Homily, 2nd Sunday of Advent, Peace
Prepare the Way
Homily, Second Sunday of Advent A, Peace -- Msgr. Joseph K. Ntuwa
Readings -- Isa 11:1-10; Rom 15:4-9; Matt 3:1-12
The astronauts were the first human beings to see the earth from space. As they gazed down on the earth from space, they realized as never before that we are one family, with spaceship Earth as our common home. One of them said later; “The first day in space, we all pointed to our countries. The second day, we pointed to our continents. By the third day we were aware of only one Earth.
The prophets had the same kind of high and wide vision. Isaiah dreamt of a world in which the wolf would lie down with the lamb. ( calf and young lion, baby and cobra) . A world in which those who were furthest apart from each other would be united in friendship.
But how real is this vision?
When one reads a history book, or even just the daily newspaper the story is quite distressing! It is always conflicts, insurgencies and wars! The world is drenched in blood! Often neighbors or even members of the same family have a falling out and refuse to talk to each other. Is not this great vison of peace and harmony among all peoples just a utopian fairy tale?
The prophets lived in the real world and were just as dismayed by its horrors and injustices as we are today. Yet, through faith in God, they continued to dream a new world, a world free of injustice and war. The prophets were not idle dreamers; they were people of with hope and fiercely committed. Isaiah’s vision lives on in our midst as a task for today and a promise for tomorrow. This vision offers us hope when we are tempted to despair, and courage when we are tempted to give up. It is a blueprint of what can be achieved by the grace of God, given so lavishly in Christ. We must keep the vision before us and try to live it out, right where we are. Far from encouraging us to escape from real life, this beautiful vision summons us to get involved. It awakens everything that is best within us. Every time we forgive a neighbor, every time we make someone smile, every time we show compassion to a suffering person, every time we work for peace and justice among peoples, we are helping the vision to become a reality.
On this second Sunday of Advent every year, John the Baptist bursts on the scene as the Forerunner to Christ. John the Baptist was the last of the prophets and comes with a message of repentance, inviting us to look for the highway of God where we can walk once more along the straight path and experience God’s healing presence. Matthew positions John at the Jordan – the place where Israel once crossed into the Promised Land. Dressed in the strangest of attire, John’s words echo those of Isaiah but, unlike Isaiah’s words, they are addressed to all who seek God – Jew and Gentile alike. In other words, all of us.
John calls us to make an exodus from the desert of sinfulness through the waters of repentance to conversion of heart. It is a journey that speaks of hope, not past regrets. John challenges us to prepare the way of the Lord by smoothing the treacherous bumps of sin and straightening out whatever obstacles are in our relationship with God and with one another.
And in his Letter to the Romans, Saint Paul shares a similar message. In a text full of encouragement and hope, he speaks of harmony, unity, the mercy of God and, above all, the call to glorify the Lord’s name so that others will be energized in their journey of faith. Paul urges them and us to discover the good in others and make everyone welcome in the community.
During this second week of Advent, we reflect on our lives and work on becoming better-versions-of-ourselves in preparation for Jesus’ coming. As we lit the second candle that represents peace on our Advent wreath, let us be open to seeing how God may seek to use us to make his promise known to others. The wolf does not become the lamb, nor the lamb the wolf. In Isaiah’s vision, animals that are natural enemies are able to get along, not by ceasing to be what they are, but by changing their behavior. We are called to be the peaceful ones, finding ways to reduce tension and reconcile with even those we’ve failed to get along.
‘Maranatha’ - Come Lord Jesus!
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