2ND SUNDAY OF ADVENT YEAR C ~ DECEMBER 8, 2024
PREPARING THE WAY FOR THE LORD
Once St. Francis Xavier said, “Many, many people hereabouts are not becoming Christians for one reason only: there is nobody to make them Christians. Again and again, I have thought of going around the universities of Europe, especially Paris, and everywhere crying out like a madman, riveting the attention of those with more learning than charity: “What a tragedy: how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!” I wish they would work as hard at this as they do at their books, and so settle their account with God for their learning and the talents entrusted to them. This thought would certainly stir most of them to meditate on spiritual realities, to listen actively to what God is saying to them. They would forget their own desires, their human affairs, and give themselves over entirely to God’s will and his choice. They would cry out with all their heart: Lord, I am here! What do you want me to do?
Christianity is supremely a religion of conversion. Everything we say and everything we believe is built upon one fundamental and revolutionary premise: We don’t have to stay the way we are. Our life can be radically changed by God. Conversion is a miracle that happens when the life of God intersects with our human personality. Once God enters the picture, our life will never be the same again. Until then, we may be religious, and we may be very good persons, and we may obey all the rules of the church, but we have not been converted. Conversion is entirely a conviction that long-held prejudices can be overcome, lifetime habits can be broken, and deeply ingrained patterns of sin can be erased over time. Conversion is the certainty that what we were does not determine what we are, and what we are does not determine what we will be. We can be changed, we can be different, our life can move in an entirely new direction. God does not call the qualified, but he qualifies the called. Conversion is a truth and if we take that truth away from Christianity, it ceases to be a supernatural religion. If the possibility of real change is gone, then we have nothing to offer but a set of rules.
The beauty of our preparing the way of the Lord lies in our gratitude and trust rather in the abundance of possession. It always depends on our own choices to chose which way we want to go and follow. As it is written in the Book of Sirach (15: 14-19) “It was he who created humankind in the beginning, and he left them in the power of their own free choice. If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. He has placed before you fire and water; stretch out your hand for whichever you choose. Before each person are life and death, and whichever one chooses will be given. For great is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power and sees everything; his eyes are on those who fear him, and he knows every human action”.
On this Second Sunday of Advent as we light the second candle which is the symbol of Peace, we are invited to decide which route we want to take? We can prepare ourselves to take the path to conversion or we can stay as we are. Each day is an open invitation for us to choose and decide.
A rich landowner named Carl often rode around his vast estate so he could congratulate himself on his great wealth. One day while riding around his estate on his favorite horse, he saw Hans, an old tenant farmer. Hans was sitting under a tree when Carl rode by.
Hans said, ‘I was just thanking God for my food.’
Carl protested, ‘If that is all I had to eat, I wouldn’t feel like giving thanks.’
Hans replied, ‘God has given me everything I need, and I am thankful for it.’
The old farmer added, ‘It is strange you should come by today because I had a dream last night. In my dream a voice told me, ‘The richest man in the valley will die tonight.’ I don’t know what it means, but I thought I ought to tell you.’
Carl snorted, ‘Dreams are nonsense,’ and galloped away, but he could not forget Hans’ words: ‘The richest man in the valley will die tonight.’ He was obviously the richest man in the valley, so he invited his doctor to his house that evening. Carl told the doctor what Hans had said. After a thorough examination, the doctor told the wealthy landowner, ‘Carl, you are as strong and healthy as a horse. There is no way you are going to die tonight.’
Nevertheless, for assurance, the doctor stayed with Carl, and they played cards through the night. The doctor left the next morning and Carl apologized for becoming so upset over the old man’s dream. At about nine o’clock, a messenger arrived at Carl’s door.
‘What is it?’ Carl demanded.
The messenger explained, ‘It’s about old Hans. He died last night in his sleep.’
The Prophet Ezekiel was given the task to help people to convert from their sinful ways and come back to the Lord; “But if the wicked turn away from all their sins that they have committed and keep all my statutes and do what is lawful and right, they shall surely live; they shall not die. None of the transgressions that they have committed shall be remembered against them; for the righteousness that they have done they shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live? But when the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity and do the same abominable things that the wicked do, shall they live? None of the righteous deeds that they have done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which they are guilty and the sin they have committed, they shall die”. St. James also helps us to play the real role of a disciples by bringing people back to the Lord “My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins”.
The Holy Bible is full of conversion stories but especially the New Testament. Most of Jesus’s disciples were fishermen, but their lives were changed the day they met him. In the Acts of the Apostles we read about the conversion story of Saul who later was called Paul. His conversion changed the face of Christianity, and he became the Apostle of the Gentiles. I strongly believe that the season of Advent not only prepare us to celebrate the birth of our Saviour, but it also opens for us the ways to work on our conversion. Conversion does bring inner peace and inner peace leads us to make Jesus the center of our lives.
St. Bernard reminds everyone of us that “God’s Word will come to us” and we must prepare our ways to welcome him. He continues to explain “We know that there are three comings of the Lord. The third lies between the other two. It is invisible, while the other two are visible. In the first coming he was seen on earth, dwelling among men; he himself testifies that they saw him and hated him. In the final coming all flesh will see the salvation of our God, and they will look on him whom they pierced. The intermediate coming is a hidden one; in it only the elect see the Lord within their own selves, and they are saved. In his first coming our Lord came in our flesh and in our weakness; in this middle coming he comes in spirit and in power; in the final coming he will be seen in glory and majesty. Because this coming lies between the other two, it is like a road on which we travel from the first coming to the last. In the first, Christ was our redemption; in the last, he will appear as our life; in this middle coming, he is our rest and consolation”.
Further he explains “In case someone should think that what we say about this middle coming is sheer invention, listen to what our Lord himself says: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him. There is another passage of Scripture which reads: He who fears God will do good, but something further has been said about the one who loves, that is, that he will keep God’s word. Where is God’s word to be kept? Obviously in the heart, as the prophet says: I have hidden your words in my heart, so that I may not sin against you. Keep God’s word in this way. Let it enter into your very being, let it take possession of your desires and your whole way of life. Feed on goodness, and your soul will delight in its richness. Remember to eat your bread, or your heart will wither away. Fill your soul with richness and strength. If you keep the word of God in this way, it will also keep you. The Son and the Father will come to you. The great Prophet who will build the new Jerusalem will come, the one who makes all things new. This coming will fulfill what is written: As we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, we shall also bear the likeness of the heavenly man. Just as Adam’s sin spread through all mankind and took hold of all, so Christ, who created and redeemed all, will glorify all, once he takes possession of all”.
The Prophet Baruch in the First Reading encourages everyone to experience the beauty of the glory of God “Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, of Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory of God”. He is prophesying during the time when people are suffering and missing Jerusalem. They are sad because the beauty of Jerusalem is being stolen away from them and people are in a state of mourning. He is encouraging people to choose the path of conversion and believe that God the Almighty Father is going to be with them “For God will give you evermore the name, ‘Righteous, Peace, Godly Glory’”. If we choose the path of conversion and trust in the Lord, then there will be humility and peace. He does remind us that once the salvation will come everything is going to be safe for Israel “For God will lead Israel with joy, in the light of his glory, with the mercy and righteousness that come from him”. The preparation for the conversion of our hearts is very important because we must have pure and blameless hearts to celebrate the Nativity of the Lord. We must take care of ourselves and “be on guard and alert” as we heard from last Sunday’s Gospel reading because “the devil is always looking like a roaring lion to eat someone” as St. Peter says. Here is a story by an unknown author to remind us that we must not be under Satan’s yoke.
Satan called a worldwide convention of demons. In his opening address he said, “We can’t keep Christians from going to church. We can’t keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can’t even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their Savior. Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, but steal their time, so they don’t have time to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ. This is what I want you to do,” said the devil: “Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!”
“How shall we do this?” his demons shouted. “Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds,” he answered. “Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their families fragment, soon their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work!”
“Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive. To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their homes and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ. Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes.”
“Give them Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their children the real meaning of Christmas. Give them an Easter bunny so they won’t talk about his resurrection and power over sin and death. Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted. Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God’s creation. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies instead. Keep them busy, busy, busy!”
“And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences. Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Jesus. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause. It will work! It will work!”
It was quite a plan! The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there, having little time for their God or their families and friends. Having no time to tell others about the power of Jesus to change lives. I guess the question is, has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge!
Does “busy” mean: B-eing U-nder S-atan’s Y-oke?
In the Second Reading St. Paul is thanking the Philippians for their good deeds and also helping other people to prepare for the day of the Lord “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of the Lord Jesus”. I think this 2nd Sunday of Advent not only invites us to conversion but encourages us to help other people to convert their lives and come to follow Jesus. What an amazing appreciation from St. Paul for people to experience Jesus’s love. St. Bernard reflecting on the coming of Jesus says “We know that there are three comings of the Lord. The third lies between the other two. It is invisible, while the other two are visible. In the first coming he was seen on earth, dwelling among men; he himself testifies that they saw him and hated him. In the final coming all flesh will see the salvation of our God, and they will look on him whom they pierced. The intermediate coming is a hidden one; in it only the elect see the Lord within their own selves, and they are saved. In his first coming our Lord came in our flesh and in our weakness; in this middle coming he comes in spirit and in power; in the final coming he will be seen in glory and majesty”.
He continues to say “Because this coming lies between the other two, it is like a road on which we travel from the first coming to the last. In the first, Christ was our redemption; in the last, he will appear as our life; in this middle coming, he is our rest and consolation. In case someone should think that what we say about this middle coming is sheer invention, listen to what our Lord himself says: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him. There is another passage of Scripture which reads: He who fears God will do good, but something further has been said about the one who loves, that is, that he will keep God’s word. Where is God’s word to be kept? Obviously in the heart, as the prophet says: I have hidden your words in my heart, so that I may not sin against you”.
Further he adds “Keep God’s word in this way. Let it enter into your very being, let it take possession of your desires and your whole way of life. Feed on goodness, and your soul will delight in its richness. Remember to eat your bread, or your heart will wither away. Fill your soul with richness and strength. If you keep the word of God in this way, it will also keep you. The Son with the Father will come to you. The great Prophet who will build the new Jerusalem will come, the one who makes all things new. This coming will fulfill what is written: As we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, we shall also bear the likeness of the heavenly man. Just as Adam’s sin spread through all mankind and took hold of all, so Christ, who created and redeemed all, will glorify all, once he takes possession of all”.
The choice to choose the path of conversion, helps us not only to see the needs of other people but also it helps us to see our relationship with him who died on the Cross. The following story I would say will help us to see our role as Christians to walk with the Lord and only listen to him rather than be distracted by others’ opinions.
There was once a bunch of tiny frogs, who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants. The race began… No one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. They shouted, “Oh, way too difficult!!! They will NEVER make it to the top” and “Not a chance. The tower is too high”. The tiny frogs began collapsing, one by one except for those who, in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher…. The crowd continued to yell, “It’s too difficult! No one will make it!” More tiny frogs got tired and gave up… But one continued higher and higher. This one wouldn’t give up! And he reached the top. Everyone wanted to know how this one frog managed such a great feat. His secret? This little frog was deaf!! The wisdom of this story is:
Ignore the pessimism of others. It can take your dreams from you. Stay positive.
The Gospel of this Sunday places us in the school of John the Baptist, who preached “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. Perhaps we ask ourselves, “Why do we have to convert? Conversion is about an atheist who becomes a believer or a sinner who becomes just. But we don’t need it. We are already Christians. So, we are okay”. But this isn’t true. In thinking like this, we don’t realize that it is precisely because of this presumption that we are Christians, that everyone is good, that we’re okay that we must convert: from the supposition that, all things considered, things are fine as they are, and we don’t need any kind of conversion.
But let us ask ourselves: is it true that in the various situations and circumstances of life, within us we have the same feelings that Jesus has? Is it true that we feel as Christ feels? For example, when we suffer some wrongdoing or some insult, do we manage to react without animosity and to forgive from the heart those who apologize to us? How difficult it is to forgive! How difficult! “We’re going to pay for this” that phrase comes from inside! When we are called to share joys or sorrows, do we know how to sincerely weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice? When we should express our faith, do we know how to do it with courage and simplicity, without being ashamed of the Gospel? Thus, we can ask ourselves so many questions. We’re not all right. We must always convert and have the sentiments that Jesus had. Why then conversion is important for us even though we are already baptized? We almost all drive our cars, and we follow the traffic rules but why do we really need them? Don’t we know speed limits, school zones, stop, yield, merge, do not enter, no parking and construction zone signs? We all know but these signs are everyday reminders to be take care of our driving habits. So it is the same with our preparation for conversion. Everyday we need to remind ourselves and grow strong in our relationship with the Lord.
Our Holy Father Pope Francis says “The voice of the Baptist still cries in the deserts of humanity today, which are – what are today’s deserts? — closed minds and hardened hearts. And his voice causes us to ask ourselves if we are actually following the right path, living a life according to the Gospel. Today, as then, he admonishes us with the words of the Prophet Isaiah: “Prepare the way of the Lord!”. It is a pressing invitation to open one’s heart and receive the salvation that God offers ceaselessly, almost obstinately, because he wants us all to be free from the slavery of sin. But the text of the prophet amplifies this voice, portending that “all flesh shall see the salvation of God”. And salvation is offered to every man, and every people, without exclusion, to each one of us. None of us can say, “I’m a saint; I’m perfect; I’m already saved”. No. We must always accept this offer of salvation. This is the reason for the season of Advent: to go farther on this journey of salvation, this path that Jesus taught us. God wants all of mankind to be saved through Jesus, the one mediator (1 Tim 2:4-6)”.
Therefore, each one of us is called to make Jesus known to those who do not yet know him. But this is not to proselytize. No, it is to open a door. “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16), St Paul declared. If Our Lord Jesus has changed our lives, and he changes it every time we go to him, how can we not feel the passion to make him known to those we encounter at work, at school, in our apartment building, in the hospital, in meeting places? If we look around us, we find people who would be willing to begin — or begin again — a journey of faith where they can encounter Christians in love with Jesus. I leave we this question: “Am I truly in love with Jesus? Am I convinced that Jesus offers me and gives me salvation?”
Do we prepare our way to welcome him?
Other Sermons In This Series
REFLECTION FOR ALL SUNDAYS YEAR B ~ AUGUST 2024
July 30, 2024
5th Sunday of Lent Year A ~ March 26, 2023
March 24, 2023
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A – September 10, 2023
September 08, 2023