Homily (2) Second Sunday of
Advent Year A: Michael U Udoekpo
Readings: Isa 11:1-10, Ps
72:1-2,7-8,12-13,17; Rom 15:4-9 and Matt 3:1-12
"Madiba Sunday and the Gospel
of Joy of Pope Francis"
In the past few weeks each of us
have been greeted with “the Gospel of Joy” (Evangelii
Gaudium) of Pope Francis and the death of Nelson Mandela (1918-2013),
otherwise known as Madiba in his native South Africa. From global reactions
both men have something in common:, endurance, justice, freedom, promoters of human dignity, universalism, inclusion of everyone,
rich and poor, black and white, reconciliation, peace and dialogue, hope and
joy and a better world for humanity. The more reason I am tempted to call this years’ Second Sunday of Advent,
“Madiba Sunday” in commemoration of what Late President Nelson Mandela stood
for, re-emphasized in the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis.
What both men stood for resonates
in the Bible readings of today: justice
of God, peace (Isa 11:1-10), harmony (Rom 15:4-9) reconciliation and divine
promises to those who love God, and are prepared for repentance, conversion, and
renewal (Matt 3:1-12).
These divine promises began last
Sunday in Isaiah 2:1-5 is continued today (Isa 11:1-10. Isaiah says today; “a
shout shall sprout from the stump of Jesse and from its roots a bud shall
blossom. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and
understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and
of fear of the Lord… He shall judge the poor with justice and decides aright
for the land afflicted.”
Christ, of course is the bearer of
this peace and judger of the poor(afflicted, segregated, terrorized, typhooned, tsunamized, sandied, marginalized),with justice. As he comes at Christmas, he
brings us his divine Wisdom and Understanding. He brings us the understanding that we
are one people of God no matter our nationality and the color of our
skins. He brings us the wisdom to include the poor and the needy in the
socio-economic and political fabrics of the society. These are virtues and
societal qualities that Mandela/Madiba of "ages,"(cf.Obama) stood for, stressed also in the Evangelii Gaudium of Pope Francis.
Some times we forget that we are
weak and are humans. In our weakness and humanness Christ also brings us the spirit of counseling
and strength (Isa 11:2). He brings us strength and endurance to continue to
bear our vital responsibilities at home, church, schools offices, factories and
in all our work places, as well as our prayer lives and spiritual
responsibilities- of keeping awake!
Christ brings us the spirit to fear the Lord, to be able to
confront evils of apartness, apartheid, division, discrimination, racism,
tribalism, parochism, slavery, isolationism, holocaust-attitude, idolatries and
disharmony which St. Paul also renounces in
the second reading. Paul says: “May the God of endurance and
encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another in keeping with
Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ….welcome one another then as Christ welcome
you… so that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy”(Rom 15:4-9).
As Paul would have assured,
Christ wants everyone to be saved, Jews and Gentiles, men and women, children
an adult, black and white, the rich and the poor. The more reason he warned the
Pharisees and the Sadducees in today’s Gospel to repent for the kingdom God was
at hand, and of course , to “produce good fruits” as evidence of their repentance
( Mtt 3:1-12).
The messages of Isaiah, Saint, Paul and Christ may sometimes sound distance from us. They are not. Every Christian of every time,
place and culture is called Alter
Christus(another Christ). We are called in our time, culture, context, community, particular circumstance(irrespective of our titles, and ideologies, "Pharisees or Sadducees") to be the conduit of love, unity,
inclusion, dialogue with, understanding, wisdom, counseling, justice, hope, patience, faith,
fear of the Lord to those who are in need, especially in today’s world.
In the light today’s Bible
readings, we can begin now to work for a better world,by not only reflecting deeply on the significance of the “Gospel of Joy” of
Pope Francis but also on those good principles that Madiba of South Africa,
this global icon, stood for: endurance, universalism, social justice, freedom, inclusion of
everyone, from every place, rich and
poor, black and white, reconciliation, peace and dialogue, hope and joy in justice.
