Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent

We know that Advent is a time of preparation for the annual celebration of Christ’s first coming – his nativity – at Christmas, and also of his second coming in glory as judge. Today’s Gospel reading presents us with St John the Baptist preaching a message of repentance, a passage chosen by the Church because repentance is a primary part of our Advent preparation. Repentance of sin, confession and contrition, prepare us for the glorious coming of Christ and his final judgement, an event which the Scriptures tell us could occur at any moment. But repentance is also essential in our preparation for Christmas, so that, with the obstacle of sin removed from our souls, we may joyfully and lovingly welcome our Redeemer in the mystery of his nativity. The first reading, on the other hand, is a symbolic description of the “messianic kingdom” that was foretold in the time of Isaiah. It depicts harmony in creation, among animals, persons and the entire universe, summed up in the words: “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Does such an apparently “idyllic” description of order and harmony have relevance in our troubled world? We should realise that this prophecy ultimately describes the new heaven and the new earth, when God will complete his plan of salvation at the end of time. But the harmony it describes can and does exist now in the lives of the saints, and in the examples of holiness and true fraternal charity that we see around us in our lives – this is the “inauguration” of God’s kingdom present especially in the community of Faith which is the Church. This then is the second way that we should prepare for Christ’s coming, as St Paul says in the second reading, when he encourages us to act with such fraternal love and build up a community which reflects the peace and order of God’s kingdom – “live in harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus”. He adds that we should “welcome one another … as Christ as welcomed you”, a powerful invitation to receive each other with true love and openheartedness, thereby reinforcing and strengthening the bond of love that exists among us as Christians. Finally, St Paul gives us a third – and important – element of our Advent preparation, that of worship, “that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ.” Divine worship, and most especially in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, prepares us for Christ’s second coming, which will – please God – usher us into the eternal adoration of him heaven; and it prepares us for Christmas, when will fall on our knees before the God made man and adore Jesus Christ in spirit and in truth. Amen.