4 Dec 2022 – 2nd Sunday in Advent, A

4 Dec 2022 – 2nd Sunday in Advent, A

Theme: John the Baptist’s life work was preparing the way for our Messiah. Once Christ came, it only remained for John to disappear gracefully. Like John, we should make way for Christ in the lives of others.

1st Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10

The living branch from Jesse’s stump is our hope of peace and salvation

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.

They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples;
the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Responsorial: Psalm 71: 1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17

R./: Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

O God, give your judgement to the king,
to a king’s son your justice,
that he may judge your people in justice
and your poor in right judgement. (R./)

In his days justice shall flourish
and peace till the moon fails:
He shall rule from sea to sea,
from the Great River to earth’s bounds. (R./)

For he shall save the poor when they cry
and the needy who are helpless.
He will have pity on the weak
and save the lives of the poor. (R./)

May his name be blessed for ever
and endure like the sun.
Every tribe shall be blessed in him,
all nations bless his name. (R./)

2nd Reading: Romans 15:4-9

How to live in harmony and share in the promises to the patriarchs of old

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God so that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and so that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name.”

Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12

John the Baptist prepares us to welcome Jesus Christ

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”

Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

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Preparing the way of the Lord

John the Baptist could be the central figure in our thoughts today. He prepared the way for the people of his time to understand the good news of their salvation. That is the way God normally works; He sends the message of salvation to us through each other. As St Paul once put it, how can people know the truth about God if they have never heard it; and how can they hear if nobody is sent to them?

Jesus found his first disciples among those who were influenced by the preaching of John the Baptist. He had showed them the value of self-control and of prayer; he urged them to listen to the inner voice of God, with repentance and a faithful heart. The high point of John’s short ministry was his meeting with Jesus. Not only did he get to baptise Our Lord but he also helped some of his own followers to go with Jesus and become the first Christian disciples. Through him, Andrew and his brother Peter, and Philip and Nathanael became apostles of Jesus.

Clearly, God wishes us Christians also to help help other people to know and love him. If in the first place, we were more committed to our own Christian calling, we would be more effective in influencing others towards religious commitment. Parents have the first opportunity to point their children towards God. But their words will only be effective when backed up by the actual example of their own faith and prayer.

People can influence others, for good or ill, in all sorts of ways. A special kind of influence rests with the journalists and opinion-formers who work in the media, press, radio and television and through the internet. But ordinary people outside the media can also influence the views and values of those with whom they talk and live. When looked at in light of today’s Gospel, does our way of speaking and behaving in any way help others to share our values, or do we confirm their suspicion that this world is a selfish and cynical place?

And what about fostering vocations to some active form of church service? The ability of our Church to go on as a visible, organised community continuing in the prayer-life and values of Jesus is under serious question today. If people open their hearts to inspiration, Andrew and Philip and Peter, a way will be found to spread the saving message of Christ.

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Pre-Christmas contrasts

Being half-blinded by the Christmas lights swaying on the back of a bin truck and the rise in traffic infringements set me thinking about the lead-up to Christmas that is now in full swing. From mid-November, aspects of the impending “ding dong merrily on high” cacophony have been evident. The shops and the roads are significantly busier. Every year at this time we shake our heads and complain about the traffic, the shops, and all the commercialisation. But we go along with it, just the same.

Does the idea of Advent being a time of preparation for Christmas affect us? Isn’t it being blared from the rooftops that we should enjoy be out partying as if our lives depended on it. Yet on the other hand some people are facing a Christmas of misery, homelessness and want. But isn’t that the world we live in? By the way, a worthy gesture today would be to contribute generously to the St Vincent de Paul annual Christmas appeal. In many ways Christmas is some sort of paradigm of our lives, trying to quell our constant search for pleasure or transient gratification, a state of permanent unease.

We have heard John the Baptist quoting from Isaiah: “A voice cries in the wilderness:/Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.” And in the response to the psalm, we read: “In his days justice and peace shall flourish.” Makes me wonder, have we lost our way, with our preparation for Christmas? It’s the ideal topic for a good rant. But does it not seem that what we do by exaggerated Christmas preparation is more or less what we do with all aspects of our lives, an element of talking out of both sides of our mouths at the same time?

John the Baptist called for change as he pointed the way towards Christ. Of course, our world is never going to be a paradise, but are we not running riot with double-speak, nowadays? And every organisation, every state, every religious tradition is prone to such behaviour. It requires the prophet, the wise person to stand back and question the culture of the day. Just because we are so caught up in a frenzy of buying and following the fashionable tide does not mean it’s what’s best for us.

Of course, Christmas, our preparations for it, have great aspects also. But it’s too easy to lose all sense of what we are actually celebrating and recalling. These are days of waiting, days of wonder. Remember the lines of Patrick Kavanagh: “We have tested and tasted too much, lover –/ Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder.” Those words might well help us to stop and think for a second as we await our recalling and celebration of the birth of Christ.

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