DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Baruch 5, 1-9; Phil. 1, 3-6.8-11; Luke 3, 1-6: 2nd
Sunday of Advent, Year C)
Advent is a season in which we celebrate the salvific intervention of God in human history and our hope for the culmination of the salvation plan in the world to come. In today’s first reading, the prophet Baruch proclaims the message of hope to the house of Israel within the context of their bondage. To every nation, God intends to show Israel’s splendour and for this, God has decreed the flattening of every high mountain and the filling of the valleys. It is this same hopeful expectation that the evangelist Luke dwells on in the gospel. Re-echoing the prophecy of Isaiah, the evangelist makes allusions to the event in which all mankind shall see the salvation of God, prior to which every hill shall be levelled and every mountain filled
In these passages, we see not
only joyful messages of God’s saving liberation but also an urgent invitation
to us to be collaborators in bringing about the salvation promised us. In Jesus, God has wrought once and for all,
the long expected salvation and liberation for man. The second coming of Christ to which we
direct our gaze in a special way this season of Advent is meant to be the
culmination of this salvation and liberation. The note of waiting and
expectancy that characterize the advent season do not negate the fact that,
objectively, man’s salvation has been obtained by Jesus on the cross. Rather, this season brings us to a deeper
consciousness of the need to appropriate and make ours, the salvation obtained
on the cross in order to be prepared to meet Christ when he comes again.
Writing to the Philippians in the second
reading today, St. Paul underscores the need for this idea of preparation. For St. Paul, waiting for the Lord’s Day must,
necessarily, make the Christian to strive to be pure and blameless. Herein lies the basic message and the
challenge placed before us this holy season of advent- preparation of the way
for the Lord’s coming by levelling the hills and filling the valley of our
lives which sin and imperfection have created in us.
An effective word that depicts the attitude
just mentioned above is John the Baptist’s call for repentance, the call of
transformation that results in a change of heart. The readings are filled with other examples
of reversals that characterize such transformation: the robe of mourning is
replaced by the splendour of glory, tears are turned into rejoicing; those in
exile are brought back by God, etc. Advent is a time of yearning for such
transformation. It is a time for preparing for His arrival. It is a time we
open ourselves so that, as in the past, God can accomplish through ordinary
human beings the necessary reversals that are part of this hoped-for transformation.
It is also the time of bringing the promise for the future, made in the past,
to fruition in the present. Moreover, the transformation or repentance of
heart, takes place within human life, relationship of justice, and in genuine
unselfish live. It produces the fruits of righteousness of which Paul speaks.
May we, therefore, fix our mind on the spiritual benefits of the Advent season
and make effort to confront whatever stands between us and perfect peace with
God and our neighbour. It is only by so
doing that we can be ready to welcome the Lord whose coming we are joyfully
anticipating as we chant- Maranatha, come Lord Jesus! +John I.Okoye
(graphics by blogger)
(graphics by blogger) 