Homily for 2nd Sunday of Advent Year A 2019-2020
Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12
Introduction
Getting ready for a guest often requires serious preparation. Just think of all the slaving you had to when you hosted the family for Thanksgiving Dinner. There is the tidying up, getting fresh linens and towels, and of course preparing a good meal. And the more important the guest, the more involved is our preparation.
Scripture and Theology
No wonder then that the First Coming of God's Son into the world required serious preparations. God sent John the Baptist as that voice crying out in the desert, "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths." John's whole ministry was to prepare the people for the arrival of the Messiah.
But how would they prepare the way for the Lord? How would they make straight his paths? St. John tells them: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Repenting means turning around, like the military or boy scout command "about-turn" or "about-face." It is a 180 degree change of direction, a complete reversal of orientation. John is asking people to turn from sin back to God. For them repenting means returning to the ten commandments of God, putting God first above all else, treating each other with love. That is how they are to prepare for the coming of the Messiah.
In addition, because human beings always need signs to show what is happening inside them, John invited those who were repenting, to come to him for baptism. This ritual of immersion in water would serve as a visible sign that they had repented, had turned from a life of sin back to God. And as we heard in the gospel, many people "were going out to him and were being baptized."
But when the Pharisees and Sadducees came for John's baptism, for this sign of repentance, he turned them away. He said: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” Why is John denying them a chance to prepare themselves for the Messiah? It seems that they came to be baptised, only because they wanted to be seen doing something righteous by the people, but inside there was no real conversion, no real about-turn. They came to be cleaned externally with the water, but their hearts internally were still very dirty.
But the kind of preparation for the Messiah that John wants involves real changes in one's life. That is why he challenges the Pharisees and Sadducees saying: “Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance! . . . [for] every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” In other words, before you come to this religious ritual called baptism, there must be a change in your heart. And after you live this ritual of baptism, there must be a change in the way you live your life, living it in virtue and charity. And so, preparing for the Lord requires two services: the religious service of baptism but also service to one another in our daily lives. By coming to John for baptism, the Pharisees and Scribes had done the first, but not the second.
Moreover, John the Baptist tells the people that what he is asking for is rather low hanging fruit; when the Messiah comes much more will be expected. We can think of John’s baptism as being the hors d'oeuvres, the anti-pasti, the appetizers, preparing for the main course, which is being served by Jesus himself, when he sets the Kingdom of God in motion. That is why John says: “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."
And then John goes on to say:
- "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." The Holy Spirit will bring you forgiveness and the fire will burn away any sins that remain, a painful experience you would want to avoid by being ready now.
- John goes on to say of the Messiah: "His winnowing fan is in his hand." For those who did not grow up in the country, a winnowing fan is an implement used to separate the grain from the chaff. John says that when the Messiah comes, that is exactly what he will do, separate the good from the evil, the virtuous from the sinful.
- And John concludes: "He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” In other words, he will gather those who have repented and turned towards him into his Kingdom and will dispatch those who refuse to hell.
And so, seen in this light, we can understand why John the Baptist is not mincing his words at all when he says: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Christian Life
John's words were meant to prepare for the people of Israel for the First Coming of the Messiah. That same message also helps us during this season of Advent to prepare us for the Second Coming. For us it is no longer: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” For us the message is: “[Repent], for the kingdom the kingdom of God is among you” (Lk. 17:21). Jesus Christ by his life, death and resurrection has already set the Kingdom in motion and is bringing it to fruition through the Church. We had better be ready, be already turned around from sin to God, from vice to virtue when the Kingdom is finally fulfilled. Although we do this preparation throughout the year, Advent is a special dress rehearsal of preparation for the Second and final coming of the Lord.
Let me offer three steps we can take to help us repent as we wait for the Lord's Second coming: interior conversion, the sacraments, a life of virtue.
First, we must repent interiorly within our hearts and minds. After making an examination of conscience and taking stock of our relationship with God we might say to ourselves, "I really must get rid of this habit; why I am doing this? There are many resources that can help us to reach this point, but reading the Word of God often convicts us into turning around towards him; so does listening to our ministers, our friends, our family. When with God's help we have searched our lives and reached the decision to change, we are ready for the second step.
For the people of Israel that second step was the ritual of John's baptism; for us it is the all the sacraments, but especially the Sacrament of Penance and the Eucharist. These religious services or rituals are not empty signs. They are the means through which God gives us his divine help, his forgiveness, his mercy. They are also the means through which we tell God that we are committed to being faithful to him. And because we shall come to the sacraments, only after making that interior resolution to change in our hearts, we can be sure that we will not be driven away like John did to the Pharisees.
The third step in repenting is returning from the sacraments ready to produce good fruit in our daily lives, something that the Pharisees and Sadducees failed to do. After confession the priest often gives us a penance: a prayer to say, a bible passage to read, or an action to perform. These penances are meant to help us remain on the straight and narrow path, producing good fruit. Even at the end of Mass, the priest sends us forth saying: “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” This too is an invitation to continue showing our repentance by living a life worthy of the Word and the sacraments we have celebrated.
Conclusion
Advent might not be as glamorous as Christmas or Easter, since it is essentially a time of waiting. But Advent should not be a wasted or boring waiting, a complacent or lazy waiting. Let this Advent be for all of us a busy time of putting our house in order, tidying up a little for the arrival of the greatest guest ever: not only the newborn Jesus we celebrate at Christmas, not even the Lord we receive in the Eucharist, but also the Risen Lord who will return to us claim us for God.
