we are powerless over sin – that our lives have become unmanageable.  As Pope Francis himself acknowledges very freely, we confess that we are all sinners.  We need more than what our will power provides us.  The truth of our lives is that we are not lone rangers.  Left to ourselves, we become entangled in demons that keep us from placing Christ at the center of our lives.

2 – Came to believe in a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.  That power is the merciful love of Jesus of which we are the generous recipients.  May we all value the grace offered to us in the sacrament of reconciliation.  May this Advent be all about our journey back to God.

3 – Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand him.   God’s grace is freely offered to each and every one of us, but we need to make the decision to say yes to the plan for our lives.  We have the wonderful example of Mary who we celebrate in a special way on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception this.  Mary said: “I am the servant of the Lord.  Be it done to me according to your Word.”

Mary is our example of John the Baptist’s call of repentance.  When Mary said yes to the plan of God for her life, she made the decision to live out God’s plan for her life, rather than providing for her security and comfort. 

In our Catholic liturgical tradition, we are richly blessed in our sacramental life.  God still illumines our eyes through the light of baptism.  God still opens our ears through His Word.  God frees from what holds us bound in reconciliation.  God feeds us at the table of the Eucharist.  In these ways and many others, we come to experience something of God’s vision for us, and we are empowered to take that vision into the world through acts of justice and mercy.

Advent, like discipleship, calls us to firmer conversion and deeper commitment. It calls us also, and in equal measure, to Christ-like compassion even as we extend God’s mercy to all.  May God give you peace.