Sunday, December 8, 2013

Second Sunday of Advent - Cycle A (December 8, 2013)


 

First reading: Is. 11: 1-10

“But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.  The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.  Not by appearances shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.  He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.  Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.  Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.  The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox.  The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.  There shall be no more harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea.  On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious.”

 

Second reading: Rom. 15: 4-9

“For whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.  May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God.  For I say that Christ became a minister of the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, to confirm the promises to the patriarchs, but so that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.  As it is written: Therefore, I will praise you among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name.”

 

Gospel reading: Mt. 3: 1-12

“In those days 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 locust 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 you 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 will 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.”

 

 

Introductory theme summary:

There is a double theme in today’s readings.  The primary theme points to the anticipated coming of the Messiah, with the secondary theme pointing to the environment surrounding his coming.  The first reading describes the Messiah’s attributes and the environment that will result from his coming, with the second reading pointing to the environment immediately following his having come; and the Gospel reading highlights his actual “Coming.”

 

Reflection:

Most notably, in the first reading we have a description of an idyllic society that results directly from the coming of the Messiah.  However, a literal or even metaphorical understanding of that description indicates that, though the Messiah has come, this society has yet to come.  We should note that the description of that society, in most examples, puts what are naturally hostile members of the animal kingdom together in a strikingly peaceful association with one another.

In the second reading we have Paul urging how necessary it is for the Jews and the Gentiles to accept one another in order to form a unification of all people in Christ as God’s people.  From this we can begin to identify a metaphorical understanding for the first reading’s description as pointing to the hostility between Gentile and Jew; or rather, differences between people that we would characterize today as prejudices. 

When putting these two readings together for a better understanding of the idyllic society we all wait in joyful hope for, it can safely be asserted that WE have a part to play in that eventuality.  We must fully embrace the Christian principal of loving thy neighbor for that to occur, and do so with utter and total completeness.  This is a tremendous challenge for all of us in this self-seeking society of ours that still sins, in many cases with total abandon, and as well commits injustices against the weak with barely a thought. 

What must WE do to change the course of our society?

Let’s examine the Gospel reading to see if it yields an answer to this question for us.  In the Gospel we have John the Baptist’s call “Repent, for the Kingdom is at hand.”  The Gospel reading is solely concerned with the absolute necessity for us to repent our sins.  According to John’s perspective there is a direct correlation between the coming of the Kingdom and OUR repentance of sin.  Now clearly, those who are reading this are not likely to represent those impenitent just mentioned above.  So, the question for us now becomes: how can we who accept the need to repent our sins, and injustices, influence those who do not, to do so in order to change the course of our society?

Truly, this is the toughest problem our society now faces.  Every ill behavior our society faces is in its own essence – SIN.  Unfortunately, as soon as anyone instructs another on their sins and the need to repent them that person who dares to express such a concern is perceived as self-righteous and reasonably critical.  These concerns are heard as judgments rather than as genuine concern for another person’s eternal well-being.  No one seems humble enough to accept instruction from another concerning their own sins.  Do they not understand, “A wise son loves correction, but the senseless one heeds no rebuke” (Prv. 13:1)? 

Conversely, it truly is every individual’s personal responsibility to listen to his or her own conscience.  This, it would seem, renders everyone who does not have the legitimate authority to instruct another on matters concerning sin, speechless, thus reserving that responsibility to all parents and religious leaders exclusively.  What are we to do if parents and our religious leaders no longer remind believers of the need to repent their sins and sinfulness?

Well the answer is actually very simple, just not easy.  In a word: Forbearance!  There is no better way to provoke the silenced voice of a sinner’s conscience than to turn the other cheek when faced with suffering the injury of their sins, and injustices.  This is also the boldest way to display ourselves as true children of God, and incite the motion of the Holy Spirit.  There will be no need for proclamations from us of any kind.  The Holy Spirit will communicate to each conscience all that is needed to be heard by that soul; and do so better than any person could even imagine accomplishing on his or her own.  This is how the children of God are meant to work WITH the Holy Spirit.  All we need to do is love them enough to forbear their injuries, and forgivingly pray for them to come to repentance.  This is the greatest challenge for all true Christians that yields the greatest of all fruits – participation in Christ’s sacrifice as full members of His body.

 

Come!  Let us show ourselves to be TRUE children of God and advance God’s kingdom on earth by practicing forbearance so that the Holy Spirit can instruct and inspire sinners to repent their sins and injustices.

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