Second Sunday of Advent, Year A Dec. 4, 2016.
Advent is a
time of preparation in anticipation of the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
When we read the readings in advent, they don’t seem to look forward to a tiny
baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. They seem to speak of
the coming of a King, a Judge, of a kingdom that will have no end. What do the
readings say to us today? For Scripture is a living word, speaking to our
desires, problems and wishes and wants as much as it spoke to those same
desires to the peoples it was originally written to.
Isaiah
preaches to the people of Judah and gives them hope, that message gives us hope
today also. The tree of Jesse, the father of King David, had been cut down,
meaning that the monarchy had been conquered. This was a truth that Judah knew
too well, yet from that stump a shoot would sprout. This is not a new plant,
because the roots are that of Jesse, but it is a renewing of the kingdom
promise by god to his people. There are 7 gifts attributed to the messianic
king: The Spirit of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety
and Fear of the Lord. These 7 gifts are also given to us at Confirmation. We
may not use these in the same way as a monarch would, but they are
indispensable to living a life that is pleasing to God. And indeed, they help
us in our daily journey towards God.
So Isaiah
shows us the Messianic King and what his kingdom will eventually look like, “In
that Day”. It will be a kingdom of unsurpassable peace in the world. Even in
the animal world, there will be peace among all. The image of the messianic
king has been fulfilled in Jesus, but it is offered to us to use as a model
after which we pattern our lives.
Paul calls us
all to live in harmony with one another, because there is no more division in
the body of Christ, there is no more Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or
female, but all one body, one voice of Christ to the glory of God the Father.
The invitation is given to us, we are expected to extend that invitation to
others and to minister to them in their needs, whatever those needs may be. We
need to see Jesus in others, because when we see Jesus in others, we treat them
in the manner we would, or should treat Jesus. How do we prepare for the coming
of our Lord? Do we do works that produce good fruit, like John the Baptist told
the Pharisees and Sadducees to do in order to repent? Do we live a life free
from presumption?, in other words, we don’t think that just because we have the
name “Catholic”, that we have it made and can get in the kingdom just by
wearing a title. The Pharisees thought that because they were children of
Abraham, and that was enough. Many today think the same way; I am a good
person, I haven’t killed anybody, I haven’t cheated on my spouse, etc… Yet, we
have the attitude that being a Catholic is enough. It is not. We are called to
a deeper understanding of our lives, we are called to a deeper conversion of
heart and mind, called to a deeper service to others. Don’t get me wrong. This
community of St. Frances of Rome does some incredible work in the communities
of Lake Elsinore and Wildomar; from the daily soup kitchen and food pantry, to
the Elsinore Valley Pregnancy Center where they help young women to choose life
and give them direction and assistance beyond the birth of their child, to the
ministries of visiting the sick and elderly in the hospitals and homes. In
these, and in many other ministries, we show our love for our neighbor and for God. But we sometimes become
complacent in our walk, so I urge you to reflect this Advent on your life, as I
will reflect on mine too. How can I serve God in a new, different and better
way through my life? I would like to share a story that was shared by a priest
in Africa on this same Liturgical Sunday a few years ago.
Many years ago, there lived a great and holy teacher called
Rabbi Saadiah. He had hundreds of pupils, and all of them had a great thirst to
learn. One winter morning, two of his pupils who happened to be walking in the
mountains, while approaching its summit, saw to their great surprise, their
master sitting on the snow covered ground, weeping, praying and engaging in
other acts of penitence. This beat their imagination and they wondered: “What
could such a perfectly righteous person as their teacher possibly need to
repent of? Could he have committed some sins, God forbid? They hurriedly
departed from that place. Later that day, they asked their teacher what the
scene they witnessed was all about. “I do that every day,” he said to them.
“Every day I repent and plead with God to forgive my shortcomings and failings
in my service of Him.” “Of what failings do you speak?” They asked him. Then
the Rabbi told them this story: “One day an old inn keeper received and served
me so well without realizing who I was. When I left the next morning someone
told him: ‘That was Rabbi Saadiah.’ Immediately, he came after and in search of
me. When he caught up with me, he jumped from his carriage and fell at my feet,
weeping: ‘Please forgive me! Please forgive me!! I did not know that it was
you!’ I made him stand up, and then said to him: But my dear friend, you
treated me very well, you were very kind and hospitable. Why are you so sorry?
You have nothing to apologize for. ‘No, no, Rabbi,’ he replied. ‘If I had known
you were the one, I would have served you in a completely different manner!’
Suddenly I realized that this man was teaching me a very important lesson in
the service of God. I thanked and blessed him, and returned home.” “Since then”
the Rabbi concluded, “every evening when I say the prayer before sleeping, I go
over in my mind how I served God that day. Then I think of that old innkeeper,
and say to myself, Oh! If I had known about God in the beginning of the day the
way I know him now, I would have served Him in a completely different manner!
And that is what I was repenting for this morning.” This is what we must do
every day this season of Advent and beyond. Nothing must be taken for granted
if we must be ready to welcome Jesus when he comes.
