2nd Sun. Advent Yr A
This is the second Sunday of Advent. Last Sunday the Church began a new liturgical year.
In his monthly newsletter found in last week’s bulletin, Archbishop Listecki points out that Advent is not about human chronological time, but rather what biblical writers would call “Kairos time” – kairos is a Greek work meaning the time for the accomplishment of an important action or event; or, from a Christian perspective, the “fullness of time.”
We know that Advent prepares us for the greatest event in human history: the Incarnation and Birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; when the Eternal Son of God became man while remaining God, and was born of the Virgin Mary. As St. Paul tells us: “In the fullness of time God sent His Son, born of a woman . . .” (Gal. 4:4).
The Incarnation and Birth of our Lord changed human history: When the Word became flesh and began to dwell among us, God entered into time as He had not done before – in human form. We acknowledge this truth by dividing human time into B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (which means anno Domini – the year of the Lord).
And as Archbishop Listecki points out, the season of Advent invites us to mark time differently. As he says, Advent “is calling us to a conversion of heart where we recognize that our time is not our own. So Advent is the right and perfect opportunity to look at our lives and make our new year’s resolutions for discipleship.”
He goes on to suggest some great resolutions that should be at the top of our list.
First, we should be prepared to meet Jesus today, right now. In other words, we should ask: If I died right now, am I ready spiritually to meet Our Lord? If Jesus should come again this very day to judge the living and the dead, am I ready to stand before Him? Am I vigilant and watchful, being always prepared to meet our Lord?
If you will recall, this was the theme for our readings last week on the first Sunday of Advent. In Advent, we are reminded in the liturgy to prepare for the two comings of Our Lord: His first coming, in humility, when He was born in Bethlehem; and His Second Coming, at the end of the world, when He will come in glory as our Judge.
In the first week of the Advent season the emphasis in our readings was on preparation for Christ’s Second Coming, and as we through Advent the emphasis shifts to being prepared for His first coming.
Recall that our Gospel last week was taken from chapter 24 of Matthew, in which Jesus gives His discourse on the End Times, saying: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all the way. So it will be also at the coming of the Son of Man. . . . So, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
This week, our first reading is from the Prophet Isaiah, who refers to both comings of Christ. He says that “a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse.” Jesse was the father of King David, the ancestor of Jesus in His human line, down through St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus. This is the reason the Joseph and Mary had to register for the census called for by Caesar Augustus in the town of Bethlehem – the town where King David was born, and, fittingly, the town where Jesus also was born.
Isaiah goes on to speak of how the “spirit of the Lord shall rest upon [Jesus]: a spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and strength, of knowledge and of fear of the Lord.” We know the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus at His Baptism in the Jordan as a sign that He had the fullness of those Gifts of the Spirit.
In our first reading today Isaiah goes on to speak of Christ’s Second Coming, to judge the living and the dead. He says: “Not by appearance shall he judge . . . but he shall judge the poor with justice, . . . He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.”
St. Paul, in 2 Thess., says that Jesus will end the reign of the “son of perdition,” the Antichrist, in the last days of the world: “The Lord [Jesus]will slay him with the breath of his mouth” at His Second Coming. Then, after the Last Judgement, universal peace will reign, which Isaiah describes in these words: “Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will browse together, . . . The cow and the bear shall be neighbors. . . . There shall be no harm or ruin on my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord.”
The second resolution that Archbishop Listecki suggests is to “make Way for Jesus through repentance.” He points out that “John the Baptist is the Advent prophet who challenges us to examine our hearts.”
This is our Gospel reading for this second Sunday of Advent. John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance to prepare people for the first coming of Jesus: “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. . . . Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” But the Pharisees and Sadducees, bring proud of heart, refused to repent.
The Archbishop says that we can become like the Pharisees and Sadducees: prideful, self-righteous and self-satisfied, which “closes our hearts” to Jesus. He says: “We need to open a door and that door is a repentant heart. . . . So, let’s make a straight path for Jesus through participation in the Sacrament of Penance.” In other words, we should make a beeline toward the door of the confessional!
Archbishop Likstecki suggests a third resolution: “Worship Jesus as the One Savior and Lord.” He points out that we can easily become distracted in this season with “overwhelming busyness and conflicting priorities,” which can cause us to lose our focus on what this season is all about. So, we must keep our eyes fixed on Christ, who is (as the old saying goes) the real “reason for the season.”
I think one of the simple ways we can do this is, when shopping, if the cashier says “happy holidays,” respond with a big smile and say “Merry Christmas.”
Another way we can make Jesus Christ the focus of this Advent season and prepare for His two comings is to make time to speak with Him each day, heart to Heart, through prayer. Meditating on the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary is particularly helpful.
Finally, the Archbishop suggests a fourth resolution: “Practice the obedience of Mary and Joseph.” They both said yes to God’s plans: When the Archangel Gabriel announced Christ’s conception and birth to the Virgin Mary, she responded in humble obedience with her “Fiat”: “Let it be done to me according to your word.” And when the Angel spoke to Joseph in a dream and instructed him to take Mary in his home as his wife, he obeyed without question.
Let us make the humble obedience of Mary and Joseph our own in this season, as a most fitting way of preparing for the two comings of Christ.