PREPARE THE WAY TO YOUR HEART FOR THE LORD

 

Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent, Year A

Fr. Ugochukwu Ugwoke, ISch

Scriptural Texts: Isaiah 11:1-10, Romans 15:1-9, Matthew 3:1-12)

 

During the Advent journey, we have three essential biblical characters both from the Old and New Testaments that accompany us as we wait for the coming of Jesus Christ. The first is Isaiah, the second is John the Baptist and the third is Mary the mother of Jesus Christ. On this second Sunday of Advent, the readings invite us to reflect on the roles that Isaiah and John the Baptist played in the advent of the Messiah.

The prophet Isaiah lived in the second-half of the 8^th century. The rulers of his time were like a tree that is as good as dead and like the present people of Nigeria, the dispirited people of Israel in the time of Isaiah longed for liberation from the hands of their oppressive and evil rulers. That is why in the first reading of today, we find Isaiah announcing (with a tone of hope) to the people the coming of a Messiah. Messiah in Hebrew means ‘anointed’ and anointing is also the symbol of the ascent of a king to the throne. So, Isaiah was announcing the coming of a new King. Looking with eyes of hope, Isaiah could see a new ruler emerging from the descendants of David who would be full of the gifts of the Spirit of God and who would bring about God’s just rule and the peace that flows from it (Isaiah 11:1-5).

The Lord works in a life-giving way. That is why the coming of the Messiah as prophesied by the prophet Isaiah will be a time of liberation, restoration, newness and rebirth for the today’s people of Israel. The Lord is coming to set us free from all that enslaves us. The Lord sees signs of new life in what seems dead to us. The Lord brings new life out of death. If there is something dying in ourselves or in our society, the Lord will work tirelessly to restore it, and he looks to us to help him in his life-giving work.

In the gospel reading, we see John the Baptist, the second biblical character of the Advent Season. He was the prophet who was sent to prepare the way of the Lord. Today, we find him preaching in the desert near the river Jordan. He preaches a baptism of repentance and invites the people to prepare their hearts for the imminent coming of the Messiah whom he feels somehow to be near (Matthew 3:1-2). John continues to call on us today to prepare a way in our lives for the Lord. John takes the emphasis away from preparing for Christmas and puts it on preparing for Christ. In Advent, John puts it up to us to do whatever is necessary to receive Christ more fully into our lives. His call to repent is a call to turn away from whatever in our lives is blocking Christ from coming to live in us and through us. We have to make straight whatever is crooked in our life so that the Lord can come into our hearts unhindered (Matthew 3:3).

Like the Pharisees and Sadducees that came to John for baptism, we too can often drift along feeling reasonably pleased with ourselves (Matthew 3:7). But then, the voice of John the Baptist continues to call out to us to look seriously at our lives and to ask ourselves what needs to be changed so that our lives can bear good fruit that is life-giving for others; what needs to be changed so that we can be ready for the Lord’s coming. John reminds us that we are not yet all that the Lord is calling us to be. He asks us to keep setting out on a journey. We cannot become all that the Lord is calling us to be without the help of that Holy Spirit. We need the Spirit of the Lord that Isaiah the prophet speaks about in the first reading. Advent is a season when we invite the Spirit afresh into our lives, so that Christ may be formed in us, as he was in Mary. It is only in the power of the Spirit that our lives can bear the good fruit that John the Baptist calls for, the fruit of the Spirit.