Our readings on this, the Second Sunday of Advent, speak to us of God’s righteous judgement, the virtue of hope, St. John the Baptist, and the Blessed Virgin.
The first reading, from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, lists the attributes – the characteristics – of the Lord’s anointed. We hear that he will have the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, and fear of the Lord. Add to that fortitude and piety, and you have the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. The person who is the Lord’s anointed is full of the Holy Spirit, he is the one who judges justly, he is the one who is able to see and evaluate the inner workings of the heart.
In his encyclical letter On Christian Hope, Pope Benedict XVI writes, “God is justice and creates justice. This is our consolation and our hope. And in his justice there is also grace…Both these things—justice and grace—must be seen in their correct inner relationship. Grace does not cancel out justice. It does not make wrong into right” (Spe salvi, Pope Benedict XVI, 44). “Grace does not cancel out justice” - these words are important for us, as we await the Last Judgement, the day of reckoning, that will affect all the living and the dead. St. John the Baptist in the Gospel brings us the image of a winnowing fork: it separates the wheat from the chaff. At the end of the age, when the Son of Man returns, people too will be separated: wheat from chaff, sheep from goats, those allowed into the eternal banquet, and those left outside, in the darkness. St. John Chrysostom encourages us to “call upon the Judge to forgive our sins before the day appointed” so that, as he puts it, “it will not be necessary for us to go to trial at all. But if this is not done, He will hear us publicly in the presence of the world” (The Faith of the Early Fathers, William A. Jurgens ed., vol.2, 1979, pg. 111).
The second reading, from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans, speaks of hope, of welcoming one another, of being steadfast and encouraged, of living in harmony with each other. This is so that we can “glorify with one voice the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Gospel brings us the strong personality of St. John the Baptist. There are, in fact, two strong male personalities, two strong men, who guide us in the Advent season – St. John the Baptist and St. Joseph the Just, husband of Mary. The first of these, St. John the Baptist, is a prophet, indeed, he is the greatest of all prophets, because he prepares the ground – makes straight the path – for Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate. He is the only one among the prophets who can say “This is the Lamb of God” and point to a specific person. He is the only one among the prophets who sees the Messiah; he is also the only who says that Jesus must increase, I must decrease. St. John undertakes his ministry in the wilderness. It is in the wilderness, in the country, away from the cities, away from the elites and the opinion makers, where the Baptist preaches and calls to repentance (cf. The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Walter J. Harrelson ed., 2003, pg. 1751). Perhaps we too can find a space for repentance and conversion here, in this country setting, a place away from major population centers. This part of the country has its hardships, but also its benefits: it gives us less opportunities to be consumers, for example, and so it offers us less distractions than a big city. Like St. John the Baptist, as Catholics, we too exercise a prophetic function. It is interesting that Lumen Gentium, the Vatican II constitution on the Church, makes a special link between this prophetic identity of Christians, and marriage and family life: “In connection with the prophetic function is that state of life which is sanctified by a special sacrament obviously of great importance, namely, married and family life…The Christian family loudly proclaims both the present virtues of the Kingdom of God and the hope of a blessed life to come” (Lumen Gentium 35). In other words, marriage and family life can be very convincing proclamations of the Kingdom of God. Maybe this is because in marriage and family there are so many opportunities to live out the words from today’s second reading – living in harmony with each other, welcoming one another, being steadfast and encouraged.
In our Advent pilgrimage, we are accompanied by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady. There is a feminine and motherly aspect to Advent. Our Lady is the one conceived without sin, and the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception always falls in Advent. The first reading speaks of a “shoot” that shall come from the stump of Jesse. Shoot can be translated as “virga,” and this is very close to “virgo,” the Blessed, ever-virgin Mary (cf. The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Walter J. Harrelson ed., 2003, pg. 975). She is the one who was a crucial part of the Lord’s first coming, in the humility of the flesh. Mother Mary is a crucial part of the preparation for the Lord’s second coming, in glory.
As we begin the Second Week of Advent, we ask Jesus Christ and our Mother Mary, to give us the grace and courage necessary to follow them in hope, drawing upon the examples of St. John the Baptist, and St. Joseph the Just.
(Fr. Paweł Ratajczak, OMI, Dec. 3, 2022)