Pastor's Message

2nd Sunday of Advent

   “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord,ake his Path straight.”  Isaiah 40.3

             People are already warmed up to the quick approaching Christmas; lights are up, and I bet many are busy looking for that gift which will manifest their Love and appreciation for the ones they love. Well, shopping and gifts are important but moments of reflection on who and what we are celebrating can also built us. Gifts manifests love and Christmas celebrates love. At Christmas, we shall be God’s Instruments of this Love.

            In the First Reading this Sunday, Prophet Isaiah is addressing Israel, the chosen People, the beloved of the Lord. He reminded them of truth that hurt; They had forgotten God who loved them; “You have forgotten the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth.” Isaiah pointed out to Israel the consequence of Life without God; Israel had decayed into a lifeless stump of a Tree.

            But Isaiah had a Message of Hope for his People; God was going to intervene; “A Shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of this root.”

           The King to arise, through God’s intervention, would not be ordinary, for; “the spirit of the Lord would rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel, knowledge and Fear of God.”

           This King, envisioned by Isaiah, would bring the world as known back to Eden; A paradise, as it was at Creation; “The Wolf shall dwell with the Lamb, and leopard with a kid, the calf with the Lion and a little child will lead them! The cow and the bear shall feed together and their young shall lie together! The Lion shall eat the straw like an ox and a child shall put this hand in the snake’s den and they shall not be hurt!” There will be the perfect harmony again, between God and His Creation: A return to Paradise; “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.”   

           The Gospel Reading today, reveals that the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy had come. John the Baptist was Prophet Elijah that had come back to life. He was, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his Path straight.” John the Baptist called his contemporaries to prepare for the coming of the Lord; “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” he challenged them. He announced a Baptism of water as a sign of repentance! 

           Brothers and Sisters, we are the new people of God, born of the water and the Holy Spirit.  In Baptism we received the Life of God becoming his adopted sons and daughters. In this privilege, as sons and daughters in Christ Jesus, we are destined for the Kingdom with the Father!

           John the Baptist warns against the comfort of entitlement. The old Israel, felt entitled as sons and daughters of Abraham, to be heirs of the promise. This led many, like the Pharisees and Sadducees, to an arrogance; A pride that ended up in self-worship. John the Baptist called them “brood of vipers!” “Evil people!” He challenged them to “bear Fruits that befit their repentance.”

            Many of us are witnesses to many Advents and maybe we consider this “just another one.” We can be tempted to be comfortable that we have done enough. The question then becomes; Can a son or a daughter do enough, when, the One beaconing is the Creator and the Loving Father?

            The time of bearing Fruits is now; John the Baptist tells us; “For the ax is already laid at the root of the tree!” May the Lord intervene in our lives and strengthen our Love, Faith and Hope.

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