ü
The theme of this
second Sunday of Advent is peace
ü
Peace in an
idyllic society described with beautiful
images by the prophet Isaiah
ü
Peace which is
the consequence of conversion to the Lord
FIRST READING - Is 11:1-10
v In
the liturgy of this second Sunday we read from the book of the prophet Isaiah
v It
speaks of a time when everything will be good because a bud will blossom from
the stump of Jesse.
v That
is, the prophecy made by the Lord to David through the prophet Nathan will be
fulfilled "I will build a house for you..."
v It
is a time of joy because God does not forget his promises.
v The
vocabulary used in this reading open us up to life, to hope, to joy: will
blossom, justice, evil will be destroyed, the gentiles will seek this new bud,
everything will be peace on the holy mountain.
v Upon
this bud which is Jesus the Spirit of
the Lord will rest with all his gifts.
ü And
thus he will not judge by appearance, but in truth
ü He
will judge the poor with justice, this is not what normally happens among us
human beings
ü he will eliminate evil
ü He
will gird himself with justice and faithfulness
v After
this presentation of the new bud from the stump of Jesse, Isaiah describes an
ideal way of life, which reminds us of the paradise described in the book of
Genesis when God in the evenings used to come down and walk peacefully with his
creature-child-human being.
v In
the society which will be born from the presence and welcoming of this new
bud
ü Those
who are contraries or enemies will live
peacefully and friendly together: they will eat, play... their children will
play and rest together.
ü Peace
and goodness shall be such in this new society that the children will lead the
wild animals, and a baby will play at the cobra's den.
v In
this new society there will be no destruction, no harm because the whole
creation will be filled with the presence of the Lord.
v Jesus
is this bud over whom the Spirit of God rests because he is the Second Person of
the Trinity who has come to live among us to teach how to be brothers and
sisters, sons and daughters.
v COME
LORD JESUS and give us the strength and the wish to tear down the walls that
separate us, give strangers the strength to live together, and to discover that
you are present in every human being, give us the will to live in harmony and
peace in our homes, work place and faith community.
JUSTICE SHALL FLOURISH IN
HIS TIME, AND FULLNESS OF PEACE FOR EVER.
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O God, with your
judgment endow the king,
And with your justice,
the king’s son;
He shall govern your
people with justice
And your afflicted ones with judgment.
Justice shall flourish
in his days
And profund peace,
till the moon be no more
May he rule from sea
to sea
And froom the River to
the ends of the earth.
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For he shall rescue
the poor man when he cries out,
And the afflicted when
he has no one to help him
He shall have pity for
the lowly and the poor;
The lives of the poor
he shall save.
May his name be
blessed forever;
As long as the sun his
name shall remain
In him shall all the
tribes of the earth be blessed
All the nations shall
proclaim his happiness.
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The psalmist prays that God may give the king the necessary gifts to promote justice and peace.
Maybe our problem is that we do not pray for those
who govern us, to pray for them and for all who are in any kind of leadership,
so that power does not blind them.
GOSPEL Mt 3:1-12
Ø
John the Baptist appears in the horizon of
Advent
Ø
John preaches and calls people to repentance, to
forgiveness.
Ø
The evangelist describes John as a man who lives
with austerity, his voice is strong and threatening for those who do not accept
the coming of the one who is to come.
Ø
Matthew says that John is the one that Isaiah
announced "A voice cries out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord.
Ø
In spite of his fearful appearance, John attracts
large crowds that come to listen to his words and to be baptized in the Jordan
waters, as a sign of conversion, and of the willingness to change their
lives.
Ø
John speaks frankly and says terrible things: do
not trust in appearances, do not trust in titles, do not trust in false
securities, even these stones can become children of Abraham. What does all of
this mean for us followers of Jesus of the XXI century?
Ø
Is that a call for us to live in the truth of
who we are?
·
the truth of our baptism, of being baptized into
the life of Christ, the Son of God.
·
the truth of a real and true relationship, not
made of mere words and false securities: "I am Catholic" "I go
to mass every day" "I think of the poor in Thanksgiving and at Christmas" "I give toys to the children of the
poor, sometimes they are new and sometimes there are the toys our children do
not want anymore", "I have the
right not to forgive my enemy, to keep that grudge in my heart because they
have hurt me..."
·
Each one of us may complete this list of
reasons
Ø
John announces a baptism in the Holy Spirit and
fire. This is our baptism, the one we received when we were children or maybe
adults. Our baptism continues to act in our life every day.
Ø
Let us listen to the invitation that the Church
makes to us in this second Sunday of Advent. Let us listen to the voice of John
who invites us to conversion to be able to follow the one of whom he cannot
unfasten the sandals. Then our life will be as it is described in the first
reading, full of peace and joy.
SECOND READING Rm 15:4-9
§
Paul writes to his community and tells us that
what has been written, has been written for our instruction.
§ So
that with the encouragement given by Scripture we may hope. How
is our hope?
§
Then Paul exhorts to live according to the way
that Isaiah describes, which will be when we accept the Messiah.
§
The Messiah has come, he is in our midst
"he put his tent among us, and walks with us" this is Jesus the
Carpenter from Nazareth, whom we know to be the
incarnate Son of the Father
§
Paul
tells us "welcome one another, as Christ welcomes you, and do this
for the glory of God.
§
Christ preached to the circumcised, the Jews, to
make present to us the faithfulness of God to his promises, so that the
Uncircumcised may glorify God.
§
We may change the word circumcised by baptized.
Let us live as the first reading and the Gospel invite us so that those
who do not believe, those who left the Church,
the unbelievers may come to the light, not the light of the city of
Jerusalem, but of the Church, to be able to live a relationship of profound
intimacy with the Lord and among us .
CLARETIAN CORNER
This happened to me in this
occasion: all those who handled the affair were very troubled not knowing where
to place us due to the hurry of our going out, because as soon as the decision
of our living the convent was communicated to the prioress and the Archbishop,
there was such disturbance and excitement that in a few hours it was divulgated
in the whole city, and the Archbishop as well as the most distinguished persons
blamed the poor confessors (Who after so many worries and more hours of
prayers, had deliberated. On the case in the presence of God.)In view of so great a disturbance
in the community and in the families, they decided to bring us to a little
village near the city, but I was so much impressed that I, decidedly told them
that I was not committing any crime in leaving the convent and in not waiting
to go home, and I did not like to move from Tarragona. In this moment God
misguided me to go and ask the favor from a good friend of ours thinking we
could be very well there. María Antonia París, Foundress
of the Claretian Missionary Sisters,
Autobiography 112-113.
In the province of Tarragona I was loved by nearly all
the people, but there were a few who wished me dead. The archbishop knew this, and one day as we were talking about this
possibility, I told him, "Your Excellency, this in no way frightens me or
holds me back. Send me anywhere in your diocese and I'll go there gladly, even
if I knew that the road was lined with two rows of murderers waiting for me
with daggers drawn. I would gladly walk on, thinking it a gain to die. My
gain would be to die at the hands of those who hate Jesus Christ."
I have always wanted to die a poor man in some hospital,
or on the scaffold as a martyr, or to be put to death by the enemies of the
holy religion we profess and preach, thus sealing the virtues and truths I have
preached and taught with my blood. St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian
Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 466-467
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
CLARET, Antonio María , Autobiografía.
PARIS,
María Antonia, Autobiografía
PAGOLA, José Antonio. El Camino abierto por JESUS. 2012.
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