Sunday 7 December 2014

2nd Sun of Advent: Year B.......DOCTRINE AND FAITH

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Isaiah 40,1-5.9-11; 2 Peter 3,8-14; Mark 1,1-8: 2nd Sun of Advent: Year B)
Today’s liturgy presents two great figures of the period when Jesus was being expected to come into the world: the prophet Isaiah and John the Baptist. The prophet Isaiah announced to the exiled people of Israel in Babylon that the time of their liberation and freedom, the return to their home and the forgiveness of their sins by God was imminent. Likewise, John the Baptist announced to the people of his time that the time of expectation was over, for the Savior was already at the corner: Someone is following me, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandalsJohn the Baptist prepared the souls of the people for the baptism of repentance, that is to say, a baptism that symbolized a radical interior change, and transformation of life. It is in the light of these two great figures that today   we reflect on how we can spend the rest of Advent as we wait and prepare for the coming of Christ. 
Christ has come but we still await the One who is to come, as a lot of people, in one way or the other exhibit signs of ignorance of him. Some do not recognize/know him; others who happened to know him have distanced themselves from him; still some people have only very vague and superficial knowledge/idea of him; the rest reject him with hostility or are completely indifferent towards him. Therefore, there is still need to announce and preach Christ; there is still need for precursors like Isaiah and John the Baptist, people who will prepare the way, in today’s world, for his coming. This behooves us as believers. We need to bring words of consolation to dissatisfied and oppressed men and women of our days, anguished brothers and sisters that are in different forms of slavery. There is need, like Isaiah in the first reading, to shout out saying that the time of slavery is over and that our sins have been pardoned. This is because the Messiah has come and has paid the price of redemption for all. God himself works through his Son and it is God himself who comes to meet his people with great power, but also with infinite loving kindness as he is among the people like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms, holding them against his breast, and leading to their rest the mother ewesFor us to find rest of mind, tranquility of heart and interior happiness, we need to open our hearts to Christ as Saint Pope John Paul exhorted at the beginning of his apostolate. This is because; it is God who really knows the heart of the people. Jesus did not come into the world to humiliate us, but to enrich and elevate us. He came not to condemn but to redeem and save and give us back our greatness and original dignity.  



It is clear that if we are to be effective announcers and precursors of Christ, we should be credible witnesses of Him; we should actually be liberated first, by Christ, from all sorts of selfishness, pride and evil passions. We need to demonstrate that Jesus is in us, with his grace, love and our lives are changed and transformed through his coming. In this perspective, Advent poses to all of us these soul searching questions: Did Christ come for me? Have I thrown open my heart for him? Have I given him chance and space for his liberating and sanctifying actions? Have I indeed done away with slavery to sinAlso for us Christians, there is Someone who is still to come, that is, Someone who will still have to take full control of our lives. 
It is also for us that John the Baptist preaches the baptism of repentance, that is, the necessity of our making a decisive, profound and radical conversion to Christ. Also, John the Baptist by his style of life lets us understand that, to welcome Christ it is necessary to so the following: (a) love the desert, that is, look for moments of silence, recollection and prayer, so as to be able to recognize the voice of the Lord and enter into dialogue with him (b) to live soberly and practice life of mortification, austerity and not condescending to a life of materialism, debauchery, love of pleasure that renders one obtuse (dull) and insensitive to the things of the spirit (c) to follow a life of humility, having the feeling of not being fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals, as John the Baptist felt towards Jesus. Life of humility will make us appreciate the depth of our poverty and at the same time experience the joy to know that the Lord will come Himself with power to make his paths straight (our blocked spiritual life), to fill the valleys (our spiritual lacunae) and lower the hills (our pride)The only important thing required of us is that we should be ready and disposed to open our hearts for the Lord. Let us therefore pray in today’s Eucharistic celebration to have the graces to be true and effective forerunners of Christ through our witness of faith, love, hope and especially by throwing our hearts open for the Lord, Jesus Christ to enter and heal us. Happy Sunday!

+John I. Okoye.

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