HOMILY FOR THE 2ND SUNDAY OF ADVENT YEAR B

HOMILY FOR THE 2ND SUNDAY OF ADVENT YEAR B

THEME: ADVENT, A TIME FOR CHANGE!

By: Fr. Augustine Ikechukwu Opara

(IS. 40:1-5,9-11,2PET 3:8-14, MK1:1-8)

In the gospel, we are invited to reflect upon the role of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus and the salvation that he would bring to us. Mark’s description of the appearance of John the Baptist highlights John’s continuity with the Jewish prophetic tradition. Mark combines quotations from the Old Testament books of Malachi, Isaiah, and Exodus. Mark’s description of John as an ascetic, living in the desert, clothed in camel hair, and eating locusts and wild honey, is reminiscent of the description of the prophet Elijah found in Second Kings. The people of Judea and Jerusalem flock to him, listening to his message of repentance and forgiveness; they also come to him to be baptized. However, Mark’s Gospel is clear that John the Baptist’s role is only to prepare the way for another who will come, one who is greater than John.

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Advent is a time of change, and every religious change must follow some method for consistency and continuity, Repentance from sin, holiness, and rituals. Advent pulls our hearts to the Lord! Advent is a time to begin anew. Advent is a time to be still and listen again to the Word of the Lord. All of this is to say that we must prepare the way of the Lord in our lives and in our hearts. Like John the Baptist, we are messengers in service to one who is greater than we are. Our Baptism commissions us to call others to life as disciples of Jesus.

In this time of grace, we are reminded that Jesus is the reason for Christmas. Prepare for what? The focus of the first half of Advent each year is preparing for the Second Coming of Jesus. The Church longs for the Second Coming of Jesus because it will be Christ’s victory over all evil and Christ’s triumph in the world. We certainly believe Christ will come again and want to do all we can to bring about Christ’s kingdom here.
Advent, however, is not just a call to recognize our sin, which it is, but it is an invitation to change our lives. The hardest thing in this world is perhaps to change one’s life. It’s been over a hundred years since the people of Israel had seen and heard a prophet. And John says, The Lord has come. Prepare yourself for the coming of the Lord. Prepare yourself. Make straight His paths that is, be honest with yourself, be truthful to yourself- Don’t lie to yourself. Don’t pretend to be something that you’re not. Make straight the path, so that the Lord can come and nestle into your hearts and make you transparent and open.
If we have tried to be faithful and find ourselves failing repeatedly, then surely the words of Isaiah in the first reading speak to us! Comfort, give comfort to my people! When we are using our energies to seek the Lord, these words of Isaiah in the first reading can bring tears to our eyes and open our hearts so much more to the presence of the Living God, who is seeking us.

According to Albert Einstein if you want to be happy, “You should pursue truth. Not running around trying to be happy, buying things, doing things that will make you happy. Because they’re never going to make you happy. But if you pursue truth, if you pursue the things that are really what your own hearts hunger for – love, forgiveness, compassion -these are the truths that are worth laying your life down for.” And that is what Jesus comes to give you. He comes not only to teach us but to live love, self-sacrificing to the point of death.

Everything in and about John the Baptist, my brothers, and sisters, points to the ‘One Who Is to Come’, the Messiah. May our lives become so focused on God and His ways in our lives that we become like John the Baptist: our lives only giving witness to the love and mercy of God and drawing others to that love and mercy.
God bless you!

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