Second Sunday of Advent Year A
Second Sunday of Advent Year A
Advent: a season of great Openness
Today’s mass begins with an entrance antiphon from an exilic text from Isaiah 30:19,30. It says “O people of Sion, behold the Lord will come to save the nations, and the Lord will make the glory of his voice heard in the joy of your hearts”.
There is a sense in which the advent season is a season of an invitation to openness, openness to the one who comes not simply as a memorial past event, but as one who is always coming to us in real time to make the glory of his voice heard in the joy of our hearts.
This prophecy and invitation from Isaiah 30, annunciates, as it were the ancient hope and expectation of Israel as they patiently but eagerly awaited the Messiah who was coming to bring them glory which they had lost in captivity in exile. Through the revelation of his glory God will make their hearts to experience anew the joy of the Lord in their hearts. This is why today’s first reading from the prophecy of Isaiah 11:1-10 talked about this ancient hope of God’s people and Prophecy of a shoot that will spring from the stock of Jesse on whom the spirit of the Lord rests, a spirit of wisdom and insights, of counsel and power, of knowledge and of fear of the Lord. Referring to the coming messiah it says that, He does not judge by appearances, but with integrity, equity and righteousness. His reign and glory will bring about peace among the created order. Upon this prophesy, God’s people placed their Messianic expectations and hope which were then intensified due to their exile experiences which had relegated them to object of shame, as a people abandoned by their God against whom they had sinned.
God’s people, regardless of their circumstances, were to embraced this hope with openness and so act in hope, for indeed we act as we hope. In other words, our hope directs our actions.
During advent we look back and contemplate the ancient prophecies, hopes and expectations of God’s people so as to powerfully express our faith in their fulfilment in Christ. Looking back now we know that Jesus Christ is the Messiah the one before whom all will feel safe, the one whose glory will bring about an experience of a profound joy in our hearts. In contemplating the hope of the ancient Israelites we contemplate the truth which St Paul talked about in today’s second reading from his letter to the Romans 15:4-9. The truth that God keeps his promises come what may. In fact, St Paul says that, “the scripture was meant to teach us something about hope from the examples it gives of how people who did not give up on their hopes were helped by God.
But then, immediately St Paul begins to talk about the implications of our hope. As a said, Advent is a time of an expectant waiting and hope. My hope should determine the way I act and relate to others. You can almost tell people’s hopes from their actions since we are often driven by our hope. During advent as we wait in hope for the one who comes to be born anew in our hearts, our action should signal our hopes and expectations. Hence, St Paul prays in the second reading and said, may he who helps us when we refuse to give up, help you all to be tolerant with each other, following the example of Christ Jesus, so that united in mind we may give glory to God.
Thus, St Paul says in today’s second reading that Christ coming was simply to fulfil the promise he made to his ancient people, but also that our lives may give glory to God for his mercy, as the scripture says, For this I shall praise you among the pagans and sing to your name.
For our lives to give glory to God we are to be open to the actions of grace, we are to cooperate with grace and not be like the Sadducees and Pharisees in today’s Gospel who approached John Baptist not with openness but rather with a sense of entitlement. We are to relive in our lives today that ancient response of repentance which the coming of Christ required from the Ancient Israelites.
The Lord’s coming brings glory into the life of the human person. But the questions are, will I humble myself before God, as it were forgetting whatever I think I have accomplish in faith and in my spiritual journey, but starting all over again with the Church? Am I willing to allow the spirit of God to show me the mountains, valley and rough edges of my life that are needing some levelling up so that the king of glory could come in? Or Am I going to act like the Sadducees and Pharisee in today’ gospel who were busy claiming entitlement as Children of Abraham.
During this week, we are to heed the ancient prophetic call to readiness which John the Baptist invoked in today’s Gospel when he said to the people, “prepare a way for the Lord make his paths straight. Openness is to the key. Do not allow your past progress and achievements, no matter how small or big they might have been to blind you from seeing the vastness of what lies ahead. As St Paul says in Philippians 3:13-14 I Forget what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus. As we begin this second week of advent-waiting we pray for the grace of openness, patience, wisdom and humility.
May we humbly await with openness the one who comes to shine his light into our hearts so as to dispel every darkness that may want to hinder us. Let this advent be season of a profound re-discovery of God’s faithfulness and mercy. And may this rediscovery in turn strengthen our hope, so that in acting according to our expectant hope, we may be more tolerant to each other and so manifest God’s Glory in our lives and in our world.
Let us conclude with the collect of today’s Mass.
Almighty and merciful God may no earthly undertaking hinder those who set out in haste to meet your Son, but may our learning of heavenly wisdom gain us admittance to his company. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen
The Lord be with you
May the Almighty God bless you, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Go in peace and happy Sunday