For the second Sunday of Advent in Year A, we meet John the Baptist and he bellows out his message of repentance for the coming of the Messiah.
Here is the Gospel passage.
John the Baptist
appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea
and saying,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
It was of him that the
prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:
A voice of one crying
out in the desert,
Prepare the way of the
Lord,
make straight his
paths.
John wore clothing
made of camel's hair
and had a leather belt
around his waist.
His food was locusts
and wild honey.
At that time
Jerusalem, all Judea,
and the whole region
around the Jordan
were going out to him
and were being
baptized by him in the Jordan River
as they acknowledged
their sins.
When he saw many of
the Pharisees and Sadducees
coming to his baptism,
he said to them, "You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee
from the coming wrath?
Produce good fruit as
evidence of your repentance.
And do not presume to
say to yourselves,
'We have Abraham as
our father.'
For I tell you,
God can raise up
children to Abraham from these stones.
Even now the ax lies
at the root of the trees.
Therefore every tree
that does not bear good fruit
will be cut down and
thrown into the fire.
I am baptizing you
with water, for repentance,
but the one who is coming
after me is mightier than I.
I am not worthy to
carry his sandals.
He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is
in his hand.
He will clear his
threshing floor
and gather his wheat
into his barn,
but the chaff he will
burn with unquenchable fire."
~Mt 3:1-12
I’m really enjoying
Archbishop Edward Wiesenberger’s homilies.
Here is another fine homily on this Gospel passage.
No Jesus without John
the Baptist first. No Christmas joy without
the stern message of John. No Jesus
without metanoia, “an internal change of heart along with a very real external
change of life.”
The archbishop alludes to this, but it should be noted more clearly that baptism of John was not a sacramental baptism. There is a distinction. John’s baptism is only a baptism of repentance.
Now for a homily that
bucks the trend. I would say just about
all the homilies on today’s Gospel emphasizes the sternness of John the Baptist’s
message, just as Archbishop Wiesenberger does above. Even my pastor, Fr. Eugene at St. Rita, who
almost never has a stern homily emphasized the Baptist’s sternness. Now here is a homily that looked at this
Gospel and found something in it that was not so stern. This is someone new again, a Dominican priest
from the Central Province (St. Albert Province), Fr. Samuel Hakeem.
“Acknowledge, let us
acknowledge our sins” as we do at every Mass.
When one acknowledges ones sins he is nine tenths the way to repentance.
Sunday Meditation: "Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord
will come.”
One of my favorite
hymns that comes up at Mass this time of year, Bernadette Farrell’s “Christ Be
Our Light.”
Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
Light for the world to see.
Christ, be our light! Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.
Just lovely.
