Second Sunday of Advent

Dear Friends in Christ,

On this Second Sunday of Advent we begin to hear about our patron St. John the Baptist. Today’s Gospel is from St. Luke. Here is a commentary on this passage by Fr. Tony Kadavil: John called people to repent as a way of preparing their hearts and lives for the Lord's visit. He is calling us, too, to get ready for something so great that it fills our emptiness with expectation. A smooth road means nothing to God, but a repentant heart means a great deal. Hence, the truly important goal for us is to prepare our hearts to receive the Lord. By emphasizing the last line of the quotation, "All flesh will see the salvation of God," Luke stresses the universal aspect of God's salvation. Having begun the section with a list of rulers who did not bring wholeness or salvation, Luke ends with the expectation of a true Lord Who can bring these about. We don't live in a perfect world and we don't look to this world to see God's salvation. For salvation, we have to look to Jesus -- Jesus present in Scripture, Jesus present in the sacraments, Jesus present in our coming together in his name, Jesus present in the lives of his followers. Perhaps if we began to see Jesus in each other and in ourselves, and started to treat one another (and ourselves) as we would treat Jesus, more of the world might come to see God's salvation.

The Jordan River was the place that represented the border between the desert — where the Jews had wandered aimlessly for 38 years after centuries of slavery in Egypt — and the Promised Land. By preaching his message there, John was inviting the Jews of his day, to come out of the bondage of slavery, to leave their faults, their wandering, and their sinful lives behind, and to enter into the Promised Land full of God’s blessings. The Fathers of the Church have called the Sacrament of Reconciliation our “second baptism,” in which we’re brought back to the Jordan and cleansed internally as we were on the day of our Christening. Advent, like Lent, is a season given to us so that we may repent of our sins and be reconciled with God and His Church by receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Please take advantage of confessions during this holy season, following the wise counsel of our patron saint: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord!”

Advent blessings to all.

Fr. Hildebrand