Archive for December 10th, 2023

Repentance & Humility

December 10, 2023

2nd Sunday of Advent
By Fr. Chinnappan Pelavendran

The season of Advent is a time of grace for us. It is a time of grace given to us to prepare our hearts so that we are ready to receive Christ at Christmas. Advent is a time of grace to remind us that Jesus is the reason for Christmas. We have just heard the beginning of the Gospel of Mark, which reminded us of the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled in John the Baptist. “Behold I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. The voice of one crying out in the desert. Prepare the way of the Lord make straight his paths.” (Mark 1:2-3)

The call to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord is urgent and strong. The voice of the prophets calls out to us today; make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God. We tend to avoid the message and the urgency of the prophets. For thousands of years, people have been saying that the Lord will come, but it has not happened. Why should I bother about his coming? St. Peter tells us why in our second reading today. What looks to us like “delay” is divine patience; He “delays” only because he sees our need for repentance. For Him, a thousand years are like one day. Whether He comes in one day or a thousand years, the prophetic message remains the same.

John the Baptist gives us two essential elements of our Advent preparation: repentance and humility. When he appears in the desert, his main message is the proclamation of “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. This shows us that sin is the main obstacle to a proper welcoming of the Lord. We cannot, on our own, do anything about the problem of sin, but when we repent, we deliberately turn away from sin and express our sorrow. This opens the way for the Lord to restore us. The great sacrament of repentance is Confession. In the season of Advent, we should prepare the way by making a thorough, thoughtful, prayerful examination of conscience and then make a worthy Confession.

Humility is the other lesson we learn from John the Baptist. A powerful preacher and forceful witness, he is at the same time an extraordinarily humble man, well aware that he was not worthy even to stoop before the Messiah and loosen the thongs of his sandals. We are even less worthy than John the Baptist and are called to humble ourselves before the Lord. When we do, we welcome the voice of the prophets who call us to repentance, and we open our hearts to the Lord’s power to heal us and care for us. When we acknowledge our dependence on God and dedicate time to be alone with him in prayer, He can speak to our hearts and change them from rough and rugged to smooth and open. As we continue to prepare for the Christmas festivities, let us prepare space in our hearts for the birth of our Savior by taking time in prayer and by repenting of our sins.

Since we are blessed with this Advent time of mercy, we should want to receive as much grace as we can from God. The Lord has no limits on what He can grant to us; it is we who put limits on what he wants to give us. The Lord is waiting to receive you in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, to take you in his arms and hold you close to his heart.

Christmas will lack its full meaning if we do not prepare in our hearts a way for the Lord. It is in our hearts that we need to make a straight highway for God. It is the valleys of sin in our hearts that are to be filled with God’s mercy and healing, and the mountains and hills of pride in our hearts that are to become low.

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A Little Time Remains

December 10, 2023

2nd Sunday of Advent
By Fr. Victor Feltes

Unlike the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Mark’s Gospel does not start with stories of Christ’s Nativity. This gospel begins with the ministry of St. John the Baptist. John’s mission was to “prepare the way of the Lord (and) make straight his paths.” In ancient times, before a king or emperor would journey to a region, his heralds or messengers would be sent out ahead of him to announce how people were to prepare for his coming. One practical part of these preparations was to improve and repair the roads; filling in the potholes and smoothing the ruts, clearing branches and removing rocks. Isaiah the Prophet speaks of a herald crying out in the wilderness:

“Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together…”

Of course, this readying of the way for the Lord is not done with shovels and wheelbarrows on country roads. St. John the Baptist, the “voice of one crying out in the desert,” preaches conversion and washes people with a baptism of repentance as they confess and renounce their sins. The way of the Lord we must prepare passes through ourselves.

This Advent is a season to prepare for the God, but time is running short. Christmas is coming. Because December 25th falls on a Monday, this year’s Advent is the shortest-possible length of days. The good news is that now is not too late. An unfaithful life can still be reformed. A sacramental Confession can still be arranged. Delayed good deeds can still be done. A life of daily prayer can begin today. There is still some time remaining for you; before Christmas, before Christ’s Second Coming, and before the end of your earthly life.

This world and its people are broken and we can see many sins and evils. Imagine how much better our world would be if everyone sincerely turned to Jesus. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? I doubt that everyone will do so, but the ongoing conversions of you and me to Christ can bless our families, friends, and neighbors, joyfully transforming the world around us for the better.

And here is some more good news… Even if not everyone turns to Christ, just as this Christmas, December 25th, is coming no matter what we do, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ cannot be stopped. St. Peter writes of how our Lord’s patience, his wish that none should parish but all come to repentance, has permitted the world to continue to our day. God does not tire of waiting; since for him “a thousand years is like one day.” “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief… and the earth and everything done on it will be found out.”

We are encouraged to do our part to prepare a highway for God, lowering mountains and hills, smoothing rough lands and valleys, within ourselves and in our society. But Scriptures declare how at his coming “the mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.” (Psalm 97:5) “The eternal mountains are shattered, the age-old hills bow low, along his ancient ways.” (Habakkuk 3:6) “The mountains melt under him… like wax before the fire, like water poured down a slope.” (Micah 1:4) “The earth melts when he lifts his voice.” (Psalm 46:6)

Our returning Lord will not allow the sins of the world to go on forever. When his Kingdom fully comes, God’s will shall be fully done, on earth as it is in Heaven. So when you witness the many evils caused by misused human freedom, do not grieve as those who have no hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13) Mourn as the blessed, whom Jesus promises will be consoled. (Matthew 5:4) “According to his promise, we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, (and always be) at peace.”

Posted in Christian Perfection, Culture, Homily, Jesus Christ, Last Judgment, Last Things, Repentance, Salvation History, Second Coming, St. John the Baptist, Sunday Homilies | Leave a Comment »