ADVENT II [A]: Is 11:1-10; Rom 15:4-9; Mt 3:1-12  

This Sunday, the second candle on our Advent wreath has been lit. We sense that the countdown to Christmas has begun in earnest. The gospel reading for this Sunday presents us with someone who seems a little out of place in the run-up to Christmas. His way of addressing respectable people as ‘Brood of vipers’ strikes a rather jarring note in this season of goodwill. By any standards, it is not what would be termed today ‘politically correct’ language. His basic message is ‘Repent’. He warns those who will not heed this message that they are like trees that fail to bear fruit and, therefore, are just about to be cut down.

The reading suggests that John was intolerant of complacency. His harshest words were for those who repeatedly declared, ‘We have Abraham for our father’, and were so content in that knowledge that they never looked seriously at their own lives. We know from experience that we are all prone to complacency. The awareness that we have done nothing seriously wrong can leave us content. We can drift along feeling reasonably pleased with ourselves most of the time. As an uncompromising man of the wilderness, John had no hesitation in challenging complacency. His voice continues to call out to us to look seriously at our lives and to ask ourselves what needs to change if our lives are to bear good fruit that is life-giving for others. John reminds us that we are not yet all that the Lord is calling us to be. He asks us to keep setting out on a journey, a journey of repentance and renewal.

We need to repent because the Kingdom of God is near. We need to prepare for the Lord who is coming. John confirmed that the One who was coming was infinitely greater than himself. “You think, I'm something,” John says to those people from Jerusalem and all of Judea. “I am not fit to loosen the straps of his sandals, let alone wash his feet. So prepare,” John says, “the Kingdom of God is near.” That was the main message of John. It was also the basic message of Jesus and of the disciples. We pray for this Kingdom to come every time we say the Our Father, thy Kingdom come.

If the Kingdom of God comes, what would change in the world, in our lives? The first reading from Isaiah says that the One to Come would not judge by appearance nor by hearsay. The rich would not have an advantage over the poor should they go to court. Right now, poor people often receive far greater sentences than the rich who can afford a good lawyer. Instead he will 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. Those people who are bullies in the way they treat others, those people who care only about themselves, will have to answer to the One Who Is to Come.

In a poetic way, Isaiah prophesies a time when there is no more killing, when even the animals no longer feed on each other, a time when little children no longer die. The baby shall play by the cobra's den, and the child shall lay his hand on the adder's lair.

 If this were the Kingdom of God, then accumulation of possessions would no longer be the goal of people’s lives. They would work hard for love, not for stuff. People would be satisfied with what they need, and not be concerned with what they want.

If the coming of the Kingdom of God is going to make radical changes to the world, and if we really want this, then the question that naturally follows is: what am I doing about it? What am I, what are you doing to bring about the change that results from the coming of the Kingdom? We, you are doing a great deal already. First, we are here to grow in our faith. We are here to ask the Lord to help us withstand the temptations of the world. Second, parents first, but all of us are engaged in raising children for God. Whether it’s teaching your 9-year-old to be truthful, making your home a holy place, a little church, or helping with religious education or some form of youth ministry, be it in the Church or on the sports field or in the arts, you are raising children for God. We spend a great deal of time and energy on our children, and it is all worth it if it helps them become that unique reflection of God they were created to bring to the world.

We are doing a great deal to make the Kingdom a reality, but we have so much more we can do and need to do. What can we do about the people who are homeless and who due to psychological issues, cannot hold a job? What can we do for families that have a chronically ill child or a child with mental or emotional needs? What can we do to further mutual understanding and respect in a society that has granted a degree of credence to its radical elements? There is much we have to do. Working for justice is the work of the Kingdom. It is first on Isaiah’s list of the work of the One Who Is to Come.

 

If we are to take Advent seriously, we have to take John the Baptist seriously and repent of our comfort with sin. This is the only way our society and the Church can be transformed.

Let’s pray today that the Lord may shake us out of our comfort zone and prepare us for the Coming of Christ and his Kingdom by repenting of our sins and renewing our lives through prayer, penance, and the sharing of our blessings with others.