2nd Sunday of Advent

To All the Advent Friends of Epiphany of the Lord Parish
The Second Purple Advent Candle: The Spiritual Desert of Advent

Last Sunday we began Advent with the call to be vigilant; today, the Second Sunday of this season of preparation for Christmas, the liturgy indicates to us its proper content: it is a time to recognize the shortcomings in our life, to smooth out the roughness of pride and to make room for Jesus who comes. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 2017)

The Gospel text of Luke 3:1-6, for the Second Sunday of Advent, speaks of the figure of the forerunner, the friend of the bridegroom, John the Baptist. Like Blessed Virgin Mary, he is the very embodiment of other- centeredness, of someone whose whole being is directed towards the one who is to come. He is exhorting us to travel through the Spiritual Desert of Advent.

Like the Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist is an open-space, a surrendered place, for what is not yet–the open place where mercy and truth meet, where righteousness and peace kiss, and Truth springs up in the person of Jesus Christ: the God-man, the one in whom the fullness of the Godhead is pleased to dwell bodily for us, and for the salvation of the world. St. John the Baptist announces for us anew, in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. And he tells us what’s involved in that road repair: repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Dear friends of Epiphany, in the ancient world, the dirt roads were a mess. Every time there was a battle, the roads would be attacked and bridges destroyed, to try to stop the advance of the enemy. The weather took its toll as well, leading to all types of potholes and other obstacles. Any time a dignitary would be coming, they would have either to fix the roads or build new ones so that the rolling caravan with its heavy goods and people accompanying the VIP could arrive without delay or hassle. St. John the Baptist is telling us that to get ready for the Lord who is coming this Advent, we, too, need to prepare a road for him. We, too, need to make straight the paths. We need to travel through our Spiritual Desert. It is an intimate invitation from Jesus.

Nevertheless, dear friends, two thousand years ago, preparing such a path meant a great deal of work, making crooked paths straight, rough ways smooth, and even charting paths through the forests, mountains and valleys. For us, that pathway will not be traced on the ground, but interiorly. It will not be made in the spiritual wilderness, but in day-to-day life. It’s not something that will make our hands dirty, but our souls clean. St. John the Baptist indicated the necessary road repair quoting the prophet Isaiah: Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth (Luke 3:5).

Dear friends of Epiphany Community, St. John the Baptist is calling us to level the mountains of our pride and egocentrism, to fill in the valleys that come from a shallow prayer life and a minimalistic way of living our faith, and to straighten out whatever crooked, sinful paths we’ve been walking. This work won’t be accomplished principally by willpower and elbow grease, but by God’s power and supernatural grace. The way we receive this help of God to cleanse the path between Jesus and us, of the worst obstacles of all, is the Sacrament of Confession. This Advent we need to be as attentive to clearing the way for Christ through this Sacrament as highway workers are to removing dead deer from the high- speed lane. Let us all receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation this Advent Season.

We, as one Parish community, are also summoned to become like John the Baptist in helping others to prepare the way for the Lord as well, to become a voice of Jesus the Word, crying out for all of us to make straight the paths for him to come. God is hoping that after our reconciliation, we will become heralds of the Lamb, ambassadors for Christ, crying out in the desert and from the rooftops to clear the road of everything unfit for Jesus’ arrival. Jesus himself has taught us how important this work is to him. Let us engage ourselves in this direction.

Dear friends, however, in Luke 15, Jesus gives us the three parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son, he tells us that: heaven rejoices more for one repentant sinner than for 99 who did not need to repent. God’s greatest joy is forgiving. The way we can please God most is by coming to receive his forgiveness and bringing those we know, namely: our friends and family members, fallen away Catholics, fellow parishioners and the vast majority of Catholics, including daily and Sunday Mass goers whom surveys indicate do not regularly confess to Jesus.

Friends, we are, with John, an open space in ourselves for Christ Jesus to increase, so that we go from this place– rooted and grounded in the indissoluble fact of our belovedness, freed from slavery and fear of death, to do the kingdom building work God has given us this day to do: tending the sick, feeding the hungry, comforting the afflicted, visiting the lonely.

Let us be drenched in the droplets of the torrents of His Love and Mercy and live the justice that rolls down from the Creator’s hands. Yes, Lord, thy kingdom, not my kingdom, come. Let it be with me according to your word. May I decrease that you might increase and we might each of us this day know ourselves with you in Paradise and serve this broken world with your peace breathed from our lips. To sum up our reflections: the Second Sunday of Advent calls each one of our Parish to prepare for the coming of the Lord, and of our own spiritual readiness as we attempt to move out of our spiritual aridness:

Preparation for the Lord: John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus. We are called to make our hearts ready for Christ’s coming ( Luke 3:1-6)

• God’s Promise of Salvation: Baruch speaks of God bringing His people back to Him. This reminds us that God always keeps His promises of salvation.
• Call to Repentance: John the Baptist calls people to repent and be baptized. Repentance helps us clear the way for Jesus in our lives.
• Joyful Expectation: Paul expresses joy in the faith and growth. Advent is a time of joyful waiting for Jesus (Philippians 1:4-6)
• Unity in Christ: Paul prays for them to grow in love and knowledge. We are encouraged to grow together in faith and love (Philippians 1:8-11)
• God’s Guidance: Baruch speaks of God leading His people with joy. God’s guidance is with us as we journey in faith (Baruch 5:1-9)

Dear advent friends of our Epiphany Community, the Lord Jesus is coming. In his name, John the Baptist is summoning us to make straight the path for Jesus’ arrival and we join our hands with each other to help clear their roads, too. This is at the heart of Advent and one of its greatest graces. As Christ comes for us, let us go out to meet him and other pilgrims of hope of our Parish Community in his mercy, love and compassion.

God bless each and every one in our Epiphany of the Lord Parish! Your Graceful Advent Friends,
Fr. John Peter Lazaar SAC & Fr. Clement Sahaya Anand SAC