Homily
Second Sunday of Advent Year B: Fr. Michael Ufok Udoekpo
·
Isaiah
40: 1-5, 9-11;
·
Ps
85: 9-14;
·
2 Pet 3:8-14
·
Mark
1:1-8
Preparing With
Fidelity , Hope And Trust In God
Advent
which began last week is a time of preparation for Christmas. It is also a
time we renew our faith and hope in the second coming of Christ.
Unlike lent, it is not a time for reflection on Jesus’ passion and death, but a
time we re-live the message of hope, optimism, expectation
and call for preparedness in the manner of “God’s servant”( (malachi=MT), his
angel (aggelou autou= LXX) proclaimed by Israel's prophets, from Isaiah
to John the Baptist. We are God’s servants. We are called to be our neighbors’
angel, servants and messengers!
Surely,
preparedness for Christmas stands out during Advent scriptures. How do we
prepare in the midst of all the problems of life- political, social, economic
etc? Scripture readings of today suggest ways for Christmas' preparation.
These readings urge us to use our religious imagination and look forward to the
future with hope, faith, humility, practice of justice, righteousness, pursuit
of peace, and courage no matter the challenges that we encounter daily in life.
Watchfulness, alertness and some sense of eagerness and urgency for compassion
are also required on every believer’s journey, in history!
A
little history is also important. In the 586/7 BC the Babylonians military had
overrun Jerusalem and destroyed the temple there. Second Isaiah, among all
Israel’s prophet had every reason to “proclaim” this message of hope and comfort
to those displaced in exile, “Behold I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he
will prepare your way”. The messenger especially the prophecy of Malachi 3:1 (my
messenger) is rendered angellou autou (his messenger), in the Greek
translation, the LXX. The joy of this affirmation, is that despite all the
destruction, disappointments and set-backs around him Isaiah was clearly called
to proclaim, or “cry- out” the message of comfort and hope of salvation to his
people, hoping to walk the long highway, from Babylon to Jerusalem, the
Holy Land. Getting there, Jerusalem shall be rebuilt and the Lord will be
like a good shepherd feeding, tendering and caring for his flock in the rebuilt
Jerusalem.
In other words, the force of these
pronounce “my messenger, my house, way of the Lord,” it is the Lord that leads
the way. He does this with care and comfort. Isaiah calls us today, to play our
part on this long journey, like God’s servants and instruments by caring for
one another-- feeding flock, gathering the lambs in our arms and bosoms, and
leading the ewes care.
The second reading (2 Peter
3:8-14) builds on this hopeful, trusting and selfless message of the first
reading (Isaiah). Preparation for Christmas, also requires devotion, some
sense of urgency, justice, righteousness and peace. Peter says “But the day of
the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a
mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire,…since everything is to
be dissolved in this way….conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion,
waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of the God,… in which
righteousness dwells, and be eager to be found without spot or blemish before
him, at peace” (2 Pt 3:8–14). Again, like the way, the day belongs to him and
the messengers are his!
Isaiah’s
prophecy foreshadowed not only what we have heard in Second Peter but fulfils
Gospel messages. Mark’s Gospel today,
not surprisingly makes a direct reference to Isaiah, “behold sending
my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way, a voice of one
crying out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths
(Mark 1:3//Isaiah 40:3, cf. Matt 11:7-10).
In Mark,
John the Baptist may have been the servant not Isaiah. But what Isaiah
announced thousands of years before him, is what John the Baptists proclaimed from the
desert, during his time, about the coming of Christ. For us, it is this Christ,
God’s Son that we prepare for at Christmas, through repentance, baptism,
conversion, works of charity, forgiveness, humility, modeling leadership and prophetic
virtues of justice, patience, prudence, modesty and faith in the one mightier
than us!
Today we live in a
pluralistic society with various socio-cultural, political and leadership
challenges, including threats of war, terrorism, poverty, widening gap between the "haves" and
the have-nots." The more reason we are invited to reexamined the many
pastoral ways we can prepare for Christmas. What have been suggested in today’s
scriptures include humility in walking the way, humility in preaching, leading
and serving the people, especially the poor, and importantly an awareness that
we are God’s servant. We are his instruments and agents of evangelization. The
way, the house belong to him. This awareness is achievable provided we
placed our faith and trust in God’s fidelity.
Reflection
Question
1.
How
do we prepare for Christmas? As a good shepherd or as a wolf?
2.
How
are we feeding the flock, the lambs and the ewes entrusted to us, with care?
3.
Do we see ourselves as God’s Malachi (messengers),
aggelou autou (his angel) as we prepare for Christmas?
4.
How
do we humbly, prophetically lead, help members of our faith communities to prepare
for Christmas, in the manner God’s servant recommended in today’s scripture
passages?
