2nd Sunday of Advent

 

My dear parishioners,

God is Good!!!  All the time!!!  And all the time!!!  God is Good!!!

Isaiah anticipates a better future for his people. When that day comes, the royal house will at last exhibit the ideals God always looked for in Israel’s leaders. The opening line of the reading likens this welcome change to a flowering branch generated from the stump of a tree. In preceding verses, the royal line of David’s father, Jesse, was reduced like a forest of trees cut down. Now new life springs from what remains.

Divine spirit. The ideal king Isaiah speaks of will display gifts that come from God. These are wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, and fear of God. Such gifts distinguish this ideal monarch from predecessors who allowed the false appearances and hearsay to guide them. Isaiah encountered such limitations in his dialogue with King Ahaz (Is 7). By contrast, the throne of David will now be characterized by concern for the poor and correction of the proud and the ruthless. In others words, the standards of heaven will be upheld by this new king.

Gospel. No sooner does Matthew conclude his infancy narrative than he quickly introduces the character of John the Baptist. He emerges from the Judean desert proclaiming the urgent need to repent because God is about to unleash God’s rule over the people (kingdom of heaven).

Prepare the way of the Lord. Matthew understands John the Baptist to be that voice in the wilderness proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah (Is 40:3). His mission is to prepare for the advent of the Lord. For Matthew, the Lord is Jesus. John the Baptist is described in terms that recall the person and mission of the prophet Elijah (2 Kgs 1:8). He looks like Elijah, dresses like him, and eats a similar diet. John the Baptist is also a person who attracts many people who align themselves with his message by being baptized by him in the Jordan River. This is not the same baptism later practiced by Christians. This was a Jewish baptism practiced by various groups, including the Essenes who also frequented the Judean desert and who might have influenced John the Baptist.

The Pharisees and the Sadducees. John the Baptist gives special focus and a severe reprimand to the Pharisees and the Sadducees. These two groups represented Jewish leadership that had failed to guide the people in the ways of authentic Torah. They seem to think that salvation is something one inherits simply by being a son or daughter of Abraham. John the Baptist emphasizes to them that evidence of sincere repentance is manifested in good fruit and not in empty words.

Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved

 Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Aloysius