2nd Sunday of Advent (A)

Reflections for liturgical years 2014 (A), 2015 (B), and 2016 (C)
December 8, 2013 (edited for 12/7/2025)
Liturgical readings
Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72
Romans 15:4-9
Matthew 3:1-12

"I baptize you in water. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire."

John the Baptist, the last prophet of the Old Testament, and the bridge to the New Testament, prepared the people Israel for the coming of Christ. He prepared the people by baptizing them in the in the Jordan river. His prophetic message to the Jews of his time is also a message for our present age: to prepare for the coming of Christ in our minds, hearts, souls, and in all our relationship at work and with family. John the Baptist calls each one to look deep into their souls and to act in a direction of repentance and amendment of life - that God's light may shine each one more brightly. God's light helps each one under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharistic community to follow the right path. It is in Christ that each one can unlearn bad habits and do what is right in the eyes of both God and man. In Christ Jesus, all can see what is essential: God, His love for each one personally, and for all people. This Sunday of Advent is another opportunity to reflect well on John's message to prepare ourselves well to receive the Lord in our lives.

Moving forward three centuries after John the Baptist baptized in the Jordan, St. Augustine of Hippo, a bishop and doctor of the Church, wrote also in his Advent sermon that John's baptism was meant to prepare the people Israel for the Savior. Now, John the Baptist preaches about the baptism of Christ. Unlike John's baptism, the baptism Christ will give is a baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire. In this baptism everyone receives "a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, and a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord". In this baptism, the faithful are all called to share in the Church's mission to build God's Kingdom in the very circumstances of their work and life.

The message on this Sunday's theme of baptism helps all to reflect on the meaning of each one's own baptism. For the baptism received gifted the faithful with membership in the community of the Church. As members of the Church, it asks each one to fulfill a task and a responsibility: to participate in Christ's mission to bring the gospel to this present generation. Each one is commissioned to make their baptismal consecration bear the image and work of Christ in their lives, and to share that to others as well. This can be done one day at a time. Advent reroots each one's work and life in the context of their initial baptismal commitment to Christ. In this rerooting, one can slow down, pause, and reflect more deeply: "What have I done for Christ?" "What am I doing for Christ?" "What can I do for Christ?"

Quotes from the Sunday readings:
The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him (Isaiah 11)
For he shall rescue the poor man when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him (Psalm 72)
God the source of all patience and encouragement enables us to live in the spirit of Christ Jesus (Romans 15)
A herald's voice in the desert: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.' (Matthew 3)

1st Sunday of Advent (A)

Sunday reflections for liturgical years 2014 (A), 2015 (B), and 2016 (C)

December 1, 2013 (edited for 11/30/2025)
Liturgical readings
Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44

"The Son of Man is coming at the time you least expect."

Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical season in the Church. It is a sign that Christmas, the the remembrance of the time our Lord Jesus Christ was born, is near. It is a time of much preparation, not only for Christmas day, but also to remember and prepare for the return of the Son of Man. If the Advent season calls us to prepare, what can the readings this Sunday reveal about how we are to prepare? From the book of Isaiah, the passage tells us to to prepare by working for peace: 'to turn our swords into plowshares, and not to train for war again'. And this we prepare internally, in our minds, hearts, and souls. In the reading from St. Paul to the letter to the Romans, Paul teaches that to prepare for the Lord's coming, we are to live honorably and not to indulge in vice and excess - especially in matters related to the desires of the flesh. Finally, in the gospel according to Matthew, the gospel reminds us to keep a watchful eye, and not to be unconcerned about what is happening around us.

During Advent, we anticipate both the remembrance of the Lord's birth in a poor Bethlehem stable, and the time of His return at the end of the world. It is at this end that He comes to bring justice in much splendor and glory. When we examine the writings of St. Cyril of Jerusalem (a doctor of the Church in the early Church), he wrote well about this twin remembrance of the birth of Jesus and His second coming:

"We do not preach only one coming of Christ, but a second as well, much more glorious than the first. The first coming was marked by patience; the second will bring the crown of a divine kingdom...At the first coming, He was wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. At His second coming He will be clothed in light as a garment." (St. Cyril of Jerusalem)

Material preparation for Advent may be easy and brings surface joy, but the spiritual preparation for an inner joy that lasts longer, takes more effort. If spiritual preparation is taken to heart, it can be done in the context of the the Sacrament of Confession and the Eucharist. Preparing ourselves spiritually requires entering into the spirit of the season - through the prayers of the liturgy and our own personal prayer. The color purple expresses well this spirit of the season. One can prepare a lot externally, but the ideal is to prepare ourselves also for Christ - in acts of charity to the poor and the needy. And not only in material things, but in kindness and respect to them as well. By this preparation, we our whole being for the coming of the Lord into our work, our lives, and our homes. It is a call and an opportunity to undertake every year. It is therefore important not to waste the time and opportunity when it is given by God to all the faithful in the Church.

Scripture quotes from the readings:
He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples (Isaiah 2)
To Jerusalem the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord (Psalm 122)
Wake from sleep, for our salvation is closer than when we first accepted the faith (Romans 13)
The coming of the Son of Man will repeat what happened in Noah's time (Matthew 24)

Solemnity of Christ the King (C)

Christ the King (C) - November 21, 2010 (edited for 11/23/2025)

Liturgical readings
2 Samuel 5:1-3
Psalm 122
Colossians 1:12-20
Luke 23:35-43

"Jesus, remember me when You enter upon Your reign."

If we were in the time of Jesus, like the Jews of His time, we would also follow the religious thinking and concept they had of a promised Messiah in their religion. He would be one who would politically deliver them from foreign domination and rule. However, God had a different plan for the Jews; He would not send a political saviour. He would send His Son Jesus to enter into human history, within the Jewish culture and religion, to teach all that His Kingdom is not a political kingdom, but one that lives and will always live in the minds, hearts, and souls of all who believe in Him. Since the apostles of Jesus were Jews, they had to unlearn their understanding of a Jewish political Messiah and understand that in Jesus was the Kingdom they had always hoped for. Jesus always taught His band of apostles many things. He also told them of His impending Passion and death. It is this new understanding that the apostles of Jesus' time had difficulty comprehending; like the Jews of their time, the apostles also believed in a 'glorious' political Messiah - one who would deliver Israel from political bondage from Rome. Jesus, however, was presented as a Saviour who was also the "Suffering Servant" of Yahweh.

In the Kingdom of Christ Jesus, the one He wanted to found through the community of the apostles and His other disciples, the values run counter to the values and culture of the world. In God's Kingdom, service is above domination (shown in Jesus washing the feet of His apostles); great love is a sign of sincere repentance (seen in the woman washing the feet of Jesus with her tears and her hair); mercy is above the law and the Sabbath (shown by Jesus forgiving the woman caught in adultery and healing people during the Sabbath); eternal life is above any ignominious death (Jesus forgiving the 'good thief' during the Crucifixion); and, discipleship is above all family ties (the calling of the Apostles). These and many more Kingdom values are what Jesus teaches and makes important in preaching the salvation that is meant for all and the eternal inheritance all are called to have.

This solemnity of Christ the King, one point of reflection to be thought over is: If Jesus not only lived in 1-33 A.D., but returned and incarnated Himself again in our present generation, what would be the circumstances? Would He be incarnated at the lowest class of an impoverished nation with a broken culture? Which culture, and what occupation would He have done before beginning His earthly ministry? Would His appearance be entirely different from what He was in 1-33 A.D.? Maybe. But whatever your imagination conjures it to be, His actions in building His Kingdom in our present time would be the same: He will heal the sick, pardon sinners, drive out demons who possess people, side with the poor and the marginalized, work wondrous signs and miracles, and raise many dead back to life. With these same wonders brought about in our own time, if you were chosen to be one of His apostles or disciples, would you see Him as the 'king' or 'ruler' you want in your life? Would you believe Him, as the Apostles and other disciples did in biblical times?